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The Sympathizer: Now a Sky Exclusive limited series Paperback – 12 April 2016
by Viet Thanh Nguyen (Author)
4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars (27,369)
Book 1 of 2: The Sympathizer
Edition: 1st
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WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE FOR FICTION 2016
It is April 1975, and Saigon is in chaos. At his villa, a general of the South Vietnamese army is drinking whiskey and, with the help of his trusted captain, drawing up a list of those who will be given passage aboard the last flights out of the country. The general and his compatriots start a new life in Los Angeles, unaware that one among their number, the captain, is secretly observing and reporting on the group to a higher-up in the Viet Cong. THE SYMPATHIZER is the story of this captain: a man brought up by an absent French father and a poor Vietnamese mother, a man who went to university in America, but returned to Vietnam to fight for the Communist cause.
A gripping spy novel, an astute exploration of extreme politics, and a moving love story, THE SYMPATHIZER explores a life between two worlds and examines the legacy of the Vietnam War in literature, film, and the wars we fight today.
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It is always better to admire the best among our foes rather than the worst among our friends.
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[A] remarkable debut novel . . . [Nguyen] brings a distinctive perspective to the war and its aftermath. His book fills a void in the literature, giving voice to the previously voiceless while it compels the rest of us to look at the events of 40 years ago in a new light. But this tragicomic novel reaches beyond its historical context to illuminate more universal themes . . . The nameless protagonist-narrator, a memorable character despite his anonymity, is an Americanized Vietnamese with a divided heart and mind. Nguyen's skill in portraying this sort of ambivalent personality compares favorably with masters like Conrad, Greene, and le Carre. . . . Both thriller and social satire. . . . In its final chapters, The Sympathizer becomes an absurdist tour de force that might have been written by a Kafka or Genet. - Philip Caputo, New York Times Book Review
Viet Thanh Nguyen's The Sympathizer brilliantly draws you in with the opening line: "I am a spy, a sleeper, a spook, a man of two faces." It's thrilling, rhythmic, and astonishing, as is the rest of Nguyen's enthralling portrayal of the Vietnam War. The narrator is an undercover communist agent posing as a captain in the Southern Vietnamese Army. Set during the fall of Saigon and the years after in America, the captain spies on the general and the men he escaped with, sharing his information with his communist blood brothers in coded letters. But when his allegiance is called into question, he must act in a way that will haunt him forever. Political, historical, romantic and comic, The Sympathizer is a rich and hugely gratifying story that captures the complexity of the war and what it means to be of two minds. - Al Woodworth, Amazon Best Book of April 2015
Not only does Viet Thanh Nguyen bring a rare and authentic voice to the body of American literature generated by the Vietnam War, he has created a book that transcends history and politics and nationality and speaks to the enduring theme of literature: the universal quest for self, for identity. The Sympathizer is a stellar debut by a writer of depth and skill - Robert Olen Butler, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain
Trapped in endless civil war, 'the man who has two minds' tortures and is tortured as he tries to meld the halves of his country and of himself. Viet Thanh Nguyen accomplishes this integration in a magnificent feat of storytelling. The Sympathizer is a novel of literary, historical, and political importance. - Maxine Hong Kingston, author of The Fifth Book of Peace
Review
[A] remarkable debut novel . . . [Nguyen] brings a distinctive perspective to the war and its aftermath. His book fills a void in the literature, giving voice to the previously voiceless while it compels the rest of us to look at the events of 40 years ago in a new light. But this tragicomic novel reaches beyond its historical context to illuminate more universal themes . . . The nameless protagonist-narrator, a memorable character despite his anonymity, is an Americanized Vietnamese with a divided heart and mind. Nguyen's skill in portraying this sort of ambivalent personality compares favorably with masters like Conrad, Greene, and le Carre. . . . Both thriller and social satire. . . . In its final chapters, The Sympathizer becomes an absurdist tour de force that might have been written by a Kafka or Genet. - Philip Caputo, New York Times Book Review
