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The Sympathizer  By  cover art

The Sympathizer

By: Viet Thanh Nguyen
Narrated by: Francois Chau
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Publisher's summary

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction 2016.

It is April 1975, and Saigon is in chaos. At his villa, a general of the South Vietnamese army is drinking whiskey and, with the help of his trusted captain, drawing up a list of those who will be given passage aboard the last flights out of the country. The general and his compatriots start a new life in Los Angeles, unaware that one among their number, the captain, is secretly observing and reporting on the group to a higher-up in the Viet Cong.

The Sympathizer is the story of this captain: a man brought up by an absent French father and a poor Vietnamese mother, a man who went to university in America but returned to Vietnam to fight for the Communist cause.

A gripping spy story, an astute exploration of extreme politics, and a moving love story, The Sympathizer explores a life between two worlds and examines the legacy of the Vietnam War in literature, film, and the wars we fight today.

©2016 Viet Thanh Nguyen (P)2016 Audible, Ltd

Critic reviews

"A fierce novel written in a refreshingly high style and charged with intelligent rage." ( Financial Times)
"[A] dark and exciting debut novel.... Black humour seeps through these pages." ( Wall Street Journal)

What listeners say about The Sympathizer

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Thriller or history lesson?

A complex, thoughtful book. Having grown up in the shadow of the Vietnam war in the US, I was stunned by this study of the interplay between the countries, personified by the title character whose gift and curse is that he sympathizes with both sides. Presumably the same goes for the author.

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Illuminating, intriguing and gut wrenching

The author's use of imagery is sardonic and paints a beautifully lurid picture of the hypocrisy of self-entitled idealogues intent on exercising what tgwy believe to be in the best interests of tge people.
Nguyen brings to life the complexities of Vietnamese culture in the 20th century, allowing western readers to glimpse into a non-Hollywoodised era and people. Being one of tge few books written from the perspective of the Vietnamese by a person of Vietnamese descent, it is essential reading for anyone interesred in studying the contentious wars that plagued Vietnamese people for decades.

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Best Narrator, best story.

An amazing book narrated by one of the best narrators. His voice colours in the moods and makes it an authentic story telling time.

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