2015Pulitzer 2016
The Sympathizer
Viet Thanh Nguyen · b. 1971 · Vietnam / United States
Why it matters
An unnamed communist double agent embeds himself among South Vietnamese refugees in Los Angeles, then among the Hollywood crew restaging the war he fled. Nguyen's Pulitzer-winning debut narrates Vietnam's war from the losing, exiled side, espionage plot and searing satire fused into one confession.
At a glance
war novelsatirepolitical novel
Difficulty 6/10fast pace371 pagesDense, allusive, single-paragraph-spanning sentences and a slippery, dual-loyalty narrator demand close attention.
Deep dive
Why a man of 'two faces and two minds,' loyal to everyone and trusted by no one, spends his own coerced confession interrogating a slogan he once thought he understood: 'nothing is more precious than independence and freedom.'
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