A review by sarahsthoughtsonbooks
The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen

challenging dark informative reflective slow-paced
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I don't know which books it was competing against, it deserves the Pulitzer and any other awards it won. 

Also satire goes over my head, so I might have missed things. 

This book made me put down the book then go down a rabbit hole of Wikipedia to learn more about the Vietnam War (or as it's also known, The American War). Love how Viet Thanh Nguyen wasn't pulling any punches, and he was not necessarily writing to the white audience or those without a working knowledge about the war.

Two themes that I picked up that on - not all on screen representation is good (parody/fictionalisation of Apocalypse Now), and belonging (will probably explore more of this in my IG caption).

Also, while the author has likely done many podcasts interviews, I highly recommend listening to Asian Enough, Season 1, Episode 2. It's my absolute favorite season 1 episode (and John Cho was the guest in the first episode, so that's a high bar in my eyes)
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