Scan barcode
A review by p_t_b
The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen
4.0
postcolonial/imperial spy novel with some truly bonkers elements spun into it. i have always wanted to know what vietnamese people think about the vietnam war, and this gives me the idea that the answer is long and boiling mad and complicated as shit. RIYL: graham greene by way of frantz fanon but also light in august and un prophète and a smattering of both apocalypse now and tropic thunder.
2/3rds of the way through this was five stars, tell your friends, but it shorts out in the last act, just gets a little repetitive and a lot gnarly (not recommended if you can't deal with extended torture/rape scenes). the heavy stuff is justified given the thematics of the book, but there are some pretty egregious writing equivalents of whammy bar runs in the last bit of the book. this is at least as good as "tree of smoke" and way shorter, even if it's also too long.
also i listened to this on audible in the car so i may have gotten several characters confused and zoned out for brief portions of it but IT WAS STILL PRETTY GOOD
2/3rds of the way through this was five stars, tell your friends, but it shorts out in the last act, just gets a little repetitive and a lot gnarly (not recommended if you can't deal with extended torture/rape scenes). the heavy stuff is justified given the thematics of the book, but there are some pretty egregious writing equivalents of whammy bar runs in the last bit of the book. this is at least as good as "tree of smoke" and way shorter, even if it's also too long.
also i listened to this on audible in the car so i may have gotten several characters confused and zoned out for brief portions of it but IT WAS STILL PRETTY GOOD