Sibylla, a single mother from a long line of frustrated talents, has unusual ideas about child rearing. Yo Yo Ma started piano at the age of two; her son starts at three. J.S.Mill learned Greek at three; Ludo starts at four, reading Homer as they travel round and round the Circle Line. A fatherless boy needs male role models; so she plays the film of Seven Samurai as a running backdrop to his childhood. While Sibylla types out back copies of Carpworld to pay the rent, Ludo, aged five, moves on the Hebrew, Arabic and Japanese, aerodynamics and edible insects of the world - they might come in handy, if he can just persuade his mother he's mature enough to know his father's name.He is bound for knowledge of a less manageable sort, not least about his mother's past. And at the heart of the book is the boy's changing relationship with Sibylla - contradictory, touching and tender (20010730)
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Helen DeWitt's extraordinary debut novel The Last Samurai centres on the relationship between Sibylla, a single mother of precocious and rigorous intelligence, and her son Ludo, who, through his mother's singular attitude to education, develops into a prodigy of learning. He reads Homer in the original Greek at the age of four before moving onto Hebrew, Japanese, Old Norse and Inuit; studying advanced mathematical techniques (Fourier analysis and Laplace transformations), and, as the title hints, endlessly watching and analysing Akira Kurosawa's cinematic masterpiece The Seven Samurai. But the one question that eludes an answer is that of the name of his father: Sibylla believes the Japanese film obliquely provides the male role models that Ludo's genetic father cannot supply, and refuses to be drawn on the question of paternal identity. The child thinks differently, however, and eventually sets out on a search for his lost father, a search which leads him beyond the certainties of acquired knowledge into the complex and messy world of adults.
The book draws on themes topical and perennial--the hothousing of children, the familiar literary trope of the quest for the (absent) father--and as such, the book divides itself into two halves: the first describes the education of Ludo, the second follows Ludo in his search for his father and father figures. The first stresses a sacred, Apollonian pursuit of logic, precise (if wayward) erudition and the erratic and endlessly fascinating architecture of languages, while the second moves this knowledge into the preterite world of emotion, human ambitions and their attendant frustrations and failures.
This is a book about the pleasure of ideas, of the rich varieties of human thought, the possibilities that life offers us and, ultimately, about the balance between the structures we make of the world and the irredeemable chaos that the world proffers in return. Stylistically, the novel mirrors this ambivalence: DeWitt's remarkable prose follows the shifts and breaks of human consciousness and memory, and captures the intrusions of unspoken thought that punctuate conversation, while providing tantalising disquisitions on, for example, Japanese grammar or the physics of aerodynamics. The Last Samurai is a remarkable, profound and often very funny book. "Arigato DeWitt-sensei"--and after reading this, you'll want to look it up too. --Burhan Tufail --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
An original, daring novel, The Last Samurai could well become a classic (Times Literary Supplement 20020614)
De Witt has intelligence, wit and unusual stylistic bravery (Guardian 20020614)
Fresh electrifying talent (New York Times 20020614)
De Witt has intelligence, wit and unusual stylistic bravery (Guardian 20020614)
Fresh electrifying talent (New York Times 20020614)
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My father's father was a Methodist minister. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
My father's father was a Methodist minister. Read the first page
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
'The Last Samurai' is an extremely entertaining, thought-provoking and stylishly written debut novel that was deservedly short-listed for the prestigious International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. Read this novel if for no other reason than that it is incredibly funny: indeed, I have to go back a couple of decades to recall a book of any description that has made me laugh out loud more, and there is one page of this text that had me in paroxysms of laughter (in the middle of a popular cafe...) But this novel - about a single mother, Sibylla, and her unconventional child-rearing of young Ludo as he seeks to uncover the identity of his father - has many other qualities. DeWitt's writing is exhilarating, incorporating first-person narratives from both Sibylla and Ludo, with an eclectic mix of material from sources as diverse as Akira Kurosawa's screenplay for 'The Seven Samurai' and Homer's 'Odyssey', to mathematics and the wonders of Japanese 'Kanji' characters - and the odd smatterings of languages as diverse as Japanese, Hebrew, Arabic, Greek and Finnish for good measure!! 'The Last Samurai' will particularly appeal to those who consider the acquisition of knowledge and learning to be critical to the development of both individuals and society. DeWitt makes some serious points in the course of 'The Last Samurai', particularly about the dumbing down of society and the shortcomings of education systems in dealing with gifted children, but also about parenting issues and the importance of identity to our individual well-being. I absolutely loved this book and cannot recommend it highly enough.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Author DeWitt expresses her admiration, at one point, for "the type of person who thinks boredom a fate worse than death." And she obviously writes for this type of reader as she performs amazing literary and scholarly acrobatics in this unique and energetic novel which never flags--and certainly never bores! Although DeWitt incorporates many esoteric subjects here--Japanese language, Greek verbs, Icelandic verse, Fourier's analysis, Arabic, astrophysics, and tournament chess, bridge, and piquet, among other things--she does this so entertainingly that they enhance, rather than obscure, the human story at the heart of the novel, even for readers like me with little interest in many of these subjects.
