A review by waterlilyreads
The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I've genuinely never read a book like this before. In my senior year of high school, I took a Vietnam War lit and film class, so I've seen and the propaganda-filled media alluded to in The Sympathizer. Most of these were from the perspective of American soldiers and medical staff, so I was looking forward to reading this book from the Vietnamese perspective. I was expecting more of the action to be in-country during the war, but the perspective of being in America in the aftermath was still compelling.
Viet Thanh Nguyen's writing style is powerful. He writes in an almost poetic style, full of metaphors and analogies that draw you in and make the imagery all the more real. The lack of quotation marks was an interesting choice, and often difficult to follow given the length of many paragraphs, but I managed.
The unnamed narrator provided a very interesting perspective on the war. He talked about his Eurasian identity, and how he often felt as if he didn't fit in any community because of his conflicting identities. He (and also the author) provided many compelling thought points about communism, art in revolution, political theory, and morality. Every character in this book is about as morally-grey as it gets. I am one who prefers mostly loveable protagonists, but this perspective is still necessary and highlights the complexities of the war.
Overall, I enjoyed reading this book. I was a little wary of the graphic material in the book. I understand that it is important to not shy away from the horrors of the Vietnam War and the treatment many Vietnamese people faced at the hands of American military leaders, but some of it was very difficult to read. Please be aware of the content warnings from this book--when it says graphic, it means GRAPHIC. The narrator also regularly expressed explicit misogyny and some heavily-implied homophobic sentiments in his internal monologue. I understand that these views were commonplace in the 20th century, but it still uncomfortable to read--especially in a book written in the last decade. There was no indication that the author did not feel this way, especially given that the narrator is unnamed and is difficult to separate from the author; I am wary of books where this distinction is not clear.
I can totally see why this won the Pulitzer Prize. Reading it made me uncomfortable in good and bad ways and provided a new perspective on the Vietnam War. I am looking forward to reading more on the Vietnamese side of the war, especially from the side of those who remained in the north before, during, and after the war.
Viet Thanh Nguyen's writing style is powerful. He writes in an almost poetic style, full of metaphors and analogies that draw you in and make the imagery all the more real. The lack of quotation marks was an interesting choice, and often difficult to follow given the length of many paragraphs, but I managed.
The unnamed narrator provided a very interesting perspective on the war. He talked about his Eurasian identity, and how he often felt as if he didn't fit in any community because of his conflicting identities. He (and also the author) provided many compelling thought points about communism, art in revolution, political theory, and morality. Every character in this book is about as morally-grey as it gets. I am one who prefers mostly loveable protagonists, but this perspective is still necessary and highlights the complexities of the war.
Overall, I enjoyed reading this book. I was a little wary of the graphic material in the book. I understand that it is important to not shy away from the horrors of the Vietnam War and the treatment many Vietnamese people faced at the hands of American military leaders, but some of it was very difficult to read. Please be aware of the content warnings from this book--when it says graphic, it means GRAPHIC. The narrator also regularly expressed explicit misogyny and some heavily-implied homophobic sentiments in his internal monologue. I understand that these views were commonplace in the 20th century, but it still uncomfortable to read--especially in a book written in the last decade. There was no indication that the author did not feel this way, especially given that the narrator is unnamed and is difficult to separate from the author; I am wary of books where this distinction is not clear.
I can totally see why this won the Pulitzer Prize. Reading it made me uncomfortable in good and bad ways and provided a new perspective on the Vietnam War. I am looking forward to reading more on the Vietnamese side of the war, especially from the side of those who remained in the north before, during, and after the war.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexism, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Gore, Homophobia, Sexual content, and Violence