The Sympathizer

Viet Thanh Nguyen’s debut begins around the fall of Saigon. Its unnamed narrator is a North Vietnamese agent serving within the South Vietnamese army. After the war, he remains embedded among South Vietnamese exiles in the United States.

That divided position connects the novel’s espionage premise with its account of immigration and competing loyalties. Published in 2015, The Sympathizer combines historical and spy fiction with political subject matter and dark comedy. It won the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.

The narrator’s dual identity is central to its perspective.