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A review by mesal
The Last White Man by Mohsin Hamid
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This is the very first Mohsin Hamid novel that I've ever read, and I've always been curious to see what his writing style is like, in large part because he's a Pakistani Anglophone novelist who's made it big, but by now I'm assuming this particular novel's style differs greatly from his previous ones, considering it meanders in the stream-of-consciousness manner, which is often difficult to read and often not exactly enjoyable either if you don't expect it, with lengthy sentences covering so many of the characters' thoughts and actions that even one is easily enough to complete a whole paragraph.
In pointed reference to Gregor Samsa's famed metamorphosis over a hundred years ago, The Last White Man explores a world in which, as the book's title suggests, every white person in the world wakes up with brown skin, though the process is not so instantaneous, as the change initially goes unnoticed, with the first people trying to hide the fact that they've woken up in this state, much like Anders himself, our main character who feels as if people who would otherwise recognize him are suddenly distancing themselves from him on account of not being white like themselves, though he wonders to himself if this is actually true or merely a misunderstanding.
Eventually the metamorphosis spreads to other white people and the notion is, after a period of disbelief, given credit by news outlets and governments, although the white population isn't ready to accept these changes so easily, with plenty acting exactly as one would expect of them in such a situation: by arming themselves and policing neighborhoods, those who are still white evicting those who aren't anymore from majority-white neighborhoods, intensifying the racism, researching the change, hoping to fend off what otherwise appears to be inevitable. Hamid's tone of voice in this novel is so sincere that, despite the blurb and the expectations that arise from it, it is difficult to call it satire, as Hamid seems to direct his message not only at the white people that make up his main cast of characters but also at the people of color living in western countries, attempting to assimilate to these societies and often believing themselves successful.
While The Last White Man may overall have been a thought-provoking read, and one I did end up liking by the time I was done with it, my early difficulty with reading it, to the point that I even considered giving up after trudging my way through the first few overcrowded pages, is the reason behind my three-star rating.
In pointed reference to Gregor Samsa's famed metamorphosis over a hundred years ago, The Last White Man explores a world in which, as the book's title suggests, every white person in the world wakes up with brown skin, though the process is not so instantaneous, as the change initially goes unnoticed, with the first people trying to hide the fact that they've woken up in this state, much like Anders himself, our main character who feels as if people who would otherwise recognize him are suddenly distancing themselves from him on account of not being white like themselves, though he wonders to himself if this is actually true or merely a misunderstanding.
Eventually the metamorphosis spreads to other white people and the notion is, after a period of disbelief, given credit by news outlets and governments, although the white population isn't ready to accept these changes so easily, with plenty acting exactly as one would expect of them in such a situation: by arming themselves and policing neighborhoods, those who are still white evicting those who aren't anymore from majority-white neighborhoods, intensifying the racism, researching the change, hoping to fend off what otherwise appears to be inevitable. Hamid's tone of voice in this novel is so sincere that, despite the blurb and the expectations that arise from it, it is difficult to call it satire, as Hamid seems to direct his message not only at the white people that make up his main cast of characters but also at the people of color living in western countries, attempting to assimilate to these societies and often believing themselves successful.
While The Last White Man may overall have been a thought-provoking read, and one I did end up liking by the time I was done with it, my early difficulty with reading it, to the point that I even considered giving up after trudging my way through the first few overcrowded pages, is the reason behind my three-star rating.