-
The Sympathizer
- Narrated by: Francois Chau
- Length: 13 hrs and 53 mins
- Categories: Literature & Fiction, Genre Fiction
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Audible Premium Plus
$14.95 a month
Buy for $20.24
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
The Refugees
- By: Viet Thanh Nguyen
- Narrated by: Viet Thanh Nguyen
- Length: 5 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With the coruscating gaze that informed The Sympathizer, in The Refugees Viet Thanh Nguyen gives voice to lives led between two worlds, the adopted homeland and the country of birth. From a young Vietnamese refugee who suffers profound culture shock when he comes to live with two gay men in San Francisco, to a woman whose husband is suffering from dementia and starts to confuse her for a former lover, to a girl living in Ho Chi Minh City whose older half sister comes back from America having seemingly accomplished everything she never will.
-
-
Good collection of short stories
- By Thomas More on 03-19-17
-
The Orphan Master's Son
- A Novel
- By: Adam Johnson
- Narrated by: Tim Kang, Josiah D. Lee, James Kyson Lee, and others
- Length: 19 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Pak Jun Do is the haunted son of a lost mother - a singer “stolen” to Pyongyang - and an influential father who runs Long Tomorrows, a work camp for orphans. There the boy is given his first taste of power, picking which orphans eat first and which will be lent out for manual labor. Recognized for his loyalty and keen instincts, Jun Do comes to the attention of superiors in the state, rises in the ranks, and starts on a road from which there will be no return.
-
-
Fascinating!
- By KP on 06-29-13
By: Adam Johnson
-
The Return
- Fathers, Sons and the Land in Between
- By: Hisham Matar
- Narrated by: Hisham Matar
- Length: 8 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Hisham Matar was a 19-year-old university student in England, his father was kidnapped. One of the Qaddafi regime's most prominent opponents in exile, he was held in a secret prison in Libya. Hisham would never see him again. But he never gave up hope that his father might still be alive. "Hope," as he writes, "is cunning and persistent." Twenty-two years later, after the fall of Qaddafi, the prison cells were empty, and there was no sign of Jaballa Matar. Hisham returned with his mother and wife to the homeland he never thought he'd go back to again.
-
-
Touching memoir. Consider hard copy
- By Joschka Philipps on 02-22-18
By: Hisham Matar
-
The Underground Railroad (Oprah's Book Club)
- A Novel
- By: Colson Whitehead
- Narrated by: Bahni Turpin
- Length: 10 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Newest Oprah Book Club 2016 Selection. Cora is a slave on a cotton plantation in Georgia. Life is hell for all the slaves but especially bad for Cora; an outcast even among her fellow Africans, she is coming into womanhood - where even greater pain awaits. When Caesar, a recent arrival from Virginia, tells her about the Underground Railroad, they decide to take a terrifying risk and escape. Matters do not go as planned - Cora kills a young white boy who tries to capture her. Though they manage to find a station and head north, they are being hunted.
-
-
Stupendous book, hard to follow in audio
- By JQR on 12-01-16
By: Colson Whitehead
-
The Nickel Boys (Winner 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction)
- A Novel
- By: Colson Whitehead
- Narrated by: JD Jackson, Colson Whitehead
- Length: 6 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Elwood Curtis, a bBlack boy growing up in 1960s Tallahassee, is unfairly sentenced to a juvenile reformatory called the Nickel Academy, he finds himself trapped in a grotesque chamber of horrors. Elwood’s only salvation is his friendship with fellow "delinquent" Turner, which deepens despite Turner’s conviction that Elwood is hopelessly naive, that the world is crooked, and that the only way to survive is to scheme and avoid trouble. As life at the Academy becomes ever more perilous, the tension between Elwood’s ideals and Turner’s skepticism leads to a decision.
-
-
Who spoke for the black boys?
- By Darwin8u on 02-06-20
By: Colson Whitehead
-
The Sellout
- A Novel
- By: Paul Beatty
- Narrated by: Prentice Onayemi
- Length: 9 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A biting satire about a young man's isolated upbringing and the race trial that sends him to the Supreme Court, Paul Beatty's The Sellout showcases a comic genius at the top of his game. It challenges the sacred tenets of the United States Constitution, urban life, the civil rights movement, the father-son relationship, and the holy grail of racial equality: the black Chinese restaurant.