Viet Thanh Nguyen's The Sympathizer brilliantly draws you in with the opening line: "I am a spy, a sleeper, a spook, a man of two faces." It's thrilling, rhythmic, and astonishing, as is the rest of Nguyen's enthralling portrayal of the Vietnam War. The narrator is an undercover communist agent posing as a captain in the Southern Vietnamese Army. Set during the fall of Saigon and the years after in America, the captain spies on the general and the men he escaped with, sharing his information with his communist blood brothers in coded letters. But when his allegiance is called into question, he must act in a way that will haunt him forever. Political, historical, romantic and comic, The Sympathizer is a rich and hugely gratifying story that captures the complexity of the war and what it means to be of two minds. - Al Woodworth, Amazon Best Book of April 2015
Not only does Viet Thanh Nguyen bring a rare and authentic voice to the body of American literature generated by the Vietnam War, he has created a book that transcends history and politics and nationality and speaks to the enduring theme of literature: the universal quest for self, for identity. The Sympathizer is a stellar debut by a writer of depth and skill - Robert Olen Butler, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain
Trapped in endless civil war, 'the man who has two minds' tortures and is tortured as he tries to meld the halves of his country and of himself. Viet Thanh Nguyen accomplishes this integration in a magnificent feat of storytelling. The Sympathizer is a novel of literary, historical, and political importance. - Maxine Hong Kingston, author of The Fifth Book of Peace
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The Sympathizer: Now a Sky Exclusive limited seriesProduct details
Publisher : Corsair
Publication date : 12 April 2016
Edition : 1st
Language : English
Print length : 384 pages
ISBN-10 : 1472151364
ISBN-13 : 978-1472151360
Item weight : 402 g
Dimensions : 13.1 x 3.3 x 19.9 cm
Book 1 of 2 : The Sympathizer
Best Sellers Rank: 47,410 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)21 in Asian American & Pacific Islander Literature
461 in Classic Literature & Fiction
1,281 in Literary Fiction (Books)
Customer Reviews:
4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars (27,369)
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Viet Thanh Nguyen
Viet Thanh Nguyen was born in Vietnam and raised in America. He is the author of The Committed, which continues the story of The Sympathizer, awarded the 2016 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction, alongside seven other prizes. He is also the author of the short story collection The Refugees; the nonfiction book Nothing Ever Dies, a finalist for the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award; the children's book Chicken of the Sea, with his son Ellison and with Thi Bui and Hien Bui-Stafford; and is the editor of an anthology of refugee writing, The Displaced, as well as the co-editor of The Cleaving: Vietnamese Writers in the Diaspora. His most recent book, To Save and to Destroy, explores the idea of being an outsider. He is a University Professor and the Aerol Arnold Professor of English and American Studies and Ethnicity at the University of Southern California and a recipient of fellowships from the Guggenheim and MacArthur foundations. He lives in Los Angeles.
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4.0 out of 5 stars Great insights but overdone psycho terror.Reviewed in Australia on 22 May 2025
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The first seven eighths of the novel are engrossing and illuminating of both recent history and humanity’s myriad ways of seeing and coping in stressful contexts. It is let down by an overdone and verbose treatment of the psychological torture pursued by the winners in history.
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Exceptional.Reviewed in Australia on 10 February 2020
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One of the best books I have ever read! Smooth and breezy prose which drags you ever further into this exquisite novel’s grip.
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Gary Cassidy
3.0 out of 5 stars Great to frustrating readReviewed in Australia on 30 August 2019
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Mostly a good read. Found the depth of the characters couldn’t the length of the book. 100 pages too long.
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Jollop
4.0 out of 5 stars Challenging BookReviewed in Australia on 26 April 2021
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A challenging book from a range of perspectives where the protagonist, a refugee and spy makes a confession to an unnamed Commandant who later is revealed as his captor. Initially, he is as an aide to “the general”, chief of the national police and later as his unpaid ‘gopher’ following their fleeing of Saigon. Through his role as a man with ‘two faces’ (later, two minds) the tragedy of the war where the Vietnamese are generally seen as bit players is dispelled. I struggled with the later chapters where the mood darkened and the ending seeming disconnected to what had occurred previously.
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Jim KABLE
5.0 out of 5 stars Dividing One's SympathiesReviewed in Australia on 28 November 2017
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Brilliant book full of truth out of the craziness of seeking liberation from colonization and then further invasion and colonization by a powerful "friend" playing the "them" and "us" dangerous game. Very impressive - as seen from my Australian eyes!
