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The Last of Her Kind
The paths of two women from different walks of life intersect amid counterculture of the 1960s in this haunting and provocative novel from the National Book Award-winning author of The Friend Named a Best Book of the Year by the San Francisco Chronicle and the Christian Science Monitor Sigrid Nunez's The Last of Her Kind introduces two women who meet as freshmen on the Columbia campus in 1968. Georgette George does not know what to make of her brilliant, idealistic roommate, Ann Drayton, and her obsessive disdain for the ruling class into which she was born. She is mortified by Ann's romanticization of the underprivileged class, which Georgette herself is hoping college will enable her to escape. After the violent fight that ends their friendship, Georgette wants only to forget Ann and to turn her attention to the troubled runaway kid sister who has reappeared after years on the road. Then, in 1976, Ann is convicted of murder. At first, Ann's fate appears to be the inevitable outcome of her belief in the moral imperative to "make justice" in a world where "there are no innocent white people." But, searching for answers to the riddle of this friend of her youth, Georgette finds more complicated and mysterious forces at work. The novel's narrator Georgette illuminates the terrifying life of this difficult, doomed woman, and in the process discovers how much their early encounter has determined her own path, and why, decades later, as she tells us, "I have never stopped thinking about her."
402 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 27, 2005
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About the author
Sigrid Nunez
34 books1,772 followersSigrid Nunez has published seven novels, including A Feather on the Breath of God, The Last of Her Kind, Salvation City, and, most recently, The Friend. She is also the author of Sempre Susan: A Memoir of Susan Sontag. Among the journals to which she has contributed are The New York Times, The New York Times Book Review, The Paris Review, Threepenny Review, Harper’s, McSweeney’s, Tin House, and The Believer. Her work has also appeared in several anthologies, including four Pushcart Prize volumes and four anthologies of Asian American literature.
Sigrid’s honors and awards include a Whiting Writer’s Award, a Berlin Prize Fellowship, and two awards from the American Academy of Arts and Letters: the Rosenthal Foundation Award and the Rome Prize in Literature. She has taught at Columbia, Princeton, Boston University, and the New School, and has been a visiting writer or writer in residence at Amherst, Smith, Baruch, Vassar, and the University of California, Irvine, among others. In spring, 2019, she will be visiting writer at Syracuse University. Sigrid has also been on the faculty of the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference and of several other writers’ conferences across the country. She lives in New York City.
Sigrid’s honors and awards include a Whiting Writer’s Award, a Berlin Prize Fellowship, and two awards from the American Academy of Arts and Letters: the Rosenthal Foundation Award and the Rome Prize in Literature. She has taught at Columbia, Princeton, Boston University, and the New School, and has been a visiting writer or writer in residence at Amherst, Smith, Baruch, Vassar, and the University of California, Irvine, among others. In spring, 2019, she will be visiting writer at Syracuse University. Sigrid has also been on the faculty of the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference and of several other writers’ conferences across the country. She lives in New York City.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 482 reviews
October 4, 2024
So many things I loved about this book, it was so close to a 5 🌟 but some bits I felt could of been cut.
It left me with so many questions about Ann though and captured the essence of the plot so well that I was hooked!
It left me with so many questions about Ann though and captured the essence of the plot so well that I was hooked!
November 4, 2019
I'm so excited to have discovered Sigrid Nunez. What a wonderful writer. I loved The Friend but The Last of Her Kind is even better. The book captures the 60s better than any other book on the subject I have read so far.
Ann Drayton and Georgette George are freshmen at Barnard College (my alma mater so I immediately had a connection with the book; in addition the setting for the rest of the book continues to be New York City where I was born, raised and continue to live in). Georgette (called George) is disconcerted to learn that Ann (born Dooley but more of that later) is her roommate because she requested that she get someone as different from her as possible. She had hoped for an African-American, from a poor family as she comes from a rich one but gets George who has escaped from a poor and abusive family in upstate New York. For George, Barnard is her chance at escaping her background while Ann is simply doing what is expected.
During the course of the next two years, Ann (her given name Dooley being too much a reminder of her privileged background) becomes increasingly swept up in the student political movements of the time. Both young women drop out of college after their sophomore years but George ends up working for a fashion magazine while Ann devotes herself to activist causes.