-
-
Do Yourself a Favor - Listen to Another Book
- By AuntGert on 11-16-16
By: Paul Beatty
-
The Refugees
- By: Viet Thanh Nguyen
- Narrated by: Viet Thanh Nguyen
- Length: 5 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With the coruscating gaze that informed The Sympathizer, in The Refugees Viet Thanh Nguyen gives voice to lives led between two worlds, the adopted homeland and the country of birth. From a young Vietnamese refugee who suffers profound culture shock when he comes to live with two gay men in San Francisco, to a woman whose husband is suffering from dementia and starts to confuse her for a former lover, to a girl living in Ho Chi Minh City whose older half sister comes back from America having seemingly accomplished everything she never will.
-
-
Good collection of short stories
- By Thomas More on 03-19-17
-
The Orphan Master's Son
- A Novel
- By: Adam Johnson
- Narrated by: Tim Kang, Josiah D. Lee, James Kyson Lee, and others
- Length: 19 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Pak Jun Do is the haunted son of a lost mother - a singer “stolen” to Pyongyang - and an influential father who runs Long Tomorrows, a work camp for orphans. There the boy is given his first taste of power, picking which orphans eat first and which will be lent out for manual labor. Recognized for his loyalty and keen instincts, Jun Do comes to the attention of superiors in the state, rises in the ranks, and starts on a road from which there will be no return.
-
-
Fascinating!
- By KP on 06-29-13
By: Adam Johnson
-
The Return
- Fathers, Sons and the Land in Between
- By: Hisham Matar
- Narrated by: Hisham Matar
- Length: 8 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Hisham Matar was a 19-year-old university student in England, his father was kidnapped. One of the Qaddafi regime's most prominent opponents in exile, he was held in a secret prison in Libya. Hisham would never see him again. But he never gave up hope that his father might still be alive. "Hope," as he writes, "is cunning and persistent." Twenty-two years later, after the fall of Qaddafi, the prison cells were empty, and there was no sign of Jaballa Matar. Hisham returned with his mother and wife to the homeland he never thought he'd go back to again.
-
-
Touching memoir. Consider hard copy
- By Joschka Philipps on 02-22-18
By: Hisham Matar
-
The Underground Railroad (Oprah's Book Club)
- A Novel
- By: Colson Whitehead
- Narrated by: Bahni Turpin
- Length: 10 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Newest Oprah Book Club 2016 Selection. Cora is a slave on a cotton plantation in Georgia. Life is hell for all the slaves but especially bad for Cora; an outcast even among her fellow Africans, she is coming into womanhood - where even greater pain awaits. When Caesar, a recent arrival from Virginia, tells her about the Underground Railroad, they decide to take a terrifying risk and escape. Matters do not go as planned - Cora kills a young white boy who tries to capture her. Though they manage to find a station and head north, they are being hunted.
-
-
Stupendous book, hard to follow in audio
- By JQR on 12-01-16
By: Colson Whitehead
-
The Nickel Boys (Winner 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction)
- A Novel
- By: Colson Whitehead
- Narrated by: JD Jackson, Colson Whitehead
- Length: 6 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Elwood Curtis, a bBlack boy growing up in 1960s Tallahassee, is unfairly sentenced to a juvenile reformatory called the Nickel Academy, he finds himself trapped in a grotesque chamber of horrors. Elwood’s only salvation is his friendship with fellow "delinquent" Turner, which deepens despite Turner’s conviction that Elwood is hopelessly naive, that the world is crooked, and that the only way to survive is to scheme and avoid trouble. As life at the Academy becomes ever more perilous, the tension between Elwood’s ideals and Turner’s skepticism leads to a decision.
-
-
Who spoke for the black boys?
- By Darwin8u on 02-06-20
By: Colson Whitehead
-
The Sellout
- A Novel
- By: Paul Beatty
- Narrated by: Prentice Onayemi
- Length: 9 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A biting satire about a young man's isolated upbringing and the race trial that sends him to the Supreme Court, Paul Beatty's The Sellout showcases a comic genius at the top of his game. It challenges the sacred tenets of the United States Constitution, urban life, the civil rights movement, the father-son relationship, and the holy grail of racial equality: the black Chinese restaurant.
-
-
Do Yourself a Favor - Listen to Another Book
- By AuntGert on 11-16-16
By: Paul Beatty
-
Less
- By: Andrew Sean Greer
- Narrated by: Robert Petkoff
- Length: 8 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
You are a failed novelist about to turn 50. A wedding invitation arrives in the mail: Your boyfriend of the past nine years is engaged to someone else. You can't say yes - it would be too awkward - and you can't say no - it would look like defeat. On your desk are a series of invitations to half-baked literary events around the world. Question: How do you arrange to skip town? Answer: You accept them all.
