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The Last Samurai Paperback – May 31, 2016

by Helen DeWitt (Author)

4.3 940 ratings

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Called “remarkable” (The Wall Street Journal) and “an ambitious, colossal debut novel” (Publishers Weekly), Helen DeWitt’s The Last Samurai is back in print at last

Helen DeWitt’s 2000 debut, The Last Samurai, was “destined to become a cult classic” (Miramax). The enterprising publisher sold the rights in twenty countries, so “Why not just, ‘destined to become a classic?’” (Garth Risk Hallberg) And why must cultists tell the uninitiated it has nothing to do with Tom Cruise?

Sibylla, an American-at-Oxford turned loose on London, finds herself trapped as a single mother after a misguided one-night stand. High-minded principles of child-rearing work disastrously well. J. S. Mill (taught Greek at three) and Yo Yo Ma (Bach at two) claimed the methods would work with any child; when these succeed with the boy Ludo, he causes havoc at school and is home again in a month. (Is he a prodigy, a genius? Readers looking over Ludo’s shoulder find themselves easily reading Greek and more.) Lacking male role models for a fatherless boy, Sibylla turns to endless replays of Kurosawa’s masterpiece Seven Samurai. But Ludo is obsessed with the one thing he wants and doesn’t know: his father’s name. At eleven, inspired by his own take on the classic film, he sets out on a secret quest for the father he never knew. He’ll be punched, sliced, and threatened with retribution. He may not live to see twelve. Or he may find a real samurai and save a mother who thinks boredom a fate worse than death.

Print length

576 pages
Language

English
Publisher

New Directions
Publication date

May 31, 2016
Dimensions

5.2 x 1.4 x 8 inches
ISBN-10

081122550X
ISBN-13

978-0811225502
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"[...] a Molotov cocktail of a book, an incendiary experience for readers that breaks through the mundanity of life, work, and love to achieve greatness."
― Off the Shelf

"A triumph―a genuinely new story, a genuinely new form."
― A. S. Byatt, The New Yorker

"The Last Samurai is an original work of brilliance about, in part, the limits of brilliance."
― Time

"The book has been a great source of motivation for me. I must outdo Ludo, because he is younger than I am but smarter than I am. My father says that this is ridiculous, as Ludo is a fictional character. But this is precisely my point: how can I let a character who isn’t even real outdo me?"
― Daniel (age 14)

About the Author

Helen DeWitt was born in a suburb of Washington, DC. Daughter of American diplomats, she grew up mainly in Latin America, living in Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, and Ecuador. She went to Oxford to study classics for a BA and D.Phil. She left academia to try to write a novel, moving eventually to London and acquiring UK citizenship. She had some 100 fragments of novels when she began work in 1995 on the novel that was published as The Last Samurai in 2000. The book caused a sensation at the Frankfurt Bookfair 1999, going on to be translated in 20 languages (DeWitt reads some 15 languages to various degrees of fluency). On the reissue of The Last Samurai by New Directions in 2016 it was hailed by Vulture Magazine as The Best Book of the Century. She is also the author of Lightning Rods, a Mel Brooksian satire on sexual harassment, and Some Trick, a collection of stories. She has been based in Berlin since 2004, but also spends time at a cottage in the woods of Vermont improving her chainsaw skills.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ New Directions; Reprint edition (May 31, 2016)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 576 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 081122550X
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0811225502
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.1 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.2 x 1.4 x 8 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #128,322 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #2,888 in Family Life Fiction (Books)
- #8,984 in Literary Fiction (Books)
- #9,769 in American Literature (Books)

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4.3 940 ratings

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4.3 out of 5

940 global ratings

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mmlvx

Out, standing in her field

Reviewed in the United States on January 24, 2022

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It would be ridiculous for me to attempt in 20 words what the world has not done in 20 years.

Ok, sorry, that was flippant and probably unhelpful to folks deciding whether to invest time in reading "The Last Samurai" (or perhaps trying to decide whether to buy it as a gift for someone). I like this book. I like it so much that I have given away a half-dozen copies to various friends and family. I like it so much that I have re-read it five or six times myself.

I like it for its unflinching treatment of depression and related psychological illness in loved ones. I like it for its unorthodox protagonists. I like its twisted take on The Hero's Journey. Actually, trying to think of something about this book I *don't* like, I'm coming up short.

It doesn't mention Linux, at all. (But then, it's not really much about computers. And it was written before I'd even installed Mandrake for the first time. So, it's totally unfair to hold such a triviality against the author.)

Who is this book for? I would say, it's for "effete intellectual snobs", and friends of said. And it's for people who think the world would be better if we did a better job of *not* discouraging the curiosity of children.

Who is this book *not* for? I would say, it's not for the kind of political leaders who win their elections with 99.9% of the vote of their adoring public. And it's not for the people who think that the world would be better with more tyranny. (And it's probably not a great choice for people with logophobia.)

11 people found this helpful

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Cecily

Reading this title after hearing a review & recommendation.