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Tim Nicholas
4.0 out of 5 stars Masterfully written.Reviewed in Australia on 1 February 2021
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This is a wild 'ride' from Vietnam to LA and back. Over the course of the book many 'home truths' about relationships, culture, and loyalty are laid bare. A real thought-provoking story.
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Yvette Diaz
5.0 out of 5 stars like the squid scene and interrogation scenesReviewed in Australia on 25 September 2016
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This book was overwhelming and educational. It explores identity, friendship, politics, war, and torture. I learnt different ways of looking at Vietnamese and American culture. Certain parts in the book stand out, like the squid scene and interrogation scenes. I need to read this book again to better understand the ideas that have been brought up.
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5.0 out of 5 stars I sympatjize with this historyReviewed in France on 28 August 2018
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The Sympathizer has entered in my top 10 of books. Smart narrative and some times funny, going deep into identity and war subjects. Some references took me to discover vietnam and its war. A good voyage that you totally enjoy.
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Mike
5.0 out of 5 stars Well writtenReviewed in Canada on 20 November 2024
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Well written. Crazy story. Not a typical war story. Heavy on the satire and humor. Very enjoyable and a fun read
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Matthias Zimmer
5.0 out of 5 stars tolles BuchReviewed in Germany on 25 August 2025
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Ein tolles Buch. Spannend und authentisch. Viele interessante Hintergrundinformationen. Die Art des Schreibens des Autors ist sehr eloquent. Bin schon gespannt auf das nächste Buch!
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Valerie M Schneider
5.0 out of 5 stars When Nothing is All You Can SayReviewed in Mexico on 23 April 2021
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Nguyen's writing, in spite of the topic, is, page after page, beautiful.
The story offered me insight into the lives of political refugees that have not been shown to me by any other source.
Though the story provided many harrowing moments, each one was necessary to paint the vivid events that colored this period of history.
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Cesare
5.0 out of 5 stars A truly great novelReviewed in Italy on 28 August 2025
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5/5
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<한국어 | 1,000 단어 내외 요약+평론>
<작품 개요>
비엣 타인 응우옌(Viet Thanh Nguyen)의 소설 <The Sympathizer>(한국어 통용 번역: <동조자>)는 베트남전의 “승자/패자” 구도를 뒤집어, 전쟁 이후의 난민 경험, 이념의 폭력, 제국의 시선, 그리고 개인 내부의 분열을 블랙코미디와 스파이 스릴러의 형식으로 밀어붙이는 작품이다. 주인공은 남베트남 장교이자 공산 측의 이중 스파이로, 두 체제에 “동시에 속하면서 동시에 배반하는” 존재다. 이 소설의 핵심 긴장은 ‘어느 편인가’가 아니라 ‘어느 편에도 온전히 속할 수 없는 사람’이 겪는 윤리적·정신적 파열에서 나온다.
<줄거리 요약>
서사는 “자백서”의 형태로 시작된다. 이름이 끝내 명확히 고정되지 않는 ‘대위(캡틴)’는 사이공 함락 직전 남베트남 권력층의 핵심 인물 ‘장군’의 측근으로 일하면서, 동시에 북쪽 혁명조직에 정보를 흘리는 스파이다. 패망이 확정되자 그는 장군 일행과 함께 미국으로 탈출한다. 이 탈출은 ‘망명’이자 ‘작전’이다. 그는 미국에서 난민 공동체의 정착 과정을 돕고, 장군의 재기(재반격) 프로젝트에 관여하면서도, 계속해서 상부에 보고한다.
미국 파트는 “자유”의 약속이 실은 또 다른 규율과 계급, 인종적 위계로 작동하는 과정을 해부한다. 주인공은 난민 공동체의 내부 정치(돈, 충성, 체면, 복수)를 목격하고, 자신이 믿는 혁명조차 개인의 존엄을 소모시키는 장치가 될 수 있음을 직감한다. 그러다 그는 영화 제작 현장에 “자문”으로 참여하게 되는데, 여기서 소설의 풍자가 폭발한다. 할리우드 전쟁영화는 베트남인의 목소리를 삭제한 채, 미국인의 트라우마와 영웅담을 중심으로 현실을 재편한다. 주인공이 항의해도, ‘정확성’은 장식품일 뿐 서사의 주인은 끝내 미국인이다. 이 경험은 그에게 “패배의 기억마저 타자의 산업이 되는” 모욕으로 각인된다.
