What are you reading? “The Sympathizer” by Viet Thanh Nguyen.

Source: Wikipedia

J. Antonio's Contribution

I selected this book after reading several excellent reviews. I had gone to Viet Nam years ago and was very interested in reading more about the war.

Needless to say, the VietNam played an important part in western society and there was a traumatic experience for the States. It was the first war the US lost. This book gives us the story from the Vietnamese point of view. The unnamed protagonist referred to as the Capitan goes to the University in the US and returns to his country to fight on the South Vietnamese side. However, he is a mole and agent for the Viet Cong. So the book starts as the Americans are fleeing Saigon along with some Vietnamese who are lucky enough to escape. The Captain is one. He goes on to describe his life in the US and then his return to Vietnam to help overthrow the new Communist government.

Viet Thanh Nguyen does an amazing job of describing the fall of Saigon. He also gave me an appreciation for South Vietnamese culture. This first part of the book was so strong and I was hooked.

There is dry humour in this book. Some of the descriptions are laugh-out-loud funny. But humorous or not, all perfectly capture the mood and era.

The book touches on a lot of issues – war, loyalty, betrayal, the sense of other, discrimination, arts as propaganda and who writes history. While the writing is beautiful throughout, I have to admit at times the book really dragged. I kept losing interest. There are many good things I can say about The Sympathizer but it was not my liking. The writing is exquisite although he took five pages to say something when one page

would suffice. He is funny, ironic and satirical. The torture scenes were too graphic for me and too long. There is a description of a horrific rape scene. The Captain says he can see both sides and nobody escapes his scathing comments. Americans, North Vietnamese, and South Vietnamese are all fair game.

The Captain goes to the Philippines to be a consultant on a movie

about Viet Nam. The commentary is biting and pretty funny. I think it is loosely based on “Apocalypse Now” by Francis Ford Coppola.

I liked many parts of this overlong book and it was educational to get the point of view of a Vietnamese immigrant although the author makes an effort to remind us that these were not immigrants but refugees fleeing from a war that the US started. 

Summing, it up not one of my favourites that we have read this summer.

Youtube: Yale University - Viet Thanh Nguyen: "The Sympathizer, Memory of the Vietnam War"