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The Last White Man
The Last White Man: A Novel | Mohsin Hamid
34 posts | 32 read | 26 to read
Gorgeously crafted, morally authoritative, The Last White Man concludes on a note of hope, a door jarred open just enough to let transcendence pour through, literatures mission incarnate. O, the Oprah Magazine From the New York Times bestselling author of Exit West, a story of love, loss, and rediscovery in a time of unsettling change One morning, Anders wakes to find that his skin has turned dark, his reflection a stranger to him. At first he tells only Oona, an old friend, newly a lover. Soon, reports of similar occurrences surface across the land. Some see in the transformations the long-dreaded overturning of an established order, to be resisted to a bitter end. In many, like Anderss father and Oonas mother, a sense of profound loss wars with profound love. As the bond between Anders and Oona deepens, change takes on a different shading: a chance to see one another, face to face, anew. In Hamids lyrical and urgent prose (O Magazine), The Last White Man invites us to envision a future our future that dares to reimagine who we think we are, and how we might yet be together.
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kellock
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A bargain for £3

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Nathan_Opland-Dobs
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Pickpick

❤️

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Robotswithpersonality
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Mehso-so

District 9 vibes - less sci-fi/body horror, more the dystopian world used to make a more intimate portrait and statement on racism, this one also a much more hopeful rendition. 1/?

Robotswithpersonality 2/? Central theme is racism, how it affects people's lives, what it could look like if it didn't, but it's certainly bringing in other strings of what's wrong with modern society (self-interest evident on social media, larger occurence of chemical dependency/drug addiction, police on the side of white supremacists by their action or inaction, performative allyship "to be the sort of person who would have helped them"). 1y
Robotswithpersonality 3/? Holy run-on sentences, Batman! An adjustment period is necessary, especially if you're reading aloud, but the style fits with the sort of mental spiral each of the characters seems to start in. 1y
Robotswithpersonality 4/? Both main characters caring for elderly parents who are sick/dying, with different perspectives in an increasingly divided world, a symbol of that previous generation, how it felt about race, how it can change/how it will die out?
1y
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Robotswithpersonality 5/? Space for connection and release in younger generation - the idea that you could possibly think differently enough to reach out to people you have felt uncomfortable doing so with before - that you could take it as a new start, a breaking with the old you, especially if the old you was riddled with emotional pain. 1y
Robotswithpersonality 6/? Loss = universal human experience.
The wretched things that fear does - Oona's mother - so set in her beliefs that she can only meet this future with fear of the change.
Publishing date and certain passages suggests real life experience of quarantine may have worked it's way into the story.
1y
Robotswithpersonality 7/7 Novella length allowed the author to tell the whole story, didn't feel short-changed, but given the sentence phrasing and rephrasing, I wonder if the narrative might also have managed the same impact as a short story? ⚠️ Racist violence, murder of people of colour 1y
Robotswithpersonality It's a different story, certainly, but if anybody knows of anything in the contemporary/speculative genre that focuses on characters' shifted perspective after sudden transformation of GENDER, I would be very curious to read such a treatment, and see where the author takes it (I'll pass on anything that smacks of reinforcing heteronormativity, obvy).
1y
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Robotswithpersonality
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Unexpected, but beautiful, to see the author present not simply the grimmer outcomes of white people confronting their own racism, but also those who could see in a change in skin colour more positive outcomes. Not to exploit minority status, but simply to embrace change and the growth it may offer.

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Robotswithpersonality
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..."the way people act around you, it changes what you are, who you are"...
On the defensive? Social contract? Response to prejudice, peer pressure?
Messaging is often to not care what people think, be yourself, but that always assumes it's safe to be yourself.

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Robotswithpersonality
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An allusion to those algorithms reportedly trained on mostly white faces having trouble recognizing black faces as humans? 🤨

8 likes1 stack add
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BookishTrish
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Panpan

The concept was interesting: a white man wakes up black. The writing was too vague for me to fully engage with the story or characters.

BarbaraBB I felt so too. 1y
SamAnne Agreed. 1y
56 likes2 comments
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Suet624
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Mehso-so

I‘ve been sitting on this review because I‘m sad to say this book was just okay. I‘ve really liked his other books, especially Exit West. The premise of everyone suddenly having black skin was interesting and how they reacted to it, but I felt it didn‘t go deep enough and I found the writing style to be annoying. Hearing this was originally a short story that he expanded to develop into a book made sense. He should have kept it as a short story.

