num_pages: 496
description: This is the story of a single mother, Sibylla, who comes from a long line of frustrated talents, and her son Ludo, who just happens to be a genius. Obsessed with the film The Seventh Samurai, she makes it a running backdrop to Ludo's childhood. At five Ludo learns ancient Greek, reading Homer as they travel round and round on the London Underground, teaches himself Hebrew, Arabic, Inuit, probability theory, astronomy, and is moving on to Japanese when he decides to embark on the search for his father—preferably the perfect father in the heroic mould, or at the very least, one with samurai virtues. He is bound for disappointment, and to find out more than he needs about his mother's shaky past. And at the heart of this completely delightful, captivating novel is the boy's changing relationship with his mother—contradictory, touching, and tender.Full of linguistic pyrotechnics, fabulous learning, philosophy, science, and the workings of a brilliant mind, this is a must-read novel for everyone who relishes language, extravagant ideas, game theory, science, parenthood, not to mention Kurosawa's cinematic masterpiece.
language: English
title: The Last Samurai
titlecomplete: The Last Samurai
characters: Kenzo Yamamoto, Ludo Newman, Red Devlin, Mustafa Szegeti, Val Peters, Mr. Watkins, George Sorabji, Sibylla Newman, Hugh Carey
genres: Fiction, American, Japan, Literature, Classics, Novels, Contemporary, 21st Century, Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction
ratings_count: 8350
places: London, England, United Kingdom
awards: awardedAt: 978336000000
name: Orange Prize
category: Fiction, awardedAt: 978336000000
name: Los Angeles Times Book Prize
category: Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction, awardedAt: 1009872000000
name: Dublin Literary Award
category: Shortlist
publisher: Knopf Canada