Who Has Read "The Sympathizer" by Viet Thanh Nguyen, This Year's Pulitzer Winner For Fiction? [View all]

[HuckleB]

Viet Thanh Nguyen wins the Pulitzer Prize for fiction for 'The Sympathizer'
http://www.latimes.com/books/jacketcopy/la-et-jc-viet-thanh-nguyen-pulitzer-prize-fiction-sympathizer-20160418-story.html

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The Pulitzer committee lauded "The Sympathizer" as "a layered immigrant tale told in the wry, confessional voice of a 'man of two minds' -- and two countries, Vietnam and the United States."

Nguyen, who lives in Los Angeles, was born in Vietnam; his family came to the U.S. as refugees in 1975. "The Sympathizer," which follows a wickedly smart double-agent for South Vietnam, begins at the end of the Vietnam War, moves to Southern California and eventually winds up on a film set not unlike "Apocalypse Now." Part thriller, part political satire, "The Sympathizer" is sharp-edged fiction.

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Nguyen explained, "The book is confession from one Vietnamese person to another – it was always designed to be addressed to Vietnamese people – anyone else who’s reading they are not the intended audience, at least not in the novel. I thought I was writing the book for myself, but to reach a larger audience it would have to speak to multiple audiences – from the feedback I’ve received, they’ve responded very positively to the book too."

Talking to the Times in 2015, Nguyen explained his perspective in creating the character. "You have a much happier life if you just see things from one point of view. You have no ambiguity," he says. The protagonist of "The Sympathizer" -- who goes unnamed throughout the book -- has to see two sides, constantly judging others and himself in a moral morass.

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And a short interview with the author:

Pulitzer fiction prize winner: 'People fear refugees'
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-36088984

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I'm about half-way through, and it's amazing, so far. So many issues dear to the hearts of DUers are explored.