Yet, as Publisher’s Weekly notes, it explores issues of choice, chance, destiny and responsibility with “the narrative tools only science fiction affords.” A fascinating book of alternate narratives, both personal and historical, it is science fictional only in the way Philip Roth’s The Plot Against America or Michael Chabon’s Yiddish Policeman’s Union are. it is a perfect entry into Jo Walton’s oeuvre, particularly for those hesitant about science fiction/fantasy. And her latest book, My Real Children, is further solidifying her reputation, with glowing praise from Publisher’s Weekly, NPR, and the New York Times. In 2011 her novel Among Others became only the seventh book in the genre ever to be nominated for the Hugo, Nebula and World Fantasy awards (winning two of the three). In the world of SFF, however, her stature is ever-growing (listen to our conversation here). If you aren’t a reader of science fiction and fantasy perhaps you haven’t heard of Jo Walton before. Viet thanh nguyen the sympathizer lit war novel vietnam fiction invisible man ralph ellison interview radio We talk about how the Vietnam war has been represented in film and literature, how Asian-Americans are represented, how ethical memory can create a different type of representation, and how The Sympathizer is in conversation with the great tradition of African-American literature, particularly Ellison’s Invisible Man. Thumping the air.” I hope you’ll listen in. That feels so real that you’ll mistake your beating heart for helicopter blades What are the pitfalls in attempts to memorialize life’s tragedies, to represent them in art? Can memory be ethical? Can it be passed down second-hand? Can one lose the first type of war and yet triumph in the second? I had the great pleasure to talk with Viet Thanh Nguyen about his novel The Sympathizer, one Washington Post critic, Ron Charles, says is surely a new classic of warįiction, “a book that opens with a terror All wars are fought twice, once on the battlefield, the second in memory.