Lit in Translation

The Sympathizer

The Sympathizer

Viet Thanh Nguyen (born 1971)

English editions

Written in English

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The narrator, a captain of mixed French and Vietnamese parentage, leads a double life: aide to a South Vietnamese general and secretly an agent of the communists. When Saigon falls in 1975 he gets out with the general on one of the final flights, together with his school friend Bon, who loses his wife and son to gunfire during the escape; their other friend, Man, remains in Vietnam as his handler. In Los Angeles the exiles end up working as janitors and cooks, while the general runs a liquor store and then a restaurant that secretly raises money for a counter-revolution. The captain informs on the exile community, advises on a Hollywood film about the war, and finds his loyalties blurring as he must betray others to stay hidden.

AI-generated summary

About the book

Form
Novel
Genres
War, Politics, Migration (assigned by AI)
Set in
Vietnam, United States, 1975
First published
2015
Author's age
44 when first published
ISBN

9780802123459 (Grove Press, United States)

9780802124944 (Grove Press, United States)

9781472151360 (Corsair, United Kingdom)

More
Wikidata