Beekley Book Club: The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen

In Person
red book cover of The Sympathizer featuring a person's face
Event Date: 
Tuesday, August 17, 2021 - 6:30pm to 7:30pm

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 novel, 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.

To reserve a copy of the book for Curbside Pickup email vberlin@beekleylibrary.org.

​The Beekley Book Club is a book discussion group that meets on the third Tuesday of each month
from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. All are welcome to join in.​