SamAnne Completely agree with your review. I loved loved Exit West. But yes, this would have worked better as a short story. 1y
BarbaraBB You‘re so right. It didn‘t work out well enough. 1y
vivastory Is this a novella or a full length book? 1y
Suet624 I listened to the audio and it as three hours long. Otherwise I‘m not sure how to answer your question. 1y
66 likes4 comments
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HeatherBookNerd
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Pickpick

Anders wakes one morning to discover that he has turned brown, and news reports indicate that this is happening all over the world. As more white people lose their whiteness, society erupts in various ways. Hamid focuses more on examining the feelings of his characters than on providing details, leaving the reader to imagine what might happen. A fascinating, thought provoking book.

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Anna40
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Pickpick

Told mainly from the perspective of the ‘first white black man‘ Anders,the novel centres around the fantasy of everyone turning black.Hamid published this as a short story in the New Yorker that he then turned into a book-length narrative.Thoughts about racism and identity are presented in an original tone, however, the story is a bit too dragged out& the writing annoyed me at the end which is why I think this works better as a short story.

SamAnne I thought his Exit West was much much better. 2y
Anna40 @SamAnne I haven‘t read Exit West. I‘ll try it. Thanks for the tip. I really liked the short story based on Last white man which is why I picked it up and did enjoy it but it was too long and for this kind of length I expected a bit more depth. As a short story it works, it‘s original with a great premise. 2y
SamAnne @anna40 I didn‘t know it was based on a short story. That makes sense. It did lack depth. This one was a so-so read for me. Exit West was a 5 star. So inventive and the magic realism element allows him to tackle aspects of the immigrant experience in better detail, in a new way. 2y
Anna40 @SamAnne I‘m not a big magic realism fan but it does sound like a good book. I‘ll give it a try. I also enjoyed the Reluctant Fundamentalist 2y
SamAnne @Anna40 I've been wanting to try the Reluctant Fundamentalist, but put it on the back burner after reading The Last White Man. I'm not a big magic realism fan either, but it worked for me in Exit West. 2y
24 likes5 comments
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Bookish_Gal
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Panpan

Not a fan of this style of writing. The sentences were really long, as if the words jest kept coming out, an endless river of thoughts. The plot confuses me a bit, though I did like the premise. The book was mellow all through. Not enough emotional lows to make a grand comeback. Couldn‘t relate to either. The premise does make you think though. Lord of the Flies mentality here. How everyone would riot if there was no border between “us and them”

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Julsmarshall
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Pickpick

Hamid‘s books always make me think, question, and imagine myself in the characters‘ place. This was no different, a unique examination of race and its role in society and in how we see ourselves. He manages to build a whole world around a couple in 180 pages. Very well done. And with this one, I reach 278 books read this year and blackout my Dec #BookspinBingo board! @TheAromaofBooks

TheAromaofBooks Great progress!! 2y
40 likes1 stack add1 comment
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Kempfme
Mehso-so

I liked the idea of seeing how we would treat each other if we were a different race, but could not connect to the plot.

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Readerann
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Pickpick

I‘m giving this a pick because I like Hamid‘s writing so much. Like others, though, I was left unsatisfied. Sometimes less is more. In this case, less is just…not enough. Will be surprised if it makes the shortlist.
#ToB2023 #ToB23

SamAnne Agreed. Good review. 2y
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Readerann
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Here is my current TBR of #ToB2023 longlist books. I have a few more on hold at the library. Hoping at least a few of them make the shortlist, so I‘ll have a chance at becoming a “completist”. #ToB23

Cathythoughts Very nice! I read and loved Sea of Tranquility, and Trust 👍🏻👍🏻 2y
BarbaraBB Such a great haul! I loved 2y
Ruthiella Fantastic stack! Good luck on becoming a completist this year! 👍 2y
Megabooks Sea of Tranquillity entered my best all time and I enjoyed several others. I hope you enjoy them too! 2y
BkClubCare I absolutely loved Trust and it needs to be finished before you weigh in! #justsayin‘ (payoff at the end, is what I mean) 2y
13 likes5 comments
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Addison_Reads
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Mehso-so

Book 22 from the #ToB23 #ToB2023 long list.

Hamid's book had so much potential to be an amazing read. Instead it presented an intriguing premise with a lackluster ending and underdeveloped characters.

