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The Last Samurai

Helen DeWitt

Paperback | Pages: 530 pages

Rating: 4.17 | 5834 Users | 767 Reviews

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Original Title:	The Last Samurai
ISBN:	0786887001 (ISBN13: 9780786887002)
Edition Language:	English
Characters:	Ludo Newman, Sibylla Newman, Val Peters, Hugh Carey, George Sorabji, Mr. Watkins, Mustafa Szegeti, Red Devlin, Kenzo Yamamoto
Setting:	United Kingdom London, England(United Kingdom)
Literary Awards:	Orange Prize Nominee for Fiction (2001), Los Angeles Times Book Prize Nominee for Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction (2001), International Dublin Literary Award Nominee for Shortlist (2002)

Commentary In Favor Of Books The Last Samurai

Helen DeWitt's extraordinary debut, The Last Samurai, centers on the relationship between Sibylla, a single mother of precocious and rigorous intelligence, and her son, who, owing to his mother's singular attitude to education, develops into a prodigy of learning. Ludo reads Homer in the original Greek at 4 before moving on to Hebrew, Japanese, Old Norse, and Inuit; studying advanced mathematical techniques (Fourier analysis and Laplace transformations); and, as the title hints, endlessly watching and analyzing Akira Kurosawa's masterpiece, The Seven Samurai. But the one question that eludes an answer is that of the name of his father: Sibylla believes the film obliquely provides the male role models that Ludo's genetic father cannot, and refuses to be drawn on the question of paternal identity. The child thinks differently, however, and eventually sets out on a search, one that leads him beyond the certainties of acquired knowledge into the complex and messy world of adults.The novel draws on themes topical and perennial--the hothousing of children, the familiar literary trope of the quest for the (absent) father--and as such, divides itself into two halves: the first describes Ludo's education, the second follows him 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 world of emotion, human ambitions, and their attendant frustrations and failures.

The Last Samurai is about the pleasure of ideas, the rich varieties of human thought, the possibilities that life offers us, and, ultimately, the balance between the structures we make of the world and the chaos that it proffers in return. Stylistically, the novel mirrors this ambivalence: DeWitt's remarkable prose follows the shifts and breaks of human consciousness and memory, capturing the intrusions of unspoken thought that punctuate conversation while providing tantalizing disquisitions on, for example, Japanese grammar or the physics of aerodynamics. It is remarkable, profound, and often very funny. Arigato DeWitt-sensei. --Burhan Tufail

Particularize Epithetical Books The Last Samurai

Title	:	The Last Samurai
Author	:	Helen DeWitt
Book Format	:	Paperback
Book Edition	:	Deluxe Edition
Pages	:	Pages: 530 pages
Published	:	April 3rd 2002 by Miramax Books (first published September 20th 2000)
Categories	:	Fiction. Contemporary. Novels. Literary Fiction. Literature

Rating Epithetical Books The Last Samurai

Ratings: 4.17 From 5834 Users | 767 Reviews

Evaluation Epithetical Books The Last Samurai

"It is truly something and something which the something with the something of this something has something and something, so something also this something might something at first something." This first sentence from A. Roemer's "Aristarchs Athetesen in der Homerkritik" (Leipzig, 1912). So begins this delightful novel's character Sibylla's early soliloquy; then too: "I formed the impression that the sentence meant: It is truly a fallow and new field which the author has trod and ploughed

I had planned to watch Seven Samurai before writing this review, because the novel leans so heavily on it, frequently interpolating the films dialogue, and drawing from its structure and themes. But finding the time for that has proved difficult. And while I think the film is important for a full appreciation of The Last Samurai, the novel does provide enough context for it to be understood alone.The novel itself is an original, highly innovative work, making bold and unexpected decisions in

The Last Samurai, Helen DeWitt The Last Samurai (2000) was the first novel by American writer Helen DeWitt.The Last Samurai is about the relationship between a young boy, Ludo, and his mother, Sibylla. Sibylla, a single mother, brings Ludo up somewhat unusually; he starts reading at two, reading Homer in the original Greek at three, and goes on to Hebrew, Japanese, Old Norse, Inuit, and advanced mathematics. To stand in for a male influence in his upbringing, Sibylla plays him Akira Kurosawa's

I borrowed this book from my brother an embarrassingly long time ago, and I'm not even sure now why I've waited so long to read this. It was one of those "Oh, I'll be able to breeze through this and return it to you so you can read it" kinds of things. Considering that was years ago, clearly I didn't do breeze through it or return it. Hey, it's part of my charm.This wasn't an easy book to get into. I started it during a particularly busy time - moving to a new place, working longer hours at

a great book. or, at least the first 400 pages were amazingly wonderfully perfect, and the last 100 pages were good enough. but endings always suck ass, so five stars anyway.plus, it's the first fiction by a woman since ayn rand that i loved (don't hold that against me. it's like mandatory for nerdy teenage boys, isn't it?). that's a 14-year drought! and lord knows i tried. i don't understand why some novels about ordinary people struggling with ordinary crap are considered worthwhile. what do i

There is a LOT in this book. I don't know where to start.What Shall I do? I need to write a review, especially after the last quote I put up which is throughly insufficient to describe The Last Samurai. What shall I DO?I'm stuck in a rut myself. I've been doing this for too long. I keep telling myself I should bite the bullet... and make a comeback. What's the use of spending my life in this room? What's the use of me sitting in front of this blank screen trying to achieve some undefined ideal

Beautiful in all sense of the word. There was a lot going on in this read. This is one not to miss. I was kind of sad for it to end. I think there is something in here for everyone. Watching the Kurosawa film is a must while reading."A good samurai will parry the blow..."Edit 10/14/2015:After thinking about it last night and this morning, this was such a magnificent novel. One major topic I can't stop thinking about is Ludo's growth throughout the novel. At first he is just a "robotic"