-
-
Endearing, funny, but sometimes overly clever
- By Lili on 07-30-17
-
The Overstory
- By: Richard Powers
- Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
- Length: 22 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Overstory unfolds in concentric rings of interlocking fable that range from antebellum New York to the late 20th-century Timber Wars of the Pacific Northwest and beyond. An air force loadmaster in the Vietnam War is shot out of the sky, then saved by falling into a banyan. An artist inherits 100 years of photographic portraits, all of the same doomed American chestnut. A hard-partying undergraduate in the late 1980s electrocutes herself, dies, and is sent back into life by creatures of air and light. A hearing- and speech-impaired scientist discovers that trees are communicating with one another.
-
-
Loved the first half, struggled with the second
- By Max and Kimmy on 05-10-19
By: Richard Powers
-
Nothing Ever Dies
- Vietnam and the Memory of War
- By: Viet Thanh Nguyen
- Narrated by: P. J. Ochlan
- Length: 11 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Nothing Ever Dies, Viet Thanh Nguyen writes. All wars are fought twice, the first time on the battlefield, the second time in memory. From the author of the best-selling novel The Sympathizer comes a searching exploration of a conflict that lives on in the collective memory of both the Americans and the Vietnamese.
-
-
Good, probably should be read and not listened to via audible for the best experience.
- By Brad on 10-24-16
-
Barbarian Days
- A Surfing Life
- By: William Finnegan
- Narrated by: William Finnegan
- Length: 18 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Pulitzer Prize, Biography, 2016. Barbarian Days is William Finnegan's memoir of an obsession, a complex enchantment. Surfing only looks like a sport. To initiates it is something else entirely: a beautiful addiction, a demanding course of study, a morally dangerous pastime, a way of life.
-
-
An Amazing Performance by the Author
- By Laura on 02-01-16
By: William Finnegan
-
The Goldfinch
- By: Donna Tartt
- Narrated by: David Pittu
- Length: 32 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Goldfinch is a haunted odyssey through present-day America and a drama of enthralling force and acuity. It begins with a boy. Theo Decker, a 13-year-old New Yorker, miraculously survives an accident that kills his mother. Abandoned by his father, Theo is taken in by the family of a wealthy friend. Bewildered by his strange new home on Park Avenue, disturbed by schoolmates who don't know how to talk to him, and tormented above all by his unbearable longing for his mother, he clings to one thing that reminds him of her: a small, mysteriously captivating painting that ultimately draws Theo into the underworld of art.
-
-
One ruinous moment
- By Jessica on 01-02-14
By: Donna Tartt
-
A Visit from the Goon Squad
- By: Jennifer Egan
- Narrated by: Roxana Ortega
- Length: 10 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jennifer Egan’s spellbinding interlocking narratives circle the lives of Bennie Salazar, an aging former punk rocker and record executive, and Sasha, the passionate, troubled young woman he employs. Although Bennie and Sasha never discover each other’s pasts, the listener does, in intimate detail, along with the secret lives of a host of other characters whose paths intersect with theirs, over many years, in locales as varied as New York, San Francisco, Naples, and Africa.
-
-
Deep and dazzling novel, brilliantly read!
- By J. W. Coop on 06-29-19
By: Jennifer Egan
-
The God of Small Things
- By: Arundhati Roy
- Narrated by: Sneha Mathan
- Length: 11 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Likened to the works of Faulkner and Dickens when it was first published 20 years ago, this extraordinarily accomplished debut novel is a brilliantly plotted story of forbidden love and piercing political drama, centered on the tragic decline of an Indian family in the state of Kerala, on the southernmost tip of India. Armed only with the invincible innocence of children, the twins Rahel and Esthappen fashion a childhood for themselves in the shade of the wreck that is their family.
-
-
Worthy Booker winner!
- By Saman on 08-10-17
By: Arundhati Roy
-
Interior Chinatown
- A Novel
- By: Charles Yu
- Narrated by: Joel de la Fuente
- Length: 4 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Willis Wu doesn’t perceive himself as a protagonist even in his own life: He’s merely Generic Asian man. Sometimes he gets to be Background Oriental Making a Weird Face or even Disgraced Son, but he is always relegated to a prop. Yet every day he leaves his tiny room in a Chinatown SRO and enters the Golden Palace restaurant, where Black and White, a procedural cop show, is in perpetual production. He’s a bit player here, too, but he dreams of being Kung Fu Guy - the most respected role that anyone who looks like him can attain. At least that’s what he has been told.
