A review by pinkiereads
The Last White Man by Mohsin Hamid

challenging inspiring reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

i think that had i entered this book expecting a story about humanity and relationships i would have been much quicker to warm up to it, but instead i entered it expecting a story about race, and that was in fact a very white thing for me to do. bittersweet and touching, a slow to develop but then compassionate story about family and how a person can relate to the world and the people around them. my initial critique of it being too interpersonal was based i think in my experience as a white person of not having a very interpersonal relationship with race, my own race specifically. because it is not as salient in my day to day life, i approached it from the approach i have normally had to race, a sociological, much wider focus. this isn’t necessarily bad, but this book definitely expanded and added nuance to my conception of race. but actually that wasn’t the most important part? once i got through this initial allure and drama of the premise, then the slow middle point where i struggled a bit, and additionally the difficult style of writing, i began to feel quite touched by what unexpectedly became a very beautiful love story? of course i do still have some critiques of places i wish it had explored further, namely the relationship between drugs and race as drugs were such a topic, i do feel very satisfied and pensive after finishing it, and i think i’ll be recommending it to people, so really what more can i ask for in a book. perhaps i’ll read more of this author, i like how he played with my expectations and expanded my world view through the expansion of the character’s world views, subtle as they were.