The Last Samurai by Helen DeWitt

 

The Last Samurai

by Helen DeWitt

The Last Samurai is a challenging book that plays with the form in a lot of interesting ways. I was not expecting it to take on such an interesting structure nor to be challenged so much with the incredible intelligence of the subject matter.

Sybilla is a single mother. She is eccentric and highly intelligent, and this brings some very quirky habits into the story and the form of the book. She has a son (Ludo) after a one night stand with a travel writer. Ludo shows incredible aptitude and intelligence at a young age, and Sybilla tutors him at home on a wide variety of subjects to satiate his appetite for knowledge, including maths, languages, and science. She does this while working at home as a typist for various obscure magazines.

As Ludo grows and matures the narration switches from Sybilla's pov to Luca's where we learn that Sybilla is not as forthcoming with information as he would like her to be, specifically when it comes to information about his father, which she refuses to give. Once he learns who his father is he pays the man a visit, only to be disappointed by what he finds. Throughout the book Sybilla uses the movie The Last Samurai as an instructional guide for Ludo's moral development. Ludo uses a section of the film as a roadmap on locating a substitute ideal father figure, locating these adventurous or intelligent or inspiring men and telling them in turn that he is their son. When each attempt fails to produce his desired outcome he happens on one last man which closes out the books.

The Last Samurai really focuses on the relationship between Ludo and Sybilla, which is bizarre and interesting. She treats him like an adult, seemingly unaware or uninterested in the fact that he has very little interaction with children his own age, save for the junior judo class he attends. Sybilla herself seems lost, and we learn she had attempted suicide before Ludo was conceived. She is sad and lonely, and this is remarked upon by Ludo who wishes she could be happy and find love for herself. It seems she has given up while Ludo is himself on the search for a father to guide him and provide him with some sort of assistance to help him achieve his own goals in life. Ludo is very much alienated in the world due to his intelligence and maturity beyond his years.

I liked this book very much. At some points toward the end it was growing tiresome with the stories of the men Ludo was interested in convincing of fatherhood, but overall I was engaged with the story. It was challenging to get into at first, due to Sybilla's mind-boggling narration, but it especially picked up as Ludo began to grow and take over the narration.

I'm giving The Last Samurai 4 stars. It was smart, interesting, and ambitious.