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A review by shelfexplanatory
The Committed by Viet Thanh Nguyen
4.0
I am once again in awe of Viet Thanh Nguyen's writing, wordplay, and his ability to pack so much into his prose. The writing and narration style changes somewhat in this book, and there's several places where second person narration and page long run-on sentences are used. These devices are used to illustrate the altered mental state of the Captain following the events in THE SYMPATHIZER. I can see how these could be a turn off for other readers, but I felt that they did a good job at depicting the character's instability.
THE COMMITTED expounds on many of the same themes as THE SYMPATHIZER, but with a greater emphasis on colonialism with France as the backdrop. In a way, THE SYMPATHIZER is like a 101 level university course, in that it lays down the foundational themes. In contrast, THE COMMITTED is an upper division course that digs deeper into the theory, while looking more closely at the nuances and contradictions.
If you loved THE SYMPATHIZER, THE COMMITTED is an excellent follow-up that is even more irreverent than the first.
Thank you to NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for providing me an advanced readers copy of this book! I can't wait to get my hands on my pre-order when it comes out (March 2, 2021)! Stay tuned for my full review (at which time this post will be edited and I will provide a star rating).
cw: drug and alcohol use, gang violence/murder, prostitution, suicide
THE COMMITTED expounds on many of the same themes as THE SYMPATHIZER, but with a greater emphasis on colonialism with France as the backdrop. In a way, THE SYMPATHIZER is like a 101 level university course, in that it lays down the foundational themes. In contrast, THE COMMITTED is an upper division course that digs deeper into the theory, while looking more closely at the nuances and contradictions.
If you loved THE SYMPATHIZER, THE COMMITTED is an excellent follow-up that is even more irreverent than the first.
Thank you to NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for providing me an advanced readers copy of this book! I can't wait to get my hands on my pre-order when it comes out (March 2, 2021)! Stay tuned for my full review (at which time this post will be edited and I will provide a star rating).
cw: drug and alcohol use, gang violence/murder, prostitution, suicide