I can see why this book gets praise from others, but personally, I need more than just a good idea and this book needed more "meat" to the story.

SamAnne I agree. I loved Exit West so I expected more with the great premise. 2y
BarbaraBB Well said. I felt the same. 2y
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BarbaraBB
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#BookReport 47/22

I read these three books. The tagged one was disappointing (for me), the Passage of Tears is good and The Year we Fell Down was delightful and uplifting!

Cinfhen I bailed on this one a few weeks ago 2y
BarbaraBB @Cinfhen I completely understand why. It felt so aloof, as if I as a reader didn‘t matter to Hamid 🙃 2y
Cinfhen I did like 2y
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Ruthiella I‘ve not really liked any Hamid novel (three) yet. I think that aloofness you report is partly why. 2y
Megabooks I‘m glad you enjoyed that light break! 👍🏻😁 2y
BarbaraBB @Cinfhen @Ruthiella I loved Exit West and The Reluctant Fundamentalist but this one did nothing did me, nor did 2y
Cinfhen Ohhh, I forgot… I bailed on 2y
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BarbaraBB
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Mehso-so

Hamid‘s books are always a hit or miss for me and this one clearly was a miss. I couldn‘t connect to the style of the writing, the endless meandering sentences. And I did not really get the meaning of the book.
A man wakes up and his skin has turned dark and then all pale people turn dark. An interesting starting point for what could have been a poignant novel, but it felt detached and it didn‘t touch me the way it could have.

#ToB23Longlist

vivastory Too bad it didn't work for you. I have read only one Hamid book, which I did like: Exit West. Were you at the theater today? 2y
squirrelbrain Hmmm, I‘ve seen lots of mixed reviews for this. At least I‘m not planning on buying it, but I‘ll have a think about whether I actually want to read it…. Thanks for tagging me! 2y
sarahbarnes Thanks for your review of this one. I‘ve been on the fence about reading it and this makes me think I might hold off. 2y
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BarbaraBB @vivastory I liked Exit West too and The Reluctant Fundamentalist. I was at the movie theater. There was an international documentary festival, very interesting! 2y
BarbaraBB @squirrelbrain @sarahbarnes I read some raving reviews too so it might just be me but it really did nothing for me! 2y
Megabooks Yes, yes, yes to that second paragraph! Great review! I wanted to love this but couldn‘t connect. 2y
Megabooks Also, I‘d love to go to an international documentary film fest with you! #FriendGoals 💜 2y
BarbaraBB @Megabooks I even found it hard to concentrate, imagine! And YES 🙌🏽 to #friendgoals ❤️ 2y
72 likes8 comments
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Karkar
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Mehso-so

Not sure what I think about this. Anyone else read this and what did you think?

SamAnne I absolutely loved his novel.Exit West. But agree, this one left me flat. Not well executed, story not fleshed out. I couldn‘t get invested in it. 2y
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Twocougs
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Pickpick

One day a caucasian man wakes up and he has transformed into a brown man. Slowly his entire community transforms. Thought provoking and beautiful!

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Hooked_on_books
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Pickpick

A white man wakes up one morning to discover he is now brown. We then follow his efforts to adjust to this when, eventually, reports emerge of the same thing happening to other people. I really enjoyed most of this exploration of identity and assumptions, but I thought the end was a bit weak and I felt like there were some routes he could have taken to explore further that he didn‘t. Low pick for me.

ChaoticMissAdventures I felt the same. I wanted a bit more from it then what flushed out. 2y
SamAnne Reading right now. Suspect I will feel the same. 2y
FlowerFairy Your Afghan is lovely! 2y
68 likes2 stack adds3 comments
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SamAnne
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One of my road trip reads today as we begin to head back north. I loved Exit West and am likening this one so far. Staying in SE Oregon‘s high desert tonight. Few places rejuvenate me more.

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ChaoticMissAdventures
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Pickpick

This is such an interesting premise. And the book itself is mostly about loss and grief. As always I love Hamid's writing, it is space but impactful.

I think he may have missed the mark a bit on the race issue in this, it didn't feel fully flushed out and I thought he could have gone deeper, but overall a truly gorgeous book.

I am not surprised but saddened at the amount of racist people on GR giving this 1 ⭐ childish and disgusting.

