brettpet's review against another edition
5.0
"I am the magician who took the upper half of our country and sewed it back onto the lower half of our country! And then I gave it the iron backbone of our revolution, so that it could stand up for itself! And then I dug around in a graveyard and found a brain for our new creation! So what if the brain came from a foreigner, Karl Marx?"
I believe that Viet Thanh Nguyen's The Sympathizer is the greatest book of the 21st century. It hit me at the perfect time in graduate school, fusing expertly written takes on the American Dream, post-colonialism, and the refugee identity with crime and pulp-fiction plot hooks. The characters, scenery, and structure of Sympathizer is just absolutely perfect, so when I discovered that a sequel was in the works it quickly became my most anticipated read of the year. Overall, The Committed delivers.
The novel picks up directly after its predecessor, with our "man of two minds" narrator and his blood brother Bon becoming quickly embroiled with the criminal underbelly of 1980s Paris. The new characters, like our narrator's "aunt", the Maoist PHD, and the BFD are great, in addition to the memorable criminal side characters such as the Ronin and Le Cao Boi. I will admit that I rolled my eyes at the Seven Dwarf characters. I found the descriptions of hashish-dealing within the Parisian nightlife to be interesting and a prime vehicle for moving the plot, and I'm interested to read more about conflicts between immigrant drug organizations during that time period.
I have to commend Nguyen for just how focused this book is: its pretty incredible how often he can write about our narrator's unreliability and mental issues from different viewpoints, while still working in the constant undercurrent of colonialism that refugees face in their daily lives. The argument between the narrator and the BFD after their trip to Heaven was a great moment--pinpointing the fragile nature of white saviorism. But god, the way that Nguyen continually works in the major plot hooks of The Committed (mainly the impending meeting of Bon and Man and the arrival of) was expertly done. I also found the ghost chorus to be a perfect element of magical realism.
"I wanted to say, I'm only half Vietnamese. And we are all Indochinese, aren't we? Courtesy of our Franco-Frankenstein, who killed us, cut us up, and stitched us together, christening us with this bastard name that we all shared, "Indochina"."
I can see how the constant stream-of-consciousness in this book may detract from the reading experience for some people, but I think it fits the more unhinged nature of this book compared to The Sympathizer. My main nitpicks were that I was a underwhelmed by the eventual appearance of (even with the reveal of ) and I had some issues with the ending's "fake-out" nature. The cliffhanger at the end was pretty incredible, and I'm eagerly awaiting the conclusion of this trilogy. I'm wondering if the third book's title will be "The Saved" or "The Instituted" or something like that.
The Committed is a uniquely special book in its ability to merge pulpy action and low-brow humor with a PHD-level analysis of the role of France (and Europe) as a whole in the colonialization of Asia. This is easily one of the best books of the year and I can't wait to read it again before the final installment arrives--I honestly feel like I'm back in middle school waiting for the next part of my favorite fantasy series to drop, but this time its a blood-soaked deep-dive into capitalism's reinforcement of "otherness". (9/10)
I believe that Viet Thanh Nguyen's The Sympathizer is the greatest book of the 21st century. It hit me at the perfect time in graduate school, fusing expertly written takes on the American Dream, post-colonialism, and the refugee identity with crime and pulp-fiction plot hooks. The characters, scenery, and structure of Sympathizer is just absolutely perfect, so when I discovered that a sequel was in the works it quickly became my most anticipated read of the year. Overall, The Committed delivers.
The novel picks up directly after its predecessor, with our "man of two minds" narrator and his blood brother Bon becoming quickly embroiled with the criminal underbelly of 1980s Paris. The new characters, like our narrator's "aunt", the Maoist PHD, and the BFD are great, in addition to the memorable criminal side characters such as the Ronin and Le Cao Boi. I will admit that I rolled my eyes at the Seven Dwarf characters. I found the descriptions of hashish-dealing within the Parisian nightlife to be interesting and a prime vehicle for moving the plot, and I'm interested to read more about conflicts between immigrant drug organizations during that time period.
I have to commend Nguyen for just how focused this book is: its pretty incredible how often he can write about our narrator's unreliability and mental issues from different viewpoints, while still working in the constant undercurrent of colonialism that refugees face in their daily lives. The argument between the narrator and the BFD after their trip to Heaven was a great moment--pinpointing the fragile nature of white saviorism. But god, the way that Nguyen continually works in the major plot hooks of The Committed (mainly the impending meeting of Bon and Man and the arrival of
Spoiler
Lana"I wanted to say, I'm only half Vietnamese. And we are all Indochinese, aren't we? Courtesy of our Franco-Frankenstein, who killed us, cut us up, and stitched us together, christening us with this bastard name that we all shared, "Indochina"."
I can see how the constant stream-of-consciousness in this book may detract from the reading experience for some people, but I think it fits the more unhinged nature of this book compared to The Sympathizer. My main nitpicks were that I was a underwhelmed by the eventual appearance of
Spoiler
LanaSpoiler
her and the narrator's childThe Committed is a uniquely special book in its ability to merge pulpy action and low-brow humor with a PHD-level analysis of the role of France (and Europe) as a whole in the colonialization of Asia. This is easily one of the best books of the year and I can't wait to read it again before the final installment arrives--I honestly feel like I'm back in middle school waiting for the next part of my favorite fantasy series to drop, but this time its a blood-soaked deep-dive into capitalism's reinforcement of "otherness". (9/10)
ljpaatan's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
georgeryang's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
bamairi's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
bibliotequeish's review against another edition
3.0
I saw a lot of talk about this book, so I quickly picked up a copy of the Sympathizer, so that I could read and understand this highly anticipated book.
While I appreciated the Sympathizer, I did not love it, so I adjusted my expectations and excitement and started the Committed.
The unnamed protagonists continues his journey to Paris where he meets up with his "Aunt".
Selling drugs, seeing ghosts and struggling with mixed Political feelings, he explores Capitalism and continues to struggle with abandonment issues.
Beautifully written, The Committed is not a fast or easy read, but a twisted journey of a haunted man.
While I appreciated the Sympathizer, I did not love it, so I adjusted my expectations and excitement and started the Committed.
The unnamed protagonists continues his journey to Paris where he meets up with his "Aunt".
Selling drugs, seeing ghosts and struggling with mixed Political feelings, he explores Capitalism and continues to struggle with abandonment issues.
Beautifully written, The Committed is not a fast or easy read, but a twisted journey of a haunted man.
sonj's review against another edition
challenging
dark
funny
informative
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
vivelaviv's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
hannahsakura's review against another edition
5.0
Incredible sequel, enjoyed it much more than the first tbh
chnfrng's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
It was a fascinating read, and had great insights into the Asian diaspora in France - a subject I’ve not seen touched on much in other literature. The writing style made you get into the protagonist’s head and I found the ending very satisfying. Glad to see Lana make a reappearance.