Reviews tagging 'Xenophobia'

The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen

43 reviews

merle98's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark informative tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

Great book but I am detracting 0.5 stars for the fact that every single female character in the book is either a food-providing wife/mother, a love interest or sexual partner or being brutally raped/tortured/killed off to advance the male protagonist's plotline (or a mix thereof).  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Gore, Murder, Vomit, Xenophobia, War, Violence, Torture, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Sexism, Racism, Racial slurs, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Misogyny, Mental illness, Medical content, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Drug use, Death of parent, Death, Colonisation, Blood, Alcohol, Adult/minor relationship, and Abandonment

kshertz's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

The writing is beautiful which is to say, way above my reading/intelligence level. But at the end it does say it’s not for the dominant white groups so that makes sense. It’s not for me. It’s not linear, there’s no way a book about the Vietnam war is going to have a happy ending. But I learned a lot, which is the whole reason to read it and it challenged me. So, I recommend it if you want to be challenged and learn a lot. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Child death, War, Xenophobia, Violence, Torture, Racial slurs, Physical abuse, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Gore, Grief, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Cultural appropriation, Confinement, and Colonisation

ronpayne's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny informative tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Torture, Violence, War, Xenophobia, Sexual violence, Racism, Murder, Gore, Fatphobia, and Death

kaseyd's review against another edition

dark reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Torture, Violence, War, and Xenophobia

bookmarkparty's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Well, I can see why this won a Pulitzer… such a unique and fascinating read!

This book came out in 2015, but I’m so glad I read it when I did. The parallels between the first few chapters and current events were truly uncanny.

While the Sympathizer is a work of fiction, its historical and political commentary is quite masterful. Beginning in 1975 at the tail-end of the Vietnam War (or the American War, as the Vietnamese refer to it), the book opens with our narrator and his “allies” fleeing to the airport in hopes of escaping Vietnam as Saigon falls to communist rule. After surviving numerous bombings at the airport and successfully fleeing to the United Sates aboard one of the last flights out of the county, our narrator - a communist spy serving as a captain in the South Vietnamese army - starts a new life in Los Angeles. Far from home, our protagonist is tasked with keeping an eye on the resistance as he maintains relationships with his fellow South Vietnamese refugees and reports back to the Viet Cong…. because “wars never die, they just go to sleep.”

I’ve read several Pulitzer Prize winning books that I enjoyed but didn’t necessarily feel were worthy of the most prestigious literary award. However, The Sympathizer deserves all the high praise. Not only does the book shed incredible light on the legacy of the Vietnam War in literature, media and politics, but it’s laced with humor and self-deprecating satire as well as difficult-to-read historical evidence that proves no party is ever innocent in war.

One of the most interesting parts of the book, for me at least, was the reflection on the US involvement in (and sudden withdrawal from) the Vietnam War. The author, a Vietnamese American, leaves no party unscathed in his critique on the war and American culture.

“After all, nothing was more American than wielding a gun and committing oneself to die for freedom and independence, unless it was wielding that gun to take away someone else’s freedom and independence.”

If you are remotely interested in history, politics, international relations and/or just excellent literature, this is a must read!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Death, Torture, Murder, Rape, Racism, and Xenophobia

jthuctran's review

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

 a lot to think about. it was overall a meaningful read - something that'll stick with me for a long time.  

the big critique i have with this is that the middle section aka the bulk of the book

(where he goes to work on that film abroad, and later gets injured at his mother's fake grave)

felt as though it was just one big filler episode. i didn't quite see the point in it, there was some meaning in it but it felt like it dragged on for longer than it should have, and i was praying and praying for it to be done with.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Forced institutionalization, Gun violence, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Death of parent, Racism, and Xenophobia

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

fluoresensitive's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Tw; rape, so ... So many unsettling things
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.
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Beautifully written, but shockingly anti-Black at times. Not to mention the two rapes that take place, oof.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Alcoholism, Blood, Violence, Xenophobia, Torture, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Sexual violence, Racism, Racial slurs, Rape, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Murder, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, and Death

caidyn's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Wow. This book. I started it yesterday and couldn't put it down until I was finished. This book was absolutely amazing. I so enjoyed it, even though I was repulsed by it at times. The narrator is so flawed. He's sexist, borderline homophobic, and has done/witnessed horrible things without stopping them. Yet, I was compelled to read it in one sitting. I cannot wait to read the next book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexism, and Xenophobia

independent_wombat's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Racism, Rape, Torture, Violence, and Xenophobia

emgulph's review against another edition

challenging dark tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Don't get me wrong, I loved this book. It was a stunning visual into the intricacies of the Vietnam war, with a refreshing focus on the crimes of all the powers involved, not taking sides. The refuges and victims of the Vietnam War are allowed to be both angry with their so-called American saviors and with their home country in disrepair.

That being said, much of the content in this work is shocking and not for the faint of heart. It's a book about war. Fresh out of finishing this, I'm sure there are content warnings I forgot to list below. There were many moments where I needed to pause and catch my breath.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Murder, Gun violence, Forced institutionalization, and Animal cruelty

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Mental illness, and Xenophobia

Minor: Homophobia and Sexual content