The Last Samurai

I am sure that a lot of this book went over my head, but it was wonderful and fun to read.

The basic idea is that Sybilla, a highly educated American woman, is living in London in the 90's, doing a menial typing job to support herself and her small son, Ludo. At the beginning, Ludo is 4 and has already learned Greek, Latin, and Hebrew and is reading through a list of classics in order to convince his mother to teach him Japanese. We learn who Ludo's father is and why he isn't involved in his child's life, but Ludo doesn't know these things, although he wants to. The second half of the book is narrated by Ludo, aged 11, as he goes in search of his father, or a father. The Kurosawa film The Seven Samurai is a touchstone for the characters in the book, and I think the second half of the book is a kind of retelling of the film's story.

I skipped over the details of Biblical Hebrew and Japanese grammar, and still enjoyed this hilarious, touching and very, very smart novel.