Mark

Mark asked Viet Thanh Nguyen:

I just finished Nothing Ever Dies, and there is a clear and valid argument about how the way we remember wars perpetuates the war machine. But global deaths from war have dropped precipitously over the past 40 years (see https://ourworldindata.org/war-and-peace/). Is it possible we are also doing something right in how we remember wars that we can build on?

Viet Thanh Nguyen We are clearly making progress as a species. We no longer organize ourselves by tribes and villages, or city-states, but by nations. So our notion of community has grown ever larger. But are capacity for killing has grown too. So even if we may be less likely to go to war now, we have the ability to inflict much greater destruction if we do. Whether or not our growing capacity for empathy and inclusiveness will beat our growing capacity for total annihilation obviously remains to be seen.

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Ken

Ken asked Viet Thanh Nguyen:

Not only am I impressed by your critical perspective on both sides of VN-US war in The Sympathizer, I totally get interested in your statements about VN-US hybridity from your essays and interviews. What do you think about the visibility of contemporary VN-US culture today and maybe in the future without regard to war? -All the best and admiration from a VN student in Germany, who's already ordered your upcoming book

tinaathena

tinaathena asked Viet Thanh Nguyen:

I quite literally just finished the last pages of your book, and as you've hoped, the book has shaken me. Has this book been translated to Vietnamese? I am first-gen Viet-Canadian and this is the first time I have ever read anything that echoes the self-loathing & criticism of Vietnamese people that my father has raised me under. I would be very excited to have him read this, but can't imagine VN gladly selling it.

Michael Rieman

Michael Rieman asked Viet Thanh Nguyen:

The narrator of The Sympathizer uses ridicule and satire in portraying most of the American characters presented in the text. That is certainly appropriate to his experiences and ambivalent values related to the US. To what extent might you share his opinions about Americans?

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Viet Thanh Nguyen

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