
The Sympathizer
American novelist, born 1971. Won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2016.
The Sympathizer is a 2015 novel by Viet Thanh Nguyen. It won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2016.
On 2 of the 14 lists it was eligible for.
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At a glance
- Author
- Viet Thanh Nguyen
- First published
- 2015
- Length
- 384 pages (UK paperback)
- Awards
- Pulitzer Prize for Fiction winner, 2016
- Genre
- Thrillers and spy fiction, War and conflict, Political, Migration and identity
Is The Sympathizer worth reading?
2 of the 14 best-of lists it could have made include it: the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and The 100 best books of the 21st century (The New York Times).
| List | Place | Original |
|---|---|---|
| Pulitzer Prize for Fiction (winners and finalists) (Columbia University, 2016) | Winner | See the list |
| The 100 best books of the 21st century (The New York Times, 2024) | No. 90 | See the list |
Best edition of The Sympathizer
The edition we link to is the Corsair paperback (2016), 384 pages.
- Publisher
- Corsair (paperback, 2016)
- Pages
- 384
- ISBN
- 9781472151360
How critics, prizes and readers rate The Sympathizer
Prize juries rate it most highly: it earned 25% of the points available on prize lists, against 18% on critics' lists and 0% on readers' and booksellers' lists.
Share of the available points it earned on each kind of list it was eligible for. How the scores work
Books like The Sympathizer
If you liked The Sympathizer, try Wolf Hall, Midnight's Children or Beloved.



