Borrowing from Maureen Corrigan’s review of “The Last White Man”, imagine giant bug of Kafka’s metamorphosis but the bug is a white man and he wakes up as a dark man.
“The Last White Man” by Mohsin Hamid is an allegory on racism, hate and deep running intolerance. The world is changing as Anders wakes up one morning as a brown man. Horrified he is — disappointed even by himself. But soon this spreads like a plague in this fictional town as skin color of people turns from white to dark — leading to riots and anarchy. He’s supported by his white friend Oona who stays around Anders.
Through Oona, Anders and especially Ander’s “white supremacist” father, Mohsin has through careful usage of words and deliberate use of longer sentences conveyed the idea behind the narrative of color (racism).
“He did not try to look in their faces, to let his gaze linger in ways that could be misconstrued”.
What fuels racism, what goes on in a white man’s mind, how deep is the rot — all these questions are answered in this 3 part short magical novel.
Unlike “Exit West”, this is a plain straightforward book with little to almost zero character insight, or any significant plot. Yes, from literary point of view, it could be a good book to discuss for autumn book club meet ups but not really something I would have read if I was not Mohsin Hamid fan.
Mohsin Hamid isn’t even trying to be dramatic as in Exit West — he’s just written it, said hard truths which he could have otherwise said much better in an essay. I don’t have mixed thoughts about it, it’s just not a book for me. Probably, a must read for fans of 1984 — because written on similar style.
