About the Book
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The Sympathizer
by
Publication Date: 2015The winner of the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, as well as seven other awards,The Sympathizer is the breakthrough novel of the year. With the pace and suspense of a thriller and prose that has been compared to Graham Greene and Saul Bellow,The Sympathizer is a sweeping epic of love and betrayal. The narrator, a communist double agent, is a "man of two minds," a half-French, half-Vietnamese army captain who arranges to come to America after the Fall of Saigon, and while building a new life with other Vietnamese refugees in Los Angeles is secretly reporting back to his communist superiors in Vietnam.The Sympathizer is a blistering exploration of identity and America, a gripping espionage novel, and a powerful story of love and friendship.
Nguyen on the The Sympathizer and Vietnam
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OUR VIETNAM WAR NEVER ENDED (article)This article by Viet Thanh Nguyen was originally published in The New York Times on April 24, 2015. A version of this oped appears in print on April 26, 2015, on page SR4 of the New York edition with the headline: Our Vietnam War Never Ended.
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Author Viet Thanh Nguyen Discusses 'The Sympathizer' And His Escape From Vietnam (podcast, 35 minutes)Interview with Terry Gross on NPR's Fresh Air. May 17, 2016
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This is Hell! On the limitations of memory and the persistence of war. (Podcast, 50 minutes)Writer Viet Thanh Nguyen explores the ways war wins itself in the minds of the American public - from the erasure of conflict's economic roots and civilian victims alike, to the coercive power of the US memory industry to commodify and alter historical perspective - and warns that unless we radically revisit our understanding of wars past, they'll push us towards wars future.
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Writers and Company Viet Thanh Nguyen (Podcast, 52 minutes)Writers & Company with Eleanor Wachtel: Viet Thanh Nguyen Podcast. Air Date: Oct 02, 2016
"Eleanor speaks with Vietnamese-American author Viet Thanh Nguyen, winner of the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for his debut novel, "The Sympathizer." Viet talks about his family's harrowing escape from Saigon, and how his dual identity influences his life and work."