Reviewed in the United States on December 13, 2023

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Still reading this title. Language & style very engaging.

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Jens B. Fiederer

"A good samurai will parry the blow"

Reviewed in the United States on April 3, 2011

Verified Purchase

(Reviewed this on my blog, might as well copy the review here where people might actually read it)

She must have loved that quote, I lost track of how often she quoted it. It can't have been too many, because that would be wrong -- and for me there was nothing wrong with this book. I'm not sure which book this one pushes off my top ten list, but it's position is secure.

Art, science, religion, philosophy, growing up, settling vs. striving....this book weaves them all into a fabric that wraps reality and dreams together. At various points I might have told friends what I though this book was about, but that changes as you read it. Unlike Cien Años de Soledad, which also follows a family through the generations, this book comes into sharper and sharper focus as the years go by, and you realize the character you at first enjoyed is really background for the more vibrant character you are enjoying now.

One point that should be kept in mind: this book has no relation to the Tom Cruise movie of the same name, and only a passing relation to samurais - the title is an allusion to the Kurosawa movie "The Seven Samurai", which is a favorite of one of the characters. It does have some negative criticism for the movie:
Cast your mind back to this film for one moment. Identify, if you can, a suitable moment at which to place your arm around the shoulders of your companion and kiss her. You cannot? No more could I. After half an hour, no suitable moment presenting itself, I chose an unsuitable moment -- I was rebuked.
I really want to recommend this book, but I'm not sure that everybody can appreciate it. Although the book has no sluggish parts, it does use some techniques that might be confusing and off-putting if you don't get them. There will be things beyond your comprehension you might want to just skip over, but they are brief. If you are contemplating suicide, there are some helpful techniques to avoid it (for example, watching "The Importance of Being Earnest"), but they might not work -- but if you do commit suicide after reading this book, it is not because the book depressed you, it is because the depression was just too deep for the book to lift.

16 people found this helpful

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M. A. Krul

Masterful and entertaining novel

Reviewed in the United States on January 16, 2008

Verified Purchase

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. Helen De Witt's late debut (it's not polite to point out a lady's age but one can say most writers debut quite earlier than she did) is one of the most entertaining novels I have read in a long time.

The book is about Sybilla, an American single mother eking out an existence in London as a transscriber of old magazines while at the same time trying to deal with having a miraculously smart child, Ludo. Since Ludo lacks a father, she raises him on countless viewings of Akira Kurosawa's masterwork "The Seven Samurai", as well as spending her little income on buying second-hand books on languages, physics, astronomy and other subjects. Ludo masters all these things at a shockingly young age; so much so in fact that his short attempt to attend an actual school is a dismal failure. As he grows up though, Ludo wants to find out who his father is, hoping to find a rolemodel in him as well as a support for his often despondent and potentially suicidal mother, for whom "boredom is a fate worse than death".

The book traces Ludo's quest for his father and the various odd and over the top characters that he considers, while at the same time describing the intense bond between a single mother and her son. De Witt's writing is highly inventive and original and makes maximal use of page layout and changes in pace and style, without this becoming a gimmick like it does with Danielewski. Although the mother Sybilla is unabashedly based on herself, the way De Witt captures the mind of the strong-willed wunderkind is definitely the best characterization in the book, and this alone makes it worth reading. Add to that the solid structure of the book (I don't understand why some reviewers found this meandering, when it's more compact and structured than most famous 19th century novels put together), the inspiring erudition of the various interludes on linguistics, foreign lands, physics, astronomy, and Kurosawa, and finally the unpredictability and novelty of the book as a whole, and you have a definite masterpiece. If it is true that a writer's first book is usually one of their weaker ones, then we have a enormous talent in Helen De Witt.

23 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

W. H. Martin

A narrative style that is sometimes tedious

Reviewed in France on August 18, 2020

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This novel about a boy genius and his mother was entertaining at times. The concept of a child searching for a father figure was an engaging one. However, I found the long passages of details about languages and scientific facts rather boring. It seems as if the author were trying to pad the novel with all her notes from past readings.

Amazon Customer

Five Stars

Reviewed in Canada on April 26, 2018

Verified Purchase

Good condition - Great book

izzy

buried treasures of wit and meaning

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 27, 2002

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.

17 people found this helpful

Client d'Amazon

challenging but entertaining work on genius by a genius

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 1, 2023

Verified Purchase

Some of this book feels like a slog. Some of it will have you chuckling heartily to yourself.

DeWitt is probably an actual genius and the book details the struggles of a frustrated genius mother trying to raise her gifted child. The book gains momentum as it goes, particularly when Ludo goes on a quest to find his father.

You might find the long patches of foreign dialogue or funny formatting irritating but you can just skip those. I thought that while it's probably slightly too long, the book was worth grappling with.

Sean Kirkegaard

It's dazzling

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 4, 2023

Verified Purchase

Take a great book. Plug it into an electric socket. And watch the text fizz with life. That is this.

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