The Sympathizer

This article is about the novel. For the miniseries, see The Sympathizer (miniseries).

The Sympathizer
First edition cover
AuthorViet Thanh Nguyen
Audio read byFrançois Chau[1]
Cover artistChristopher Moisan[2]
LanguageEnglish
GenreHistorical
Set inLos Angeles, Vietnam
PublisherGrove Press[3]
Publication date
7 April 2015[4]
Publication placeUnited States
Media typePrint (hardback & paperback), e-book, audiobook
Pages416 pp.[3]
AwardsPulitzer Prize for Fiction (2016)
Edgar Award for Best First Novel (2016)
Dayton Literary Peace Prize for Fiction (2016)
Center for Fiction First Novel Prize (2015)
Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction (2016)
Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature for Adult Fiction (2015)
ISBN978-0-8021-2345-9 (hardback)[5]
813/.6
LC ClassPS3614.G97 S96 2015
Followed byThe Committed 

The Sympathizer is the 2015 debut novel by Vietnamese-American professor and writer Viet Thanh Nguyen. It is a best-selling novel,[6] and recipient of the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. The novel received generally positive reviews from critics.[7] It was named on more than 30 best book of the year lists and a New York Times Editor's Choice.[8]

The novel incorporates elements from a number of different novel genres: mystery, political, metafiction,[9] dark comedic,[10] historical, spy, and war.[11] The story depicts the anonymous narrator, a North Vietnamese mole in the South Vietnamese army, who stays embedded in a South Vietnamese community in exile in the United States. While in the United States, the narrator describes being an expatriate and a cultural advisor on the filming of an American film, closely resembling Platoon and Apocalypse Now, before returning to Vietnam as part of a guerrilla raid against the communists.

The dual identity of the narrator, as a mole and immigrant, and the Americanization of the Vietnam War in international literature are central themes in the novel. The novel was published 40 years to the month after the fall of Saigon, which is the initial scene of the book.[12]

The novel was adapted as a television series of the same name, which premiered in April 2024, produced by A24 for HBO Max.

A sequel, titled The Committed, was published on March 2, 2021.[13]

  1. ^ "The Sympathizer (Audiobook) by Viet Thanh Nguyen". Audible. Archived from the original on 27 December 2023. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
  2. ^ Viet Thanh Nguyen (2 April 2015). The Sympathizer: A Novel (Pulitzer Prize for Fiction). Grove Atlantic. p. 10. ISBN 978-0-8021-9169-4. Archived from the original on 27 December 2023. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
  3. ^ a b "The Sympathizer". Grove Atlantic. Archived from the original on 27 December 2023. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
  4. ^ Thanh Nguyen, Viet (7 April 2015). "The Sympathizer". Kirkus Reviews. Archived from the original on 30 December 2023. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  5. ^ "The Sympathizer - Viet Thanh Nguyen". Tulane University Libraries. Archived from the original on 30 December 2023. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  6. ^ "The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen". Los Angeles Times. May 2015. Archived from the original on 1 November 2018. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
  7. ^ "Book Marks reviews of The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen". Book Marks. Archived from the original on 27 December 2023. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
  8. ^ "Editors' Choice". The New York Times. 10 April 2015. Archived from the original on 27 December 2023. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
  9. ^ Boyagoda, Randy (12 March 2016). "The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen review – a bold, artful debut". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 27 December 2023. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference TNYT was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ "Author Viet Thanh Nguyen Discusses 'The Sympathizer' And His Escape From Vietnam". NPR. 17 May 2016. Archived from the original on 30 December 2023. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  12. ^ NPR Staff (11 April 2015). "A Dark, Funny — And Vietnamese — Look At The Vietnam War". NPR. Archived from the original on 27 December 2023. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
  13. ^ Khatib, Joumana (24 February 2021). "16 New Books to Watch For in March". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 27 December 2023. Retrieved 27 December 2023.