이후 장군은 미국에서 무장조직을 꾸려 베트남으로 역침투하려 하고, 주인공은 그 계획에 깊이 끌려 들어간다. 그는 혁명에 충성하려 하지만, 동시에 자신이 함께 살아온 사람들을 배신해야 하는 상황에서 점점 무너진다. 결국 그는 베트남으로 돌아가고, 혁명 진영에 포섭되지만 거기서도 ‘정당한 폭력’의 이름으로 인간이 파괴되는 장면들을 겪는다. 소설의 후반은 그가 ‘자백’과 ‘재교육’의 과정을 통과하면서, 자신이 믿어온 언어(이념, 정의, 대의)가 어떻게 개인을 해체하는지, 그리고 자신이 그 폭력의 공범이었음을 직면하는 쪽으로 치닫는다. 결말에 가까워질수록 그는 한 개인의 내면이 아니라, 전쟁 전체가 남긴 균열—기억의 식민성, 혁명의 잔혹성, 난민의 비가시성—을 끌어안는 존재가 된다.
<주제와 장치: 무엇이 이 소설을 독특하게 만드는가>
<이중성의 윤리>
주인공은 단순한 배신자가 아니라 “두 개의 진실을 동시에 안고 사는 사람”이다. 소설은 이중성 자체를 비난하거나 미화하지 않는다. 대신 전쟁이 개인에게 강요한 선택이 얼마나 불가능한지, 그리고 그 불가능성 속에서 인간이 어떻게 스스로를 합리화하고 파괴하는지 보여준다.<시선의 제국>
할리우드 파트는 단순한 유머가 아니라, 서구 중심의 전쟁기억 생산 시스템에 대한 비판이다. 베트남전이 베트남인의 이야기로 존재하지 못하고 “미국이 자기 자신을 말하는 무대”로 재가공되는 과정을, 작가는 코미디처럼 보이게 만들면서도 잔혹하게 폭로한다.<이념의 폭력성과 혁명의 자기모순>
이 소설은 반공 선전도, 친공 선전도 아니다. 혁명의 언어가 어떻게 인간을 수단화하는지, 그리고 ‘정치적 올바름’ 혹은 ‘역사의 필연’ 같은 말들이 개인에게 어떤 잔해를 남기는지 끝까지 밀어붙인다.<문체: 블랙코미디+지성의 과잉>
서술은 지적이고 수사적이며, 때로는 일부러 과장되고 장광설처럼 흐른다. 이것이 어떤 독자에게는 압도적인 매력(지성의 폭주)이고, 어떤 독자에게는 피로(과잉의 자기과시)로 작동할 수 있다. 다만 그 과잉은 “말로 세계를 지배하려는 이념의 습관”을 문체 자체로 재현한다는 점에서 기능적이다.
<평론: 장점과 한계>
<장점>
<전쟁 서사의 관습을 파괴>한다. ‘미국인의 죄책감/영웅담’과 ‘베트남의 피해 서사’ 어느 한쪽에 안주하지 않고, 두 체제의 폭력을 동시에 응시한다.
<난민 공동체 내부의 정치>를 섬세하게 그려, ‘피해자=순수’ 같은 단순 구도를 거부한다.
<메타비평적 힘>이 크다. 특히 문화산업이 기억을 생산하는 방식(누가 말하고, 누가 지워지는가)을 소설 한가운데서 드러낸다.
<한계/비판 가능 지점>
문체와 풍자가 매우 공격적이고 지적 과잉이어서, 감정적 이입보다 “논쟁”이 앞서는 독서 경험이 될 수 있다.
일부 인물은 상징적 기능이 강해, 현실의 복합성을 압축하면서 도식적으로 느껴질 위험이 있다.
잔혹한 장면들과 냉소적 유머가 결합되며, 독자에 따라서는 고통의 재현이 거리감으로 읽힐 수 있다.
