Skip to content
Responsive image
Vendor
Fritz Agency
Christian Dittus
Original language
English
Categories

THE SYMPATHIZER

Viet Thanh Nguyen

A profound, startling, and beautifully crafted debut novel, The Sympathizer is the story of a man of two minds, someone whose political beliefs clash with his individual loyalties.

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 novel, 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.

Viet Thanh Nguyen was born in Vietnam and raised in America. His stories have appeared in Best New American Voices, TriQuarterly, Narrative, and the Chicago Tribune and he is the author of the academic book Race and Resistance. He teaches English and American Studies at the University of Southern California.

DER SYMPATHISANT
Deutsch von Wolfgang Mueller
]HC Blessing 08/17; TB Heyne 10/18]
Available products
Book

Published 2015-04-01 by Grove Press

Comments

I think I'd have to go all the way back to Nabokov's Humbert Humbert to find the last narrative voice that so completely conked me over the head and took me prisoner. Nguyen and his unnamed protagonist certainly have made a name for themselves with one of the smartest, darkest, funniest books you'll read this year. - David Abrams

Winner of the Dayton Peace Prize 2016 Read more...

"The first thing that struck me about the book was the voice, so assured and unusual—garrulous, persuasive, somewhat supercilious, very subversive, but totally winning. (...) At its heart, it's a piece of literary fiction with a beautiful voice and a gripping plot that takes you inside another person's brain. To my mind that's perhaps the best thing that fiction can be." (Editor Peter Blackstock, quoted in PW article) Read more...

Both chilling and funny, and a worthy addition to the library of first-rate novels about the Vietnam War. (starred review)

Brazil: Companhia das Letras; Vietnam: Nha Nam: Serbia: Laguna

Italy: Neri Pozza

Magisterial. A disturbing, fascinating and darkly comic take on the fall of Saigon and its aftermath, and a powerful examination of guilt and betrayal. The Sympathizer is destined to become a classic and redefine the way we think about the Vietnam War and what it means to win and to lose. - T.C. Boyle

Trapped in endless civil war, “the man who has two minds” tortures and is tortured as he tries to meld the halves of his country and of himself. Viet Thanh Nguyen accomplishes this integration in a magnificent feat of storytelling. The Sympathizer is a novel of literary, historical, and political importance. - Maxine Hong Kingston

Not only does Viet Thanh Nguyen bring a rare and authentic voice to the body of American literature generated by the Vietnam War, he has created a book that transcends history and politics and nationality and speaks to the enduring theme of literature: the universal quest for self, for identity. The Sympathizer is a stellar debut by a writer of depth and skill. - Robert Olen Butler

Catalan: Empuries

Poland: Muza

Read this novel with care; it is easy to read, wry, ironic, wise, and captivating, but it could change not only your outlook on the Vietnam War, but your outlook on what you believe about politics and ideology in general. It does what the best of literature does, expands your consciousness beyond the limitations of your body and individual circumstances. - Karl Marlantes

Shortlisted for a Los Angeles Book Prize in the category Mystery/Thriller

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction 2016

Winner of the Center for Fiction's First Novel Award for 2015 Read more...

Amazon editors have posted their annual package of picks for best books of the year -- from a top 100 books list to a roster of top 20 picks across more than 20 categories. Among their top 20 books overall, THE SYMPATHIZER ranked at #17.

It's hard to believe this effort, one of the best recent novels to cover the Vietnamese conflict from an Asian perspective, is a debut. This is right up there with Denis Johnson's The Tree of Smoke. (starred review)

Named one of the Top Ten Best Books of 2015. Read more...

UK: Corsair

Nominated for an Edgar Award for Best First Novel Read more...

Kirkus Best Fiction Books 2015 Read more...

Longlisted for the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize for Debut Fiction, and one of three finalists for the ALA Carnegie Award for Fiction 2015. Read more...

This astonishing first novel has at its core a lively, wry first-person narrator ... Nguyen's novel enlivens debate about history and human nature, and his narrator has a poignant, often mirthful voice. (starred review) Read more...

France: Belfond (pre-empt, 2 books)

Winner of the ALA Carnegie Award for Excellence in Fiction Read more...

Finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award Read more...

Winner of the Edgar Award for Best First Novel Read more...

Spain: Planeta