>***The Last Samurai, by Helen DeWitt
>
>Not about Japan and only about samurais in the respect that
>the son uses Seven Samurai as a model for searching for his
>father.
>It's about what makes a worthwhile life or a life worth
>living.
>And it's about the value of granting an individual autonomy
>over his/her own existence and what, if anything, we can
>responsibly do to aid a person who is in distress without
>compromising their autonomy.
>And it's about what it means to look for your father, and who
>is a father, and what is it to have a father.
>And it's about brilliance and the limitations of brilliance.


I should be finishing this book after work tonight. I've loved every single page I've read so far. I cannot even imagine how DeWitt even began to write something this gigantic.

My favorite parts were with the young Ludo and Sybilla writing as if she accidentally turned him into a genius. Ludo's diary of his trip to school was hilarious and heartbreaking all at once, absolutely my favorite section.

I borrowed the book from the library, but I'll be buying this on my next trip to the book store. It's a book that I suspect I'll read quite a few times.