The Sympathizer (The Sympathizer #1)

by Viet Thanh Nguyen

It is always better to admire the best among our foes rather than the worst among our friends.

It’s human nature to have divisions, to have us versus them, and to want to belong to the herd. In such a mindset, it’s easy to overlook our friends’ faults, or excuse them, and to point out the faults of our foes. Taken to the extreme, this leads to conflict, violence, war. In the aftermath, former soldiers often find that they have more in common with their former enemies than they do with the civilians of their own side. They’ve shared an experience that the noncombatants can never know. But that wisdom of shared experience is too late to prevent future wars. This was what led me to think that if we could only look beyond our need to protect ourselves in groups and look to see what we share with the people we are supposed to disagree with, even hate, we would be better off. Easier said than done. Have you been able to do it?