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What Members Thought

I loved this book and especially loved listening to it because the reader was excellent. It's a first-person narrative; the protagonist is a mole for the North Vietnamese working for a South Vietnamese general. The story begins with the fall of Saigon then wanders forward and back in time. The nameless narrator defies categorization. Born in the north out of wedlock and the unacknowledged son of a French priest, he was educated in the US and embraced the communist cause at a young age. He's not
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Starts off really interesting, then slows waaaaaaaay down. It picks up again at the end, but it almost doesn't save it. Still should have beat Bats of the Republic.
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The writing is relentless. How can someone get so much humor, plot, insight and characterization into every sentence? An atypically typical war story about both sides and neither side. A book to put in my "to be reread" pile.
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5 for the narrator + the Hollywood story line; 2 for the decision that that thing should have much of a plot beyond the narrator's delightful ramblings. The last 1/3, in particular, mostly left me cold.
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Oct 21, 2015
Arianna
marked it as to-read

Apr 19, 2016
Kate
is currently reading it

May 26, 2016
Samantha
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Jul 19, 2016
Ruth
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Aug 31, 2016
Kerry
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Jan 01, 2017
Colleen
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Jul 28, 2017
Heather
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Sep 02, 2018
Aimee
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May 04, 2019
kelly
marked it as to-read

Dec 19, 2019
Joe
marked it as to-read