Both characters are interesting but Ann is particularly so. Her dedication to her cause, her single mindedness no matter what happens is a powerful reminder of the times but also of the power of radicalism. Nunez compares her to St. Teresa of Avila and Simone Weil (called "the last of her kind") the affluent intellectual who devoted herself to the poor in France, both of whom were mystics and activists. Clearly, Nunez has some admiration for Ann. Ann is disliked by many--the wealthy who see her as a betrayal to their class, her family as well as a dangerous example to their children as well as the poor she seeks to serve, who see her as a "do-gooder", a wealthy woman playing at helping the poor. Nevertheless, Ann never compromises her principles or beliefs in what she is doing.
You will have to read the book to see what happens to these two women and how their lives play out. It is a fascinating story, beautifully written and constructed. And for me it brought back many memories, personal of course but also of the events and general mood of the time. (I told my children if they ever wanted to understand me better to read this book; I wasn't an activist but I was very much formed by the ethos of the time). The book is both a document of an historical period and a character study.
It succeeds brilliantly at both.
Ann Drayton and Georgette George are freshmen at Barnard College (my alma mater so I immediately had a connection with the book; in addition the setting for the rest of the book continues to be New York City where I was born, raised and continue to live in). Georgette (called George) is disconcerted to learn that Ann (born Dooley but more of that later) is her roommate because she requested that she get someone as different from her as possible. She had hoped for an African-American, from a poor family as she comes from a rich one but gets George who has escaped from a poor and abusive family in upstate New York. For George, Barnard is her chance at escaping her background while Ann is simply doing what is expected.
During the course of the next two years, Ann (her given name Dooley being too much a reminder of her privileged background) becomes increasingly swept up in the student political movements of the time. Both young women drop out of college after their sophomore years but George ends up working for a fashion magazine while Ann devotes herself to activist causes.
Both characters are interesting but Ann is particularly so. Her dedication to her cause, her single mindedness no matter what happens is a powerful reminder of the times but also of the power of radicalism. Nunez compares her to St. Teresa of Avila and Simone Weil (called "the last of her kind") the affluent intellectual who devoted herself to the poor in France, both of whom were mystics and activists. Clearly, Nunez has some admiration for Ann. Ann is disliked by many--the wealthy who see her as a betrayal to their class, her family as well as a dangerous example to their children as well as the poor she seeks to serve, who see her as a "do-gooder", a wealthy woman playing at helping the poor. Nevertheless, Ann never compromises her principles or beliefs in what she is doing.
You will have to read the book to see what happens to these two women and how their lives play out. It is a fascinating story, beautifully written and constructed. And for me it brought back many memories, personal of course but also of the events and general mood of the time. (I told my children if they ever wanted to understand me better to read this book; I wasn't an activist but I was very much formed by the ethos of the time). The book is both a document of an historical period and a character study.
It succeeds brilliantly at both.
May 29, 2008
This book really spoke deeply to me through the character of Ann. The first question it raised was: How can someone from an affluent background be a social justice activist? The book revealed all the contradictions inherent in this question. Ann was so offensive at times, especially at the beginning (e.g., wanting a room mate as different from her as possible and being disappointed that George wasn't Black). Also, she wished she had lived George's life, not realizing that if she actually had, she would really wish her life were different.
At the same time, Ann's authenticity unfolds during the book and she won me over, but in a very uneasy kind of way. She was so extreme, especially later in the story, that I almost thought she had a mental illness at times. But then I realized that many people who change the world are very extreme and obsessed -- often not healthy, balanced human beings. So there was a real tension in her extremism and it made me extremely uncomfortable, but I also couldn't quite dismiss the necessity of it for Ann.
George was a great character, too. Her closeness and then great distance from Ann helped me to understand Ann better. I saw how Ann was alienated from both her own class and the people she was wanting to support. But George made me realize that throughout everything, Ann was being utterly authentic.
Does that excuse all her behaviour? I don't know.
Maybe the bottom line is that I'm left "not knowing" whether to admire Ann or not, whether to think she's a hero or not... and that made it a great book for me. The uneasiness I'm left with is still bubbling inside me, seeking a resolution that may never be really possible.
At the same time, Ann's authenticity unfolds during the book and she won me over, but in a very uneasy kind of way. She was so extreme, especially later in the story, that I almost thought she had a mental illness at times. But then I realized that many people who change the world are very extreme and obsessed -- often not healthy, balanced human beings. So there was a real tension in her extremism and it made me extremely uncomfortable, but I also couldn't quite dismiss the necessity of it for Ann.
