The Sympathizer

About “The Sympathizer”

A 2015 novel by Viet Thanh Nguyen follows a Viet Cong agent who spies on a South Vietnamese army general and his fellow refugees as they attempt to start a new life in Los Angeles in 1975. The story explores the tensions between the spy and those he watches, focusing on the complexities of identity, loyalty, and displacement. The novel examines the aftermath of the Vietnam War through the lens of a man caught between past and present.