The Last Samurai is an ambitious novel about an intellectually curious single mother raising her genius son. Applying parenting methods from the fathers of John Stuart Mill and Yo Yo Ma, she teaches her son several languages before the age of six, worrying all the while that she might make mistakes that thwart his potential. The son wants to know who his father is, and at age 11 goes on a quest to find him, a quest inspired by the gathering of the samurai in the film Seven Samurai.
I was very impressed with the first third of the book, told from the mother's point of view. Her perspective is intriguingly odd. The prologue, about how her parents' lives took unexpected turns, grounds her concerns about her son's development. I was especially interested in her thoughts about how Schoenberg's Theory of Harmony might apply to language(s).
I lost enthusiasm fairly quickly once the son took over as narrator. In the early going his thoughts are mostly about how impressed people are by his achievements; during his quest to find a suitable father figure, his interactions with candidates are unbelievable and all over the place thematically.
I was very impressed with the first third of the book, told from the mother's point of view. Her perspective is intriguingly odd. The prologue, about how her parents' lives took unexpected turns, grounds her concerns about her son's development. I was especially interested in her thoughts about how Schoenberg's Theory of Harmony might apply to language(s).
I lost enthusiasm fairly quickly once the son took over as narrator. In the early going his thoughts are mostly about how impressed people are by his achievements; during his quest to find a suitable father figure, his interactions with candidates are unbelievable and all over the place thematically.
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