George was a great character, too. Her closeness and then great distance from Ann helped me to understand Ann better. I saw how Ann was alienated from both her own class and the people she was wanting to support. But George made me realize that throughout everything, Ann was being utterly authentic.
Does that excuse all her behaviour? I don't know.
Maybe the bottom line is that I'm left "not knowing" whether to admire Ann or not, whether to think she's a hero or not... and that made it a great book for me. The uneasiness I'm left with is still bubbling inside me, seeking a resolution that may never be really possible.
May 22, 2018
The first line of the Library Journal review for this book is "Every so often you close a book, and the only word that comes to mind is Wow." This pretty much sums it up for me as well. I had never had much curiosity about Sigrid Nunez as a writer, and I don't remember what led me to read this one. Once I read the description, however, I was sold. I would say that this novel might be the best and most truthful depiction of the 1960s in America, showing all the good (peace, love, caring) and bad (Weather Underground, class hypocrisy, emotional apathy).
It is the story of an intense friendship between two college girls who are from very different upbringings--Ann is from a very classy wealthy family in Connecticut, while Georgette is from a violent blue collar upbringing in upstate New York. They become besties, but then drift apart and go on very different paths after dropping out of college. Ann remains a highly focused radical, while Georgette begins to embrace the mainstream culture that Ann continues to rage against.
In addition, this is the story of sisterly love as well. Georgette's younger sister Solange runs away at the age of fifteen, then eventually ends up reunited with her sister in New York City. Solange has mental problems and Georgette spends years tending to her needs and maintaining a deeply caring and loving relationship with her. This relationship was just as important to the story as the one between Georgette and Ann.
Georgette marries twice and divorces, has two children she adores, and has a surprise intense romantic affair with another man. And although her deep friendship with Ann fades over time, her memories of their time together never do leave Georgette completely.
This book is very strongly and intelligently written. I would compare it to the works of Lorrie Moore or Grace Paley. It has great character development, and, as stated earlier, is a wonderful exposition of a very memorable time of our lives. I lived through the sixties, and I am sure that this helped greatly in appreciating this book as much as I did.
It is the story of an intense friendship between two college girls who are from very different upbringings--Ann is from a very classy wealthy family in Connecticut, while Georgette is from a violent blue collar upbringing in upstate New York. They become besties, but then drift apart and go on very different paths after dropping out of college. Ann remains a highly focused radical, while Georgette begins to embrace the mainstream culture that Ann continues to rage against.
In addition, this is the story of sisterly love as well. Georgette's younger sister Solange runs away at the age of fifteen, then eventually ends up reunited with her sister in New York City. Solange has mental problems and Georgette spends years tending to her needs and maintaining a deeply caring and loving relationship with her. This relationship was just as important to the story as the one between Georgette and Ann.
Georgette marries twice and divorces, has two children she adores, and has a surprise intense romantic affair with another man. And although her deep friendship with Ann fades over time, her memories of their time together never do leave Georgette completely.
This book is very strongly and intelligently written. I would compare it to the works of Lorrie Moore or Grace Paley. It has great character development, and, as stated earlier, is a wonderful exposition of a very memorable time of our lives. I lived through the sixties, and I am sure that this helped greatly in appreciating this book as much as I did.
December 26, 2013
The plot of this novel seemed so interesting; two college freshmen from opposite backgrounds becoming friends during a very turbulent time in American history. Author Sigrid Nunez tries so hard, a little too hard, to include every event, stereotype, and social issue that occurred in the 1960s and 1970s that it comes across at times as a sort of social studies project rather than novel. There is just too much going on, too many points of view, too many sad cases, too many lost souls, too much cliche. There is no reality, no sympathy to be felt, no love here. Everyone is a disappointment to George: her family, her husbands, boyfriends, classmates, she only appears moderately un-depressed about her two children and her friend Cleo at times.
The first two chapters kept me going, and a need not to give up....400 pages later, and I am exhausted! The worst part of the novel for me was the inmate's essay about "Orphan Annie" towards the end of the book. George had no way of knowing what Ann's day to day life in prison was like, so the author invents this convenient way to describe this portion of Ann's life. But it just does not ring true! It is written in the same voice as George, and the prison inmate writer is obsessed with Ann, in the same way George is; the immense detail and insight (..."I got to know how her mind worked") feels so forced. It doesn't read like an essay, more like a laundry list, and a jumbled summing up.
