My Review of the Sympathizer by Viet Than Nguyen on GoodReads

The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars



This book rattled me. Not going to lie I was shaken when I finished reading this book. Our main character is a man who escaped the Vietnam War as a refuge and ally, but he's got a secret, he is leading a double life a secret agent, a spy for the communist. He lives in America, but he is not one of us, so he comments on our culture, our customs and our hypocrisy, and then he goes back to communist Vietnam.

This is an amazing story written in a style that I don't quite have a name for, it's a first person narrative that manages to be self-critical and observant. The observations the man made while in America were quite eye opening, there were some parts that seemed obvious but others were new, I love it when a book makes me challenge my assumptions and make me consider new points of view. As a person who grew up watching the Vietnam War movies of the 80s, I grew up influenced by America's reaction to the War, yet all the books I read and the few conversations I had with actual Vietnam vets did not give me a full picture of the people of Vietnam. How did they see the war? How do they see us, US?
I liked the history lessons, the tropes ridiculed, the stereotypes challenged and the usual cliches exploded. I recommend this book to anyone who likes history, specially US history.

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