Reviews

The Committed by Viet Thanh Nguyen

mustakarppi's review against another edition

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adventurous dark reflective tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

ad_hoch's review against another edition

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challenging dark sad medium-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

4.75

nathanklainer's review against another edition

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slow-paced
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

arkstein's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

franklinroberts12's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny 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? It's complicated

4.25

I liked The Sympathizer more, but this is an incredible book. Highly recommend 
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mrdietz's review against another edition

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3.0

Not quite the revelation for me that The Sympathizer was. I’m not totally sure why this one was less successful despite being a direct continuation of the narrative. The fractured self of the narrator makes the telling of the story complicated. Perhaps I’m just more interested in the problems with American culture as opposed to French culture - which is not to say that Nguyen doesn’t totally, completely understand French culture. I think the book is remarkably impressive. There are some seriously dense portions of this focusing on philosophy that were tough to process. There’s a section in the epilogue that dives into the narrator’s developing philosophy on the value of nothing that made a lot of the book click. It did take me quite a while to read. Like the first book, there’s a tale of spies and violence propelling the action, but this one didn’t get under my skin in the same way. I think there are plenty of folks that will enjoy this book, but I’m leaving it finding that The Sympathizer is the superior work.

milogray209's review against another edition

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5.0

This book - and this series in general - is probably one of the best books I’ve ever read throughout my entire life. I really liked The Sympathizer but The Committed was somehow even better. I immediately wanted to reread it after finishing

parimelanie's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-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

4.0

alextbrouwer's review against another edition

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challenging funny informative fast-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

4.5

urkelgrue's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark reflective sad tense slow-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

3.25