The tangents of Mick Jagger, and George's husbands were also disjointed and depressing.
There were very few people in the novel who actually liked Ann, and Nunez seemed to use her as a strange caricature of extreme radicalism, a selfish martyr, leaving little for readers to care or be interested in.
The first two chapters kept me going, and a need not to give up....400 pages later, and I am exhausted! The worst part of the novel for me was the inmate's essay about "Orphan Annie" towards the end of the book. George had no way of knowing what Ann's day to day life in prison was like, so the author invents this convenient way to describe this portion of Ann's life. But it just does not ring true! It is written in the same voice as George, and the prison inmate writer is obsessed with Ann, in the same way George is; the immense detail and insight (..."I got to know how her mind worked") feels so forced. It doesn't read like an essay, more like a laundry list, and a jumbled summing up.
The tangents of Mick Jagger, and George's husbands were also disjointed and depressing.
There were very few people in the novel who actually liked Ann, and Nunez seemed to use her as a strange caricature of extreme radicalism, a selfish martyr, leaving little for readers to care or be interested in.
November 10, 2019
On learning that this novel is set in the late Sixties, will post Baby-Boomers sigh? From Mad Men (2007-2015) to Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019), the subject has been revisited and reinterpreted multiple times. The period has become reduced to a collage of memes and events: The Summer of Love, Woodstock, Patty Hearst, the Symbionese Liberation Army, the Manson family, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King for those born post-1960. Ancient history? Nunez published this book back in 2006, and it is is a timely reminder that the issues continue to reverberate in updated rhetoric: cultural appropriation, implicit bias, the “#Me Too” Movement, “Medicare for all,” and the privileged “One Percent.” With growing environmental awareness, even the idea of the externalized costs of business is beginning to attract serious scrutiny.
Nunez is a thoughtful writer, concerned with processes like asymmetrical power and historical revision. However, in this book she has chosen to write from the first person viewpoint of her opposite, an apolitical Everywoman, Georgette George. Even the name suggests the ambivalent dynamic that permeates the book. Crinoline conventionalism pitted against the potent opportunity for self re-invention.
Georgette's viewpoint allows Nunez to convey Ann's rants without irony. Ann rages against the bourgeoisie, the Establishment, and the corrupting values of the ruling class. She has a disdain for materialism that even the underclass she loves would reject. She makes the astonishing admission that she wishes she herself were black. These diatribes echo both the climate of moral clarity and simplistic formulation destined to be swallowed by the practical problems of earning a living, supporting a family, and integrating into society.
Georgette begins her story in 1968. Her new college roommate is Dooley Ann Drayton, outspoken activist from a background of wealth and privilege. Ann's honesty is brutal. She heaps revulsion on her family, her class, and her peers whom she judges to be mere poseurs. Georgette is discomfitted by Ann's fearlessness and drawn to her by her incandescent intensity.
Ann's political radicalism is balanced by Georgette's younger sister Solange, a 14-year old runaway who represents the milieu of adolescent experiment. An ethos of drugs and spontaneity unleashes visceral and dangerous obsessions.
Neither Ann nor Solange are likeable, but both are irresistible as seen through Georgette's eyes. Even in absence they are constantly present.
As the story advances, Georgette and Ann inevitably grow apart. Georgette drops out of college and lands a comfortable job on the staff of Visage, the kind of women's magazine that offers beauty, fashion and sex tips for young women. Georgette's life with its conventional trajectory is totally relateable. She doesn't want to change the world. She wants to have children, to immerse herself in motherhood. She recalls that during this period, Ann “was affectionate at times — indeed, much of the time. But she was also impatient and irritable, which bothered me in a way I would not have imagined. I saw that — much as I wished it were otherwise — her opinion of me would always matter. I did not yet know that, contrary to youth's sense of itself as tolerant, freethinking, and egalitarian, it is more often stubbornly critical and judgmental, priggish and snobbish.” (p.112)
Alas, growth is a stage of insecurity. Becoming who we will be is uncomfortable. In the end, we realize and accept our limitations, moderate our ambitions. This is what Nunez shows us with Georgette. At the same time, she confronts us with the question of betrayal. Is feeling comfortable with who you are a betrayal of ideals or is it an attained ability to discern what is delusional fantasy?
