"The Sympathizer" 2016 Pulitz Prize for Lit by Viet Than Nguyen

This year's Pulitz Prize for Lit has been awarded to Viet Nguyen (b. Viet Nam 1971) for his brilliant historical/philosophical novel “The Sympathizer.   In addition, Nguyen received an Edgar Award for best 1^st novel.  Despite this being a major coup, these honors are duly bestowed for such powerful & creative writing.  Nguyen examines the Vietnamese war from a ½ Vietnamese, Capt/interpreter.  The protagonist is an illegitimate child born of a Vietnamese mother & a French priest.  He is of two worlds, of 2 faces, of 2 mindsets. He is a spy for the Viet Cong airlifted out of Saigon on the last day of evacuations. The novel presents duplicitous, provocative & disturbing insights from American viewpoints & a Vietnamese’s perspective vicariously straddling both worlds. This erudite & challenging novel demands a great deal of its reader but victors to those tenacious & courageous enough to endure this rigorous read.  It begins with the downfall of S Viet Nam during the chaotic & terrifying airlifts.  The anti-war sentiment harshly depicts an inhumane & obscene involvement by America in the Vietnamese Conflict from multiple, startling accounts.  This heroic novel is an anti-war & Viet Nam Conflict condemnation but to classify “The Sympathizer” as merely that would sell this brilliant story short by a land mine.  The graphic depiction of battle, torture, barbaric behavior & the capitalization on human suffering is rampant & atrocious.  Nguyen's writing also poses numerous philosophical conundrums.  “Should not the things that count, like ideology & political belief matter more than the unripe ideals & illusions of youth.” Revolutions are born by people willing to fight when fearing nothing to lose.  The author  provides a palatable comprehension of communism as a response to total anarchy & the righteous outcome of a society that takes for granted that "...NOTHING IS MORE PRECIOUS THAN INDEPENCE AND FREEDOM."  The dogma of this belief is emblazoned on the communist red party banner.  This novel bears comparison to another Pulitzer Prize winning novel, “The Orphan Master’s Son” (’13.)  Both deservedly won their accolades for their gifted writing as well as their meaningful & provocative content.  “The Sympathizer” is a profound, esoteric novel that evokes strong emotional responses and coerces the reader to consider unconventional & varying thinking.  Nguyen tells us, “…we haven’t eradicated all elements of anti-revolutionary thinking and we must not forgive antirevolutionary faults.  We must be vigilant, even of each other, but mostly ourselves.”  Be wary of untruths as all sorts of situations “…exist when one tells lies in order to reach an acceptable truth.”