-
-
Kong Fu Guy
- By JCY on 01-30-20
By: Charles Yu
-
A Promised Land
- By: Barack Obama
- Narrated by: Barack Obama
- Length: 29 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the stirring, highly anticipated first volume of his presidential memoirs, Barack Obama tells the story of his improbable odyssey from young man searching for his identity to leader of the free world, describing in strikingly personal detail both his political education and the landmark moments of the first term of his historic presidency - a time of dramatic transformation and turmoil.
-
-
Obama is a great man, but is this book romcom?
- By Nooncaps on 11-24-20
By: Barack Obama
-
The 2020 Commission Report on the North Korean Nuclear Attacks Against the United States
- By: Jeffrey Lewis
- Narrated by: Neil Hellegers
- Length: 6 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The 2020 Commission Report on the North Korean Nuclear Attacks Against the United States is an exciting piece of "speculative fiction." The novel posits that there was a nuclear attack against the US on March 21, 2020 by North Korea, and that a national bipartisan commission was created to investigate what and how it happened. It's pretty scary stuff.
-
-
Disturbingly plausible, What Ifs are always open.
- By Amanda B. on 02-25-19
By: Jeffrey Lewis
-
The Mountains Sing
- By: Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai
- Narrated by: Quyen Ngo
- Length: 10 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With the epic sweep of Min Jin Lee's Pachinko and Yaa Gyasi's Homegoing and the lyrical beauty of Vaddey Ratner's In the Shadow of the Banyan, The Mountains Sing tells an enveloping, multigenerational tale of the Trần family, set against the backdrop of the Việt Nam War. Trần Diệu Lan, who was born in 1920, was forced to flee her family farm with her six children during the Land Reform as the Communist government rose in the North.
-
-
Incredible first English language novel
- By Gregory Barbee on 03-23-20
-
Blood in the Water
- The Attica Prison Uprising of 1971 and Its Legacy
- By: Heather Ann Thompson
- Narrated by: Erin Bennett
- Length: 22 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On September 9, 1971, nearly 1,300 prisoners took over the Attica Correctional Facility in upstate New York to protest years of mistreatment. Holding guards and civilian employees hostage, the prisoners negotiated with officials for improved conditions during the four long days and nights that followed. On September 13, the state abruptly sent hundreds of heavily armed troopers and correction officers to retake the prison by force. Their gunfire killed 39 men - hostages as well as prisoners.
-
-
Tragic Events, Well-Told
- By David on 10-27-17
Publisher's Summary
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 story, 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.
Critic Reviews
"[A] dark and exciting debut novel.... Black humour seeps through these pages." ( Wall Street Journal)
More from the same
Narrator
What listeners say about The Sympathizer
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 10-18-19
Best Narrator, best story.
An amazing book narrated by one of the best narrators. His voice colours in the moods and makes it an authentic story telling time.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Simon
- 11-06-16
The Unknown Underlined by the Unspoken
I know I know, ideas above my station! From Child, Rankin and Cornwell to Viet Thanh Nguyen's debut novel! The thing is when I saw the 2016 Pulitzer Prize Winner unrated at the time, possibly unread and seemingly unloved it just seemed too much of a curio to turn my head from. I'm not even going to begin to pretend that I know what makes a good prize winning novel, that's for much wiser minds than mine to weigh up and decide upon.
But did the book entertain me? Hell yes! Some of the passages have genuine humour and much of the book is blackly satirical and just as an example includes the lead character's discovery of the sexuality of raw squid! I'll say no more on that but a myriad topics get covered and while these characters existed half a world apart from me it seems, shock horror, that there are more similarities between the peoples of the world than disparities.
Did the book make me think? Yes again. This does descend to some pretty dark stuff including incidents of violence, conscience, political expedience and the mental cruelty of torture. Our written narrator is not only of mixed parentage, something looked down upon in the Vietnamese culture but also a Viet Cong double agent! That's enough to stretch anyone's mind and the author takes no prisoners while discussing both Western and Oriental culture.
Did the book excite me? Yes, there are some tense scenes including the early escape from Vietnam which was particularly well done albeit tragic in nature.
So was it great? I suspect as books go it genuinely is. So much so that I will return to it as I have no doubt that multiple re-readings would unearth more gems from this multi-layered tome. As an audiobook it's not perfect though and it does take considerable concentration. At least by my standards! Francois Chau's mildly accented English gives the feel of authenticity but otherwise paints the text in fairly arid tones. I am sure I lost nuance in some of the more philosophical and humorous passages.
So, a very accomplished book and one that I am very glad that I have completed. So much so that I will indeed give it another try some time to see what I missed first time!