This is a long book — nearly 400 pages. Impatient readers will be displeased. The uninquisitive will object to the unapologetic convergences between Nunez and her fictional character Georgette. Examples include the admiring biography of Simone Weil and a critique of The Great Gatsby. I still question the relevance of the Georgette-Turner relationship, marked by the switch to third person narrative. The character of Solange felt unfinished. There are harrowing scenes of her stay in a psychiatric hospital, and her struggles against addiction and mental illness. It was therefore surprising to find she achieves literary success with a memoir and later, a book of poetry. It is even more astonishing that she should seize upon the insightful Rilke quote she uses for her epigraph: “'Rich in memory are those places from the past that can never be revisited.'” (p.390)
Nunez is a pessimist. She views humanity without blinkers. Without expectations she forces the reader to confront troubling inconsistencies in our moral certainties. I read this book after reading The Friend. It was certainly more uncomfortable, but it was also thought-provoking.
NOTES:
review: https://www.theguardian.com/books/201...
interviews with the author: https://www.memorious.org/?id=264
https://www.virago.co.uk/virago-news/...
Nunez is a thoughtful writer, concerned with processes like asymmetrical power and historical revision. However, in this book she has chosen to write from the first person viewpoint of her opposite, an apolitical Everywoman, Georgette George. Even the name suggests the ambivalent dynamic that permeates the book. Crinoline conventionalism pitted against the potent opportunity for self re-invention.
Georgette's viewpoint allows Nunez to convey Ann's rants without irony. Ann rages against the bourgeoisie, the Establishment, and the corrupting values of the ruling class. She has a disdain for materialism that even the underclass she loves would reject. She makes the astonishing admission that she wishes she herself were black. These diatribes echo both the climate of moral clarity and simplistic formulation destined to be swallowed by the practical problems of earning a living, supporting a family, and integrating into society.
Georgette begins her story in 1968. Her new college roommate is Dooley Ann Drayton, outspoken activist from a background of wealth and privilege. Ann's honesty is brutal. She heaps revulsion on her family, her class, and her peers whom she judges to be mere poseurs. Georgette is discomfitted by Ann's fearlessness and drawn to her by her incandescent intensity.
Ann's political radicalism is balanced by Georgette's younger sister Solange, a 14-year old runaway who represents the milieu of adolescent experiment. An ethos of drugs and spontaneity unleashes visceral and dangerous obsessions.
Neither Ann nor Solange are likeable, but both are irresistible as seen through Georgette's eyes. Even in absence they are constantly present.
As the story advances, Georgette and Ann inevitably grow apart. Georgette drops out of college and lands a comfortable job on the staff of Visage, the kind of women's magazine that offers beauty, fashion and sex tips for young women. Georgette's life with its conventional trajectory is totally relateable. She doesn't want to change the world. She wants to have children, to immerse herself in motherhood. She recalls that during this period, Ann “was affectionate at times — indeed, much of the time. But she was also impatient and irritable, which bothered me in a way I would not have imagined. I saw that — much as I wished it were otherwise — her opinion of me would always matter. I did not yet know that, contrary to youth's sense of itself as tolerant, freethinking, and egalitarian, it is more often stubbornly critical and judgmental, priggish and snobbish.” (p.112)
Alas, growth is a stage of insecurity. Becoming who we will be is uncomfortable. In the end, we realize and accept our limitations, moderate our ambitions. This is what Nunez shows us with Georgette. At the same time, she confronts us with the question of betrayal. Is feeling comfortable with who you are a betrayal of ideals or is it an attained ability to discern what is delusional fantasy?
This is a long book — nearly 400 pages. Impatient readers will be displeased. The uninquisitive will object to the unapologetic convergences between Nunez and her fictional character Georgette. Examples include the admiring biography of Simone Weil and a critique of The Great Gatsby. I still question the relevance of the Georgette-Turner relationship, marked by the switch to third person narrative. The character of Solange felt unfinished. There are harrowing scenes of her stay in a psychiatric hospital, and her struggles against addiction and mental illness. It was therefore surprising to find she achieves literary success with a memoir and later, a book of poetry. It is even more astonishing that she should seize upon the insightful Rilke quote she uses for her epigraph: “'Rich in memory are those places from the past that can never be revisited.'” (p.390)
Nunez is a pessimist. She views humanity without blinkers. Without expectations she forces the reader to confront troubling inconsistencies in our moral certainties. I read this book after reading The Friend. It was certainly more uncomfortable, but it was also thought-provoking.
