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mandaant1's review
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I see what Hamid was trying to do, having a white man experience the life of a person of color. The storyline was good but jumpy. There wasn’t enough detail before moving onto the next scene. The writing was too repetitive and sometimes hard to understand.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism and Suicide
Minor: Rape
sarahholliday's review
challenging
hopeful
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
3.75
I think The Last White Man would make for a fantastic read alongside other works that tackle similar topics, employ the same literary devices, and offer different approaches to the "race transformation" plot. There's a lot to discuss here, and though I personally didn't find Hamid's approach to be particularly satisfying, I would love to dig into it with others.
I don't usually enjoy Hemingway-eque, stream of consciousness writing styles, but there was something about Hamid's rambling sentences and odd colloquialisms that kept me engaged.
Overall, I think a lot of the heft of the novel comes from its representation of events we've collectively lived through recently—militant responses to unrest, racial tension, confinement, etc. The events of the novel, apart from their real life counterparts, feel overly simplistic. Maybe that's a result of our limited perspective, stuck as we are within Anders' POV. Or maybe Hamid's happily-ever-ending just feels to unrealistic.
I don't usually enjoy Hemingway-eque, stream of consciousness writing styles, but there was something about Hamid's rambling sentences and odd colloquialisms that kept me engaged.
Overall, I think a lot of the heft of the novel comes from its representation of events we've collectively lived through recently—militant responses to unrest, racial tension, confinement, etc. The events of the novel, apart from their real life counterparts, feel overly simplistic. Maybe that's a result of our limited perspective, stuck as we are within Anders' POV. Or maybe Hamid's happily-ever-ending just feels to unrealistic.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Racism, Suicide, Death, and Pandemic/Epidemic
sarahmae531's review
challenging
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
A very interesting topic, beautifully written.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Death of parent, Suicide, and Murder
Moderate: Violence and Gun violence
caterpillar's review
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
i really liked the premise of this book and the story as it played out! i didn’t love the style of writing (run-on sentences/stream of consciousness) because it made it hard for me to keep my attention on what i was reading. however, as the book progressed, i began to enjoy it more
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder, Drug abuse, Addiction, Violence, Racism, Suicide, Hate crime, and Death of parent
hanreadin's review
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide
haricots's review against another edition
3.5
3.5 ⭐️
The english language bows down to this man I swear. This book is written extremely well, is very perceptive, but I feel lacks a true thesis. I'm not sure what this book was supposed to do. I feel like while writing it, it got lost.
The english language bows down to this man I swear. This book is written extremely well, is very perceptive, but I feel lacks a true thesis. I'm not sure what this book was supposed to do. I feel like while writing it, it got lost.
Content Warnings
Minor: Suicide and Suicide attempt
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