It was absolutely not what I expected - in the best way possible. I must admit that I didn’t read the synopsis at all. I just grabbed it because my edition has samurais on the cover, and I saw a few people on Reddit recommending it. So I assumed I was in for a deep dive into Japan’s history. Instead, The Last Samurai turned out to be one of the most entertaining novels I’ve read in a long time - and honestly, it might even be one of the best books of this century (do you agree?). And what makes it even more impressive is that Helen DeWitt debuted with it.
What I loved most is how intensely specific the characters are. They feel so real - so sharply themselves - that I genuinely can’t imagine them working in a more “conventional” novel. The book is funny, unusual and fast-paced. Did it sometimes feel too smart? Yes. Did it sometimes feel totally chaotic? Probably. But somehow it stays perfectly engaging the entire time.
To me, the first part is about both the struggle and the joy of trying to fit a unique mind into a world that doesn’t necessarily understand or value it. And maybe even more importantly, it’s about what our education system (and parents) could do to better recognize and support children’s talents and needs - especially now, when it’s so hard for kids to detach from smartphones and social media.
The second part, in my opinion, shifts into a bit different kind of journey. It’s about understanding the world through the lens of people with completely different perspectives, and it’s packed with “what if?” questions - about identity, meaning, and all the strange possibilities that shape a life.
Anyway, this is definitely one of those books that makes you think about it for a long time. Any thoughts?
I think many people assume its the book adaptation for the Tom Cruise movie and pass on it. I read it years ago when it came out and loved it. I messaged Helen afterwards telling her so and she turned out to be a lovely person.
Edit: fixed typo
How did you manage to message her?
I happened to notice that she was a 2nd degree connection on my LinkedIn of all places, so I messaged her. I had zero expectation she'd respond but we ended up having a fun chat. This was many years ago so I have no idea if she's still active on LinkedIn. I suspect I was just lucky in timing.
Thank you!
Via the HelenDeWittChat app
Funny.
I read this year and wholeheartedly agree. The scene of the piano concert in particular blew my mind.
How did you understand it, and what did you take away from it?
Hell yeah! The Last Samurai and Lightning Rods are great novels by a great writer.
I hate Your Name Here. It’s awful. It’s hugely disappointing. That’s okay. I don’t mind that she’s written a terrible book. She wrote two great books.
Excellent novel, I've plugged it here a few times!
note if you haven't read it: has absolutely nothing to with the 2003 Tom Cruise movie
Helen DeWitt's 2018 short story collection Some Trick is pretty cool too. Maybe a better pick for starters.
Superb book. Top 5 for me.
Just finished Your Name Here which is… a lot. Flashes of immense genius but not really a novel as such, and collapses under the weight of its (I can’t help but think) aspirations to impenetrability.
Anyway, I was awed enough to pick up The Last Samurai (a novel I’d always avoided as I just assumed it was the novelisation of that acrid Tim Cruise movie) and currently on page 20. I’m rationing it as I’m enjoying it so much.
Yes, it's a masterpiece.
It is too "weird" for most people, but it is an astonishing book.
Personally, I couldn’t really connect with the book at all and it was the only novel I did not finish this year. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely adore encyclopedic novels from the likes of Pynchon or Wallace, but all of the displayed subject matters here felt so dry and boringly technical. I also found both of the protagonists to be quite insufferable, but that might have to do with the fact that I cannot stand people who feel they are above everyone else and are not humble about it. To me, the book felt like DeWitt simply wanted to show off how smart she is, but — while I wouldn’t deny that she is smart — the displayed subject matters didn’t provide enough interesting insights for me.
I am totally with you. I found it boring and the prose nothing special. For context, Beckett's Watt is one of my favorite books.
Thank you for the comment. To be honest, the heavy encyclopedic style didn’t bother me that much. But after reading your thoughts, I realized that one of the main strengths of a postmodern writer is knowing when to stop. That said I don’t read many books, especially modern ones, so for me it actually felt like a breath of fresh air. Nonetheless, now I completely understand why this book can have either huge admirers or strong critics - there’s very little room for a middle ground.
100% agreed. I love weird and/or challenging books but I found this one inaccessible and try hard and frustrating.
I completely agree with you. I found it really quite dislikable and already rather dated in its affect and stylistic tics. The characters are indeed insufferable – a snobbish, bitter mother and a precocious Alyosha type – and I found the basic premise of the book pretty questionable. A mother hides from a young son the identity of his father because ... the man is a hacky writer?!
Like Infinite Jest, I also think this generation of post-pomo writing suffers in many ways from being the last expressions of a properly pre-Internet literary culture. By which I mean all of the intellection that is on display, the reek of the lamp, all the foregrounding of book smarts and footnoted learning, were immediately rendered less impressive in the Wiki era. The effort to blend an encyclopaedia with a humanist screed just doesn't work for me. We all now live in this sort of totalising, maximally referential, information-saturated environment. The storytelling has to do something interesting or unique with this material: referencing Homer and Kurosawa in the same breath and motioning vaguely towards the redemptive qualities of some meta- or ur-culture isn't enough. (I understand she has doubled-down on this stuff in her new email exchange-cum-publishing sensation book.)
Lastly, I just don't chime with her humour; perhaps it's a British vs. American thing (being charitable, here). I find her snarky and pedantic (as an editor I get the feeling she would be an extreme headache to work with), and a weirdly passive-aggressive vibe, by turns cajoling and score-settling, emanates from the page. The book so clearly wants to be heralded as a 'heartbreaking work of staggering genius' that it almost at times seems to be bullying about it!
It's rare that I finish a book with explicitly hostile or mean things to say about it. Generally, I find something to like in almost all novels, regardless of whether or not I deem them successful in their aims. But I really did not like this book.
Best novel of this century so far (that I’ve read).
I’d probably agree
Yep, it deserves all the mentions everywhere. But I think it also takes a specific kind of patient reader to enjoy it, and maybe that's part of the reason why it's not as talked about as much.
I read it when it came out and enjoyed it. I don't really write about books I read a long time ago.
DNF :(
No.
Musashi, by Eiji Yoshikawa, deserves more.
But for some reason, americans on Reddit seems to be allergic to this book.
Totally different subject matter but ok
I mean, the OP said, about The Last Samurai: "What I loved most is how intensely specific the characters are".
This is totally Musashi. The chapters about Kojiro, before his fame, are superb.
Musashi struggles with agriculture can also fit in "struggle and the joy of trying to fit a unique mind into a world that doesn't necessarily understand or value it".
It seems that you do not read it. Or perhaps, it is the well-known prejudice that north-americans have for non-english written books.
Or perhaps, speaking candidly, it comes down to the simple fact that your whole comment chain is an extended non sequitur.
Keep it 100 champ.
I’m not North American and I regularly read books in 4 different languages including Japanese.
Have you read The Last Samurai (2000), by Helen DeWitt? Can you describe its 2 main characters?
Oh I understand now. Musashi is about Samurai. The Last Samurai by DeWitt is not about samurai at all - other than the influence a samurai movie has on a mother. No spoilers
You can appreciate two books you know.
The novel isn't actually about samurai, you know. A very silly comment.