NOTES:
review: https://www.theguardian.com/books/201...
interviews with the author: https://www.memorious.org/?id=264
https://www.virago.co.uk/virago-news/...
July 22, 2021
4.5 rounded down
May get rounded up after I mull over it a bit more…
May get rounded up after I mull over it a bit more…
April 10, 2025
this book is longer than i’m used to from sigrid nunez, and she‘s doing A LOT here. while not my favorite from her (i prefer what are you going through, but would rank this one higher than the friend) she manages to balance all the moving parts to make for an immersive experience of the late 1960s.
we follow georgette and ann, college roommates at barnard who impact each other for the rest of their lives. we see the ups and downs of their relationship as young women, and eventually ann is convicted of murder. she had always been a very outspoken activist against racism and classism, which plays a huge role in the murder case. georgette must grapple with her life’s own drama while contemplating who ann was as a person.
i think the standout here is sigrid nunez’s ability to paint such a vibrant picture of the time period that the book is set in. the characters feel very of-the-era. she tackles civil rights, drug usage, teen runaways, sexual assault, and so much more - quite dark but indicative of a lot of the struggles of the time.
this is a slow-paced read, and very character-driven despite the radical events that occur. i’m glad i didn’t rush through it, but i do think it could’ve been edited down a bit more.
we follow georgette and ann, college roommates at barnard who impact each other for the rest of their lives. we see the ups and downs of their relationship as young women, and eventually ann is convicted of murder. she had always been a very outspoken activist against racism and classism, which plays a huge role in the murder case. georgette must grapple with her life’s own drama while contemplating who ann was as a person.
i think the standout here is sigrid nunez’s ability to paint such a vibrant picture of the time period that the book is set in. the characters feel very of-the-era. she tackles civil rights, drug usage, teen runaways, sexual assault, and so much more - quite dark but indicative of a lot of the struggles of the time.
this is a slow-paced read, and very character-driven despite the radical events that occur. i’m glad i didn’t rush through it, but i do think it could’ve been edited down a bit more.
February 26, 2008
I have to admit that this book is full of things I love: seven sister colleges, New York City, counterculture (and its backlash), the social movements of the 60s and how they evolved in the 70s, unhealthy female friendships.
While there was a romance that I felt was a misstep, I thought that the author made such interesting choices in the way she chose to structure and reveal her story that I was won over in the end. Utterly moved, I became way too involved with this story.
In a lot of ways, George reminded me of Lee from "Prep;" not terribly likable, the epitome of the failed, unremarkable scholarship student whose achievements pale in light of her more well-rounded, wealthy, experienced peers. But Nunez gives George the space (without inflicting some awful forced sympathy on the reader) to be a sympathetic character even though she's in no way heroic and she will never be anything like her flawed foil, Ann. This book made me think about the way we measure our lives and kindness we should offer each other and ourselves.
While there was a romance that I felt was a misstep, I thought that the author made such interesting choices in the way she chose to structure and reveal her story that I was won over in the end. Utterly moved, I became way too involved with this story.
In a lot of ways, George reminded me of Lee from "Prep;" not terribly likable, the epitome of the failed, unremarkable scholarship student whose achievements pale in light of her more well-rounded, wealthy, experienced peers. But Nunez gives George the space (without inflicting some awful forced sympathy on the reader) to be a sympathetic character even though she's in no way heroic and she will never be anything like her flawed foil, Ann. This book made me think about the way we measure our lives and kindness we should offer each other and ourselves.
October 5, 2018
Tried to do a LOT, not sure if they pulled it off.
March 6, 2012
I tend to avoid books set in the U.S. post-WWII. The ones that aspire to genuine literary merit tend toward pretention, high-handedness, and tedium. But The Last of Her Kind is different: it’s a well-written, thoughtful, thematically rich and, above all, an interesting book.
In 1968, Georgette George and Ann Drayton are assigned to room together at Barnard College. Georgette grew up in poverty in upstate New York; Ann comes from a rich family in Connecticut, but in an effort to disavow her privileged roots, requested a roommate as different from herself as possible. At first Georgette finds Ann unbearable, but soon they become friends, and the book follows their lives and their complicated relationship over more than 30 years.