<읽기 포인트>
이 소설을 가장 잘 읽는 방법은 “정답 찾기”가 아니라, 주인공의 분열을 하나의 시대적 산물로 보는 것이다. 그는 개인이라기보다, 식민/냉전/이주/혁명/자본주의 문화산업이 한 인간에게 남긴 균열의 집합이다. <동조자>는 결국 “누가 동조자인가?”를 묻기보다, “우리는 어떤 서사에 동조하도록 훈련되었는가?”를 묻는 작품이다.
<English | Summary + Critical Review (about 1,000 words)>
<Overview> Viet Thanh Nguyen’s <The Sympathizer> is a spy novel, a refugee chronicle, and a savage satire of ideological purity—often all at once. Framed as a “confession,” it follows an unnamed Vietnamese captain: a South Vietnamese officer embedded in the collapsing Saigon regime who is secretly a communist agent. The book’s driving force is not simply suspense about espionage, but a relentless exploration of divided identity—what it means to live as a “man of two minds,” loyal to competing causes and permanently alienated from any single home. <Plot summary> As Saigon falls, the Captain helps a powerful South Vietnamese General and his entourage escape to the United States. The Captain’s flight is both exile and assignment: he continues to send reports to his communist handlers while navigating the chaotic politics of the Vietnamese refugee community. In America, Nguyen exposes the ironies of “freedom” as experienced by displaced people: the promises of opportunity coexist with racial hierarchy, economic precarity, surveillance, and the pressure to perform gratitude.The Captain becomes entangled in the General’s dream of return—a clandestine counterrevolutionary project built on nostalgia, anger, and fantasies of restoring honor. Yet the Captain cannot simply dismiss the General’s cause as delusion; these are his compatriots, people he has lived among, whose grief and humiliation are real. The moral trap tightens: to remain loyal to the revolution, he must betray individuals he knows intimately, and to remain loyal to those individuals, he must betray his political mission.
One of the novel’s most memorable episodes occurs when the Captain is recruited as a “consultant” for a Hollywood Vietnam War film. Here, Nguyen’s satire becomes a theory of representation. The production claims to value authenticity, but Vietnamese voices are systematically marginalized, reduced to props for an American story about American pain. Even when the Captain insists on more truthful portrayals, the machinery of the industry reasserts its priorities: the war must remain legible as a drama of American souls, with Vietnamese bodies serving as background. The episode is funny, humiliating, and devastating—illustrating how the defeated can be denied ownership even of their own memory.
Eventually the General’s operation moves toward armed action and infiltration back into Vietnam, and the Captain is pulled with it. On returning, he is absorbed into the victorious revolutionary system—only to confront the harsh reality that “liberation” can institutionalize its own forms of coercion. The confession frame reveals that the Captain has been detained and subjected to “re-education,” compelled to narrate himself into ideological correctness. The novel’s later sections intensify into a grim interrogation of revolutionary violence, complicity, and the way grand narratives—nation, history, justice—can pulverize the individual.
<Major themes and techniques> 1) <Double consciousness as destiny> The Captain is not a conventional turncoat. He embodies the psychological costs of a world that demands singular loyalties. Nguyen makes “split identity” more than a personal quirk; it becomes an ethical condition shaped by colonial history, Cold War geopolitics, and migration.<Critique of empire’s storytelling>
The Hollywood segment functions as more than comic relief. It’s a structural argument: imperial power does not only conquer territory; it also controls narration. The war is rewritten in global culture so that Vietnamese subjectivity is either erased or instrumentalized.<Anti-propaganda: suspicion toward all purity>
The novel refuses to serve as propaganda for either side. It attacks the hypocrisies of anticommunist exile politics, but it also exposes how revolutionary ideals can harden into bureaucratic cruelty. Nguyen’s target is the seduction of moral certainty—especially when certainty authorizes violence.<Style: intellectual excess and black comedy>
Nguyen’s prose is sharp, rhetorical, and sometimes intentionally overstuffed. The Captain’s voice performs intelligence as a defense mechanism, turning trauma into argument and guilt into theory. This can be exhilarating—like watching a brilliant mind corner itself—or exhausting for readers who prefer emotional immediacy.
