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Novel · Medium-hard

The Last Samurai

Helen DeWitt · 2000 · United States / United Kingdom

A novel about education, genius, motherhood, taste, language, and what it means to raise a mind seriously.

Notes and Misconceptions

The title has nothing to do with the later Tom Cruise film.

The title confusion usefully separates the book from pop-cultural expectations.

Best Path

Education, genius, motherhood, language

Reading Paths

  • Form Risk, Consciousness, and Strange Architecture

    Books that ask the reader to follow fragments, reports, propositions, dreams, and engineered voice.

Tags

educationgeniusmotherhoodkurosawacult-modernintellectual-comedylanguage