I didn’t live through the 60s or 70s. I’d learned about that period, but I’d never seen it like this. Georgette, Ann and Georgette’s sister Solange are all (in different ways) a part of the radical hippie culture at the time, and this book does an excellent job of bringing that period to life in all its bizarre, fascinating weirdness. So the first half in particular works well as historical fiction. And Nunez's decision to write the book as if it were a memoir allows Georgette, as the narrator, to contrast America as it was then with America in the early 21st century, in non-obvious ways.
The book also shines in its examination of its characters and themes. Ann is one of those rare characters that the author really lets us come to our own conclusions about. Did she make a meaningful difference in the world? Or did she hurt the people around her more than her good works could make up for? Is she admirable in her sincerity and her willingness to practice what she preaches, or just obnoxious in her fanaticism? Can someone from a life of privilege really advocate for the underprivileged without being a hypocrite? How do you make that work? For instance: when Ann gets into legal trouble, she insists on being represented by a public defender, because she wants to get the same justice as everyone else. But then, her insistence on equality means she’s taking the public defender’s time away from actual poor people. So what should she have done? The book doesn’t try to answer these questions. But they’re absolutely questions worth asking.
The writing style is excellent, and full of insights into humanity without becoming sentimental or overwrought. The characters are complicated and interesting and feel genuine, although the narrator, Georgette, is somewhat less interesting than the others. Part of the reason I give 4 stars is that less than a month after finishing this book, I was having a hard time remembering her name. She's written as the more conventional one as a foil to Ann, but isn't especially memorable in her own right. The other part is that for the first 50 pages or so, before the book hits its stride, Georgette seems to tell us too much about what Ann is like rather than showing us through scenes, and that the random rape scene, much as it does fit into the novel’s themes, still felt gratuitous.
Overall, an excellent book, even if Literature-with-a-capital-L is something you generally avoid. I don’t reread often, but this is a book that deserves rereading--or just stopping to think as you read, rather than rushing through it in a day as I did. But I read it so quickly because it’s a compelling, well-written book, and that’s a recommendation in itself.
In 1968, Georgette George and Ann Drayton are assigned to room together at Barnard College. Georgette grew up in poverty in upstate New York; Ann comes from a rich family in Connecticut, but in an effort to disavow her privileged roots, requested a roommate as different from herself as possible. At first Georgette finds Ann unbearable, but soon they become friends, and the book follows their lives and their complicated relationship over more than 30 years.
I didn’t live through the 60s or 70s. I’d learned about that period, but I’d never seen it like this. Georgette, Ann and Georgette’s sister Solange are all (in different ways) a part of the radical hippie culture at the time, and this book does an excellent job of bringing that period to life in all its bizarre, fascinating weirdness. So the first half in particular works well as historical fiction. And Nunez's decision to write the book as if it were a memoir allows Georgette, as the narrator, to contrast America as it was then with America in the early 21st century, in non-obvious ways.
The book also shines in its examination of its characters and themes. Ann is one of those rare characters that the author really lets us come to our own conclusions about. Did she make a meaningful difference in the world? Or did she hurt the people around her more than her good works could make up for? Is she admirable in her sincerity and her willingness to practice what she preaches, or just obnoxious in her fanaticism? Can someone from a life of privilege really advocate for the underprivileged without being a hypocrite? How do you make that work? For instance: when Ann gets into legal trouble, she insists on being represented by a public defender, because she wants to get the same justice as everyone else. But then, her insistence on equality means she’s taking the public defender’s time away from actual poor people. So what should she have done? The book doesn’t try to answer these questions. But they’re absolutely questions worth asking.
The writing style is excellent, and full of insights into humanity without becoming sentimental or overwrought. The characters are complicated and interesting and feel genuine, although the narrator, Georgette, is somewhat less interesting than the others. Part of the reason I give 4 stars is that less than a month after finishing this book, I was having a hard time remembering her name. She's written as the more conventional one as a foil to Ann, but isn't especially memorable in her own right. The other part is that for the first 50 pages or so, before the book hits its stride, Georgette seems to tell us too much about what Ann is like rather than showing us through scenes, and that the random rape scene, much as it does fit into the novel’s themes, still felt gratuitous.
