The Sympathizer
By
Viet Thanh Nguyen
Viet Thanh Nguyen
2015 • 384 pages

Ratings159

Average rating4.1

15
agoder
Andrey Goder
  • Interesting central conceit (Vietnamese double agent after the end of the Vietnam war).
    + Had some good satirical parts, e.g. making the Vietnam war film and other commentary on life in the US.

    - Writing was very rambling, especially in the last third. Really could have used some editing. The whole last third felt like a bad version of Darkness at Noon.
    - The ending was really illogical and random.
    - The main character was not very interesting. It wasn't clear what his motivations were and why we should really care about him.
    - I wish it had explored more about either the Vietnamese immigrant experience or life in Vietnam after the end of the war.
June 12, 2018