The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen

0 Loved It
4 Liked It
1 Neutral
1 Disliked It
0 Hated It

Comments:
• I really enjoyed lots of parts of it; his writing, descriptions. The beginning chapters were riveting, I enjoyed the middle, but didn’t care for the end. The biggest missing part for me was convincing me that he was actually a communist sympathizer. – Kerry
• It was hard for me to get into it at first, because it is written as dialogue so the structure disarmed me. But, I enjoyed parts of it and really didn’t enjoy others. Overall, I am glad I read it and I thought the writing was compelling. – Chelsea
• The book was poorly written and I really didn’t enjoy the story. There were many parts of the book (everything with the movie) which just was not needed and seemed like it was used to add pages. There were also parts that used ideas from other books but not used well. – Sarah
• I thought the writing style was great. His observations and insights were brilliant. I enjoyed it throughly – even though the subject matter was difficult. – Steph
• The book is vivid and offers a complex, unique perspective. Outrageous and dramatic in parts, but also contrasted with moments capturing the simplicity of life. Relevant to current refugee issues and adjustments to the new world. – Hillary
• There were so many disjointed parts of this book, some I was very engaged in and some I drifted in and out of interest. The layers of motivations were hard to parse but in the end it revealed an interesting perspective and left me thinking about it for awhile after I finished it. – Danica

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