The Sympathizer (The Sympathizer #1)

by Viet Thanh Nguyen

She was a poor person, I was her poor child, and no one asks poor people if they want war.

Who wants war? Do you? It’s the last thing I want. Or one of the last things. Honestly, I’d rather not die, or have my loved ones die, before not wanting any more war. But as a writer, I have to imagine that there are some people out there who want war. Or aren’t adverse to it. Or think it’s something necessary if unpleasant. These people are too often the ones that don’t have to go to war but stand to benefit from it. Or can cheer it piously from a distance. Or think war is an adventure, until they actually experience it. By then it’s too late. Even if they share their wisdom with a new generation, too many won’t listen. And too often, it’s the poor who bear the brunt of war, either because they’re the ones to be drafted, or they’re the ones that can’t get out of war’s way. That was what was going through my mind when I wrote this. Do you think literature can stop us from going to war? That’s the hope, perhaps, for some writers and readers. So far there’s no evidence to support that hope.