Viet Thanh Nguyen, "The Sympathizer"
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- Опубліковано 19 тра 2015
- Nguyen's first novel starts with the 1975 collapse of Saigon and follows a group of upper-echelon Vietnamese on one of the last helicopter flights out. The General, his family, and the Captain, who narrates this account, wind up in California. While the General opens a liquor store and then a restaurant, the Captain maintains a vigorous second life as a spy, reporting to the Communists back home. Sometimes humorous, often angry, this explosive narrative investigates questions of divided loyalties, exploring what it means when the personal and the political clash.
Founded by Carla Cohen and Barbara Meade in 1984, Politics & Prose Bookstore is Washington, D.C.'s premier independent bookstore and cultural hub, a gathering place for people interested in reading and discussing books. Politics & Prose offers superior service, unusual book choices, and a haven for book lovers in the store and online. Visit them on the web at www.politics-prose.com/
Professor Viet Nguyen, he is an inspiration to all, especially to Vietnamese and Vietnamese Americans for going against the norm to obtain a PhD in English and winning the Pulitzer Prize award as a refugee. Must of been hard to convince your parents that you were not majoring in anything related to medicine or engineering. English is a difficult language to master. Your success is proof that hard work and perseverance are cornerstones to achieving any dream in America.
Listening to the author reading his own work is always special! Thank you for posting this.
one of the most harrowing books i’ve ever read. felt like it reshaped my mind. thank you sir!
thank you to Politics & Prose for posting this
Wish I was there and knew of this book earlier. Almost finished reading the book. 1-2 more chapters to go.
Nicely done! I listened to Francois Chau narrate this book on Audible...yet, there is nothing like hearing an author speak the words he has written. :D
That last point is so fucking important and spot on. Everybody is more interested in the views and lives of the american and NVA soldiers, but never the south vietnamese soldiers who died there. Their cemetary is disrepected in their own country. As far as north vietnam communism is concerned, the united states is their indirect ally in desecrating the memory of the south vietnamese. The south vietnamese lost their country and now they lost their identity and part of history too.
Quality content 👍
I very much enjoyed reading the book, and feeling deeply enriched and educated by it also. All the best that novels can achieve. thank you !
Wonderful to hear this talk by the author. I am part of a group of “old ladies” that are reading through the Pulitzer Prize winners for fiction. I have about a hundred pages left. The name of this site - Politics and Prose is perfect (obviously) for this book. The literary moments throughout the book are my favorite of which I could site many and made notes. I will dwell heavily on those since talking Politics is never my favorite thing. I’ve learned a lot in this book! An aside: My son and daughter-in-law honeymooned in Viet Nam because it was one of her favorite places!
0:26 the Rembrandt book behind him tho.
Por favor subtítulos en español
Great book. It reminded me of The Gadfly book. I am not sure that book had its influence on author.
22:44 I've been in Vietnam recently. The majority of people still scream like that, even when they are having a normal conversation. Is it a cultural thing, or is there some trauma ongoing? The rest of Southeast Asians didn't seem to be so loud. I'm really wondering, and I hope I'm not offending anyone with my question.
It's the language, they emphasize certain vowels or sounds of a word. Because a word can be written the same but the way you say it has different meanings. It's the type of language you cannot speak lazily or casually like most western languages.
They speak louder because of that. It's a not a recent cultural or war thing.
25:25 - Tragedy + Time = Comedy
Hi former Martinians
they lost to rice farmers