21 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Amazon Customer
- 05-04-18
Mixed views
A fascinating story about post war Vietnam refugees, with a lot of philosophical musings on the nature of race, political ideologies, & the refugee experience. A fairly dull delivery though unfortunately which spoilt it a bit for me
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Gill
- 12-08-18
Long, and heavy
Some might like this but very heavy and too drawn out for me. I liked the voice and performance of reader was good but the story demanded to much thought to really appreciate
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- @eleniaudibles
- 11-27-18
An Emotional Sensation
I had never heard of this writer before but was looking for literature to read that has been translated into English. I'm so glad I found this novel, it's truly a masterpiece and so illuminating! Without giving much away, I laughed, I cried and I felt such deep kingship with the Vietnamese people affected by the Vietnam War. I really recommend this book to anyone who wants to try something new and read literature that hasn't got a fully Westernised backdrop.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- hfffoman
- 10-24-20
Wonderful - despite the awful narration
Despite the horrible narration which sounds like the narrator wants to kill someone, this is a wonderful book, Certainly the subject matter will put some people off. It is set in the aftermath of the Vietnam war and contains a great deal of gruesome treatment of men and women. To avoid spoilers I won't say any more about the story, except that it is ultimately about politics, humanity, culture, and the struggle for wholeness of the human spirit. Professional reviewers and prize committees have praised the book with much eloquence and erudition. I will commend it simply for two reasons. It exudes intelligence and perception; and the quality of the writing is superb. I can think of very few writers whose prose comes near to the grace, wit and sharp wisdom of Mr Nguyen. I found almost every line a pleasure.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- D. Jones
- 02-16-20
Not what I expected
I’d read a few reviews before deciding to buy this. It’s a strange story and not at all what I thought, but that’s okay. The narrator’s voice gives it a certain authenticity, but likewise the guy rarely gives any emotion and it’s a long monologue. In a way, that makes sense... as he’s reading a confession... but it makes it very hard to listen and give it your full attention. I was torn between 3 and 4 stars on story - I quite liked it but like I say, not really the story you might be expecting.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Stephen Frame
- 12-13-19
Resonant lessons from history
A narrative full of humanity and humour with a powerful conclusion. Listening to the final chapter on the day of the 2019 uk election result... gave much pause for thought
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Raf
- 11-13-18
A brilliant book
A thought-provoking and clever book, gripping and moving story line. The author makes a number of incredibly deep points and critiques regarding different countries and ideologies, as well as what goes wrong with idealism. Along the way, a number of thoughts, often entertaining, on numerous other matters of daily life. A must read
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Ashley
- 08-23-18
Wonderful Voice
Narrator excellent - wonderful voice to listen to... Never tired of his smooth voice - recommend
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- jaisalmeera
- 05-11-18
A revelation
I knew nothing about this author before I bought the book so It's a joy to have accidently made such a good decision. The central character who narrates the book takes pride in having learnt Engllish to a level above many native speakers and therefore the telling of his story is a linguistic tour de force. highly recommend
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Christopher
- 11-20-16
Do yourself a favour!
So great! An amazing listen 👂 there are times I had to pull my car over while listen as I was so engaged in the book.
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Tom
- 10-21-19
Complex, philosophical, edgy
Overall, very enjoyable. At its peaks, some of the best fiction I’ve read. The overuse of often questionable similes got irritating, like a thick balsamic glaze smeared beneath each course of literary delights, coating my mind with its sticky lingering flavour long after I’ve finished chewing through their meaning. But there’s so much to love about this book, not least of which is a new appreciation of what the Vietnamese went through.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- S c.
- 09-14-19
Keeps me thinking
I can't write a beautiful enough narrative to describe the beauty that this book holds. It's words float and there meanings will stay on your mind.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Andrew Foster
- 07-29-17
It's got it all
Incredible writing, great historical insight into the war and Vietnam, and lucid critiques of American culture and thinking. This would be a great book if it covered any one aspect but this book shines in them all. I've already recommended this to many of my friends and heartily recommend it to you, too.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Amazon Customer
- 12-06-16
Brilliant novel on so many levels
This is an entertaining, enthralling novel with fascinating insights into the Vietnamese experience. Everything rings true. I charged through this wonderful book. Loved it.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Anonymous User
- 10-13-20
Fun, yet disassociated read
I like what the author did with this book, materialising personal experience and second hand stories told to him to create this fictional Vietnam. I really wish that it was real, it would have carried more weight to it for me. I had to double check that it was a fiction book a few times. An entertaining read, with many philosophical questions and lessons for the reader. Some tales were funny other sad, etc. At times I could not follow where they were, if in Vietnam, US or Laos... but I kept reading... It depicts some of humanities tougher choices...