DisneyFan Stacked and I love your candle! 2y
ChaoticMissAdventures @DisneyFan thanks! I hate the fall 🤣😂. I hope you enjoy this book it really is so good! 2y
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thereflectiveflaneur
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Pickpick

I loved Exit West and this new novel lives up to much of the promise of such a gifted writer. As a concept (the idea of skin colour and identity and relationships) this novel could be contrived and obvious, but Hamid‘s delicate and wonderful prose ensures the novel delves deeply but also soars above the page and lingers in your mind as you read. Heartfelt and genuine, I highly recommend this novel!

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Megabooks
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Mehso-so

Perhaps I went in with too high expectations for Hamid‘s take on The Metamorphosis. I just don‘t think he‘s an author I enjoy, and his flat affect reading the #audiobook didn‘t help. However, he does have a great imagination yet managed to make some very real points about social justice.

Overnight, Ander‘s skin has turned dark. As reports come in of more and more white people turning dark both societal and familial tensions come to a head.

BarbaraBB Hmmm. I loved some of his books but I am in no hurry to read this one. 2y
Megabooks @BarbaraBB yeah, you may like this more than I did, but I wouldn‘t run out and buy it. (edited) 2y
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AbstractMonica
Pickpick

I really enjoyed this book. It was a fast read, and I liked the concept. Anders is a white man that wakes up one day with dark skin. Eventually, more and more people are waking up with darker complexions. There‘s outrage amongst certain groups, and hate crimes are being committed. There was a lyrical/metaphorical style to the novel (which I didn‘t mind). I enjoyed the moods this book conveyed. It was both mournful & hopeful.

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AbstractMonica
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Only 11 pages in, but I like where this is going.

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shawnmooney
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#SundaySentence from Kevin Power‘s review of The Last White Man by Mohsin Hamid in the Independent.

Lindy 😂 2y
Cinfhen Hi Shawn ❤️Hope all is well 2y
shawnmooney @Cinfhen OMG I have missed you❗️ I haven‘t quite come up for air enough to post Litsy-only content again since arriving back in Canada. What a huge transition. I hope you‘re doing fantastic and over the next couple days I‘m going to look at your most recent posts and comment thereupon!

Why don‘t you come visit me in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan then we can make tipsy videos and Litsy posts together? 🕺🏼😜🥰
2y
29 likes4 comments
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Decalino
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Mehso-so

This was an intriguing concept: white people wake up to find their hair, skin & eyes have become dark overnight. Unfortunately, the story is told in such a mannered, stylized way that I felt constantly distracted & annoyed. Nearly every paragraph is a long sentence, comma splice after comma splice, ad nauseam. I had to mentally add periods & the occasional semi-colon just to finish it. But it was short, and an interesting idea, so there's that.

Decalino For reference, here's a review from NPR, with a sample paragraph: https://www.npr.org/2022/08/09/1116137982/the-last-white-man-mohsin-hamid-review 2y
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Floresj
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Pickpick

Excellent idea for a book. I think Hamid skipped through the middle a little too quickly but I think it‘s because I wanted to read more of his writing ….the premise of people changing color and society‘s reactions, a love story and aging parents that it‘s surprising all that was captured in such a short novel. Great book.

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Christine
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Pickpick

Loved this. Brilliant and emotional and connects in layering ways to much of what society has been going through in recent years (re: race, yes, but other stuff, too). So much to discuss in relatively few pages. Adored the writing style, though I didn‘t know if I would at first. Grateful for a print copy of this from Riverhead, bc I otherwise likely would have tried in audio and am not sure I would have loved it as much that way. Out tomorrow!

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PNWBookseller85
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Pickpick

This book floored me. It‘s written in this dreamlike way and touches so intimately on what it means to be human, universally. It‘s somehow so incredibly hopeful. It‘s the book we all need right now. I really haven‘t been so moved by a novel in such a long time.

By the author of Exit West - out August 2nd. Stack it. Read it. It‘s incredible.

BarbaraTheBibliophage I loved Exit West and can‘t wait for this one. Was hoping to get approved in NetGalley but 😭😭 didn‘t. 2y
PNWBookseller85 @BarbaraTheBibliophage not long to wait now at least!! Wish I had extra copies to send you. I‘m passing this one to a coworker. 2y
BarbaraTheBibliophage @PNWBookseller85 That‘s very sweet. No worries! 2y
BarbaraBB I‘m stacking immediately! I loved 2y
80 likes7 stack adds4 comments