Sybilla is the hard-working, single mother of Ludo, a 6-year-old genius who gobbles up even the most complicated subjects, seemingly overnight. Despite his precocity, however, Ludo is a very engaging and in many ways, typical, child, and the relationship between mother and son is mutually warm, respectful, and endearingly protective. Both Sybilla and Ludo are fans of Akira Kurosawa's The Seven Samurai, and this forms the framework of the novel when Ludo decides to test seven fascinating and brilliant men Sybilla has known to see which, if any, of them might be his unknown father.
This book has everything. It is funny and sad and disarming and challenging--simultaneously amusing and poignant, and thought-provoking. The many layers which emerge as Ludo engages in his quest should keep readers, critics, and book clubs intrigued and entertained for years. But the book is at heart an absorbing human story--of identity, of aspirations and achievement, and, ultimately, of the love and connection which makes our personal journeys worthwhile. A wonder-filled achievement from beginning to totally satisfying end. Mary Whipple
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
By izzy
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Helen DeWitt as writer of The Last Samurai goes straight to the top to join Swift, Joyce & Beckett as my literary heroes. This work of black humour and dead-pan virtuosity brings the Enlightenment into the present day vernacular.
The selection sequence from Kurasawa's movie the 7 Samurai provides the frame by which the boy Ludo explores the seven potential candidates for the role of father. Each man is tested by his ability to "parry the blow" of paternity, so prove himself a real samurai. Each of these encounters is a tragi-comic gem in its own right up to the final one, the Last Samurai, the one who has the answers. The elan with which DeWitt sustains the development of plot and character up to the triumphant last word is breathtaking. Yet there is more to it than the intricacies of the story. The understanding of language, art, music, games is underpinned with passages of astounding beauty. It is also profound. Whether in Tescos or the steppes of Asia, there is cruelty and heroism, suicidal despair and life-redeeming hope.
Buy the hardback version. This is a book to cherish, buried treasures of wit and meaning emerging with each re-reading, and the decorative character of the typography, pages of Japanese characters and mathematical calculations inserted seamlessly as integral illustrations, as pictures of the mind at work, is enhanced by the quality of print and paper, worthy of a present-day Gutenberg.
The selection sequence from Kurasawa's movie the 7 Samurai provides the frame by which the boy Ludo explores the seven potential candidates for the role of father. Each man is tested by his ability to "parry the blow" of paternity, so prove himself a real samurai. Each of these encounters is a tragi-comic gem in its own right up to the final one, the Last Samurai, the one who has the answers. The elan with which DeWitt sustains the development of plot and character up to the triumphant last word is breathtaking. Yet there is more to it than the intricacies of the story. The understanding of language, art, music, games is underpinned with passages of astounding beauty. It is also profound. Whether in Tescos or the steppes of Asia, there is cruelty and heroism, suicidal despair and life-redeeming hope.
Buy the hardback version. This is a book to cherish, buried treasures of wit and meaning emerging with each re-reading, and the decorative character of the typography, pages of Japanese characters and mathematical calculations inserted seamlessly as integral illustrations, as pictures of the mind at work, is enhanced by the quality of print and paper, worthy of a present-day Gutenberg.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Style + substance = wonderful story
Ludo is a child prodigy with a voracious thirst for knowledge; his mother, Sybilla (equally gifted), is trying to earn enough money for them to get by through mind-numbing,... Read more
Published 11 months ago by neverendings
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fantastic Read
An amazing read, one of the best books I've read, and definitely a new favourite. The way it handles it's subjects with such a nonchalant, young, rational, genius outlook drives... Read more
Published 12 months ago by Ludo
4.0 out of 5 stars
Fun book for intellectuals about motherhood? No wonder it didn't sell
Great if uncategorizable book (Simone de Beauvoir meets Adrian Mole?) though by p24 it is evident that the gloriously Nabokovian Dewitt is Too Clever By Half. Nabokov? Read more
Published 20 months ago by Simon G. Barrett
5.0 out of 5 stars
The best book I have ever read
I have no grasp whatsoever of why this book is out of print. It is tremendous. When it came out it had understandably fantastic reviews which are all over the cover of my paperback... Read more
Published on 13 April 2010 by J. Hume
5.0 out of 5 stars
Masterful and entertaining novel
Although much has been said already in the glowing reviews this book has justly gotten, I want to add my own voice to the chorus of praise. Read more
Published on 11 May 2009 by M. A. Krul
5.0 out of 5 stars
Good reading, once the horizon has stabilised
This book is certainly a virtuoso performance. The only problem in such cases, is that sometimes the display of virtuosity can seem to become an end in itself, as with John... Read more
Published on 3 July 2007 by Paul Magnussen
5.0 out of 5 stars
highly original and highly recommended
The reviews below outline the plot of this wonderful, over-looked book. I bought it while on holiday in Australia in 2000 and I have reread it many times - one of few books to... Read more
Published on 28 May 2007 by L. Gardiner
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good Fun !
I thoroughly enjoyed the eccentricities of both mother and child in this lively romp through a precocious boy's search for a suitable male role model. Read more
Published on 8 Feb 2007 by Paul St John Miller
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wow!
Author DeWitt expresses her admiration, at one point, for "the type of person who thinks boredom a fate worse than death. Read more
Published on 4 Jan 2006 by Mary Whipple
5.0 out of 5 stars
Not starring Tom Cruise
This is one of the most intellegent, original books I've read. It will make you want to read every single book in the library. Read more
Published on 17 Mar 2004 by Katie
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