Reviews

The Last Samurai, by Helen DeWitt

bae0fpigs's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

adriennne's review against another edition

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challenging funny hopeful
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

satkinson's review against another edition

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5.0

easily the funniest, and possibly (probably? almost definitely!) the best book i’ve read from this century

adit_yas's review against another edition

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challenging slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

sooooooooo pretentious

chrissiemwright's review against another edition

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Detached style overly reliant on references to ancient texts and dead languages. I liked the funny/agonizing portrayal of muddling through parenthood and work, but was too bogged down to go the distance.

yanulya's review against another edition

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5.0

(note: this book has NO relation to the tom cruise movie that shares its name). i have wanted to read this for a long time and am really excited to finally have dived into it... about a smartypants single mom w/ a genius four year old son who speaks six languages and thirsts for knowledge. she makes him watch the seven samurai over and over as a replacement for an actual father figure in his life, he sets out on a quest to find his real dad. lots of linguistic nerdiness throughout. loving it so far.

zosiablue's review against another edition

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4.0

(4.5) Better to go in knowing nothing & stick with it to the end. This is one of the books you need to relax your mind 90 degrees to read. And did I relate to a main character furiously learning everything he can in hopes to figure out the family secret? Yeah man.

mcelmoyl's review against another edition

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5.0

one of my absolute favorites.
it is a challenge to read, but a nice portrait of a complicated mother/child relationship

tahnok's review against another edition

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5.0

Enjoyed the second half much more than the first

Going to be thinking of this book for a while

jenlowe's review against another edition

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5.0

Genius. Totally entertaining. An absolute pleasure.