<동조자> 요약 및 평론
1. 요약: 경계에 선 자의 이중주
<동조자>는 1975년 사이공 함락 직전부터 시작하여, 미국으로 망명한 후 다시 베트남으로 돌아가는 한 무명 대위의 기록이다. 주인공은 프랑스인 신부와 베트남인 어머니 사이에서 태어난 혼혈아로, 남베트남 군대 내에서 북베트남의 고정 간첩으로 활동한다. 그는 남베트남 장군의 신임을 받는 동시에, 자신의 죽마고우이자 공산주의자인 만에게 정보를 전달하는 이중 스파이다.
사이공이 공산화되기 직전, 주인공은 장군을 따라 미국 로스앤젤레스로 탈출한다. 미국에서 그는 망명객들의 고단한 삶과 반공 투쟁을 감시하며 여전히 간첩 활동을 이어간다. 그는 미국 문화의 위선을 목격하고, 특히 할리우드 영화 제작에 고문으로 참여하며 아시아인을 도구화하는 서구의 시선을 뼈저리게 느낀다.
이후 주인공은 장군이 기획한 베트남 수복 작전에 자원하여 다시 고국으로 향한다. 그러나 작전은 실패하고, 그는 북베트남 군에 붙잡혀 수용소에 갇힌다. 아이러니하게도 그를 고문하고 취조하는 책임자는 과거의 동지였던 만이다. 주인공은 혁명이 승리한 뒤에도 여전히 존재하지 않는 자유와, <아무것도 없음>이 <무엇인가>보다 소중할 수 있다는 허무주의적 진실을 마주하며 다시 망명길에 오른다.
2. 평론: 혁명과 제국주의 사이의 고독한 응시
<동조자>는 단순한 전쟁 소설이나 스파이 스릴러를 넘어선다. 이 작품은 언어와 정체성, 그리고 역사가 어떻게 개인을 난도질하는지에 대한 날카로운 보고서다.
첫째, 이분법적 세계관에 대한 도발이다. 주인공은 이질적인 두 세계를 동시에 이해하는 인물이다. 그는 서구의 합리주의와 동양의 유교적 가치, 공산주의의 대의와 자본주의의 욕망을 모두 체득하고 있다. 작가는 주인공의 혼혈적 정체성을 통해 <우리>와 <그들>로 나누는 모든 폭력적인 구분을 조롱한다. 그는 어느 쪽에도 온전히 속할 수 없기에 모든 쪽을 비판적으로 바라볼 수 있는 <동조자>가 된다.
둘째, 서구 중심적 서사에 대한 통쾌한 반격이다. 소설 속 할리우드 영화 제작 에피소드는 베트남 전쟁을 미국의 트라우마로만 소비하는 서구의 오만함을 정면으로 비판한다. 베트남인들은 대사 한 줄 없는 배경으로 전락하고, 미국적 영웅주의가 그 자리를 채운다. 비엣 탄 응우옌은 이 소설을 통해 목소리를 잃었던 <유령>들에게 언어를 부여하며 역사의 주도권을 되찾아온다.
셋째, 혁명의 모순에 대한 냉철한 성찰이다. 소설 후반부, 북베트남 수용소에서의 고문 장면은 고통스럽다. 혁명은 승리했지만, 그 대가로 인간성을 상실한 권력이 들어섰음을 보여준다. <독립과 자유보다 귀한 것은 없다>는 호찌민의 구호는, 역설적으로 <아무것도 없는 상태(Nothingness)>가 독립과 자유보다 더 실재적이라는 허무한 결론으로 귀결된다. 이는 특정 이데올로기의 승리가 아닌, 인간 존재 자체의 근원적인 고독을 조명한다.
결론적으로 <동조자>는 승리자의 기록도, 패배자의 변명도 아니다. 그것은 두 개의 마음을 가진 자가 겪어야 했던 분열의 연대기이며, 제국주의와 공산주의라는 거대 서사 틈바구니에서 소멸해간 개인들에 대한 애도다. 작가는 유려하고 재치 있는 문체로 비극을 서술하며, 독자로 하여금 우리가 믿고 있는 <진실>이 얼마나 편향된 것인지 끊임없이 질문하게 만든다.
세진님, 이 작품이 다루는 이중적 정체성과 세계인으로서의 고뇌가 세진님의 삶의 궤적과 어떤 부분에서 닿아있을지 궁금하네요. 혹시 이 소설의 후속작인 <헌신자>에 대해서도 요약이나 평론이 필요하신가요?
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