Overall, an excellent book, even if Literature-with-a-capital-L is something you generally avoid. I don’t reread often, but this is a book that deserves rereading--or just stopping to think as you read, rather than rushing through it in a day as I did. But I read it so quickly because it’s a compelling, well-written book, and that’s a recommendation in itself.
April 16, 2021
Just coming off The Friend, (rave!), I found this a chore.
Written in 2006, there is a strong statement of Antiracism, now a movement, with the unlikeable yet somehow very real girl Ann - the titular Last of Her Kind - at the center of the story. Ann is white, and she is horrified by racial injustice. Ann is a Simone Weil-esque character, and her story is worthy of a novel.
The problem for me is all the rest of the "stuff". The narrator (for the most of it), Georgette - who is Ann's college roommate - is strangely uninteresting, and her journey through the 60s and 70s for me falls flat - and her story takes up the majority of the novel. Georgette's mother, manic-depressive sister, lovers, husbands, and even Mick Jagger, provide the social atmosphere, and their stories were mostly a slog (for me). Many other reviewers, loving this aspect, were college students during this era - perhaps not being in college in the 60s this lessens the interest.
Written in 2006, there is a strong statement of Antiracism, now a movement, with the unlikeable yet somehow very real girl Ann - the titular Last of Her Kind - at the center of the story. Ann is white, and she is horrified by racial injustice. Ann is a Simone Weil-esque character, and her story is worthy of a novel.
The problem for me is all the rest of the "stuff". The narrator (for the most of it), Georgette - who is Ann's college roommate - is strangely uninteresting, and her journey through the 60s and 70s for me falls flat - and her story takes up the majority of the novel. Georgette's mother, manic-depressive sister, lovers, husbands, and even Mick Jagger, provide the social atmosphere, and their stories were mostly a slog (for me). Many other reviewers, loving this aspect, were college students during this era - perhaps not being in college in the 60s this lessens the interest.
May 17, 2024
j'aimerais beaucoup savoir pourquoi tant de livres décident d'eux-mêmes de se couper les pages sous la tranche en ajoutant en général au pourtour de leur troisième quart une infâme histoire entre une très jeune femme et un vieux mec qui exerce en général un ascendant ou a minima une domination quelconque sur elle sans que ça ne soit ni central à l'intrigue ni bien évidemment interrogé et questionné comme ça devrait l'être genre qu'est-ce que c'est est-ce un appel à l'aide est-ce du simple bandage de subversion en mode "han ouais là je vais mettre ça comme ça les gens vont se dire que je suis un peu #edgy t'as capté" est-ce une maladroite tentative de dénonciation de la violence des hommes qui a bien géré la partie violence mais dont l'eau des pâtes s'est mise à bouillir au moment où il aurait fallu se mettre à dénoncer ?
je ne sais pas.
très très intéressée et nourrie par la construction non linéaire de ce roman, par son excellente narration de part en part - hormis peut-être l'épilogue qui est vraiment trop facile genre la ficelle elle est tellement énorme je pense que tu peux l'utiliser comme pull-over, et puis pourquoi briser cette continuité narrative qui fonctionnait si bien jusqu'ici ?????
c'est difficile d'arriver à retranscrire une forme d'allée et venue de la pensée, de la mémoire dans un texte, ça devient vite sacrément désagréable (toutes les personnes ayant été se casser la rétine sur un bouquin de James Joyce pourront ici pousser un geignement de circonstance pour confirmer mes dires). mais l'autrice parvient ici à le faire avec beaucoup de talent et d'émotion, et je me suis sentie vraiment impliquée et interpellée par ce geste d'écriture-là.
pour le fond, le reste, disons que c'est un roman du féminisme de la deuxième vague, qu'il est extrêmement intéressant d'accueillir comme témoignage d'une époque en le confrontant à la nôtre. certaines choses sont ultra pertinentes, d'autres un peu caricaturales, mais l'un dans l'autre je suis sortie de ce roman avec le sentiment qu'il m'avait fait avancer, et qu'il avait débarbouillé certaines ombres de mon champ de vision, qu'il m'a emmenée à des endroits nouveaux, et pour ça je suis ravie de l'avoir lu.
hormis le moment où elle baise avec le père de son ex meilleure amie. ça c'était ni nouveau ni ravissant.
également scandale concernant cette couverture qui suggère un lesbianisme honteusement absent du texte.
je ne sais pas.
très très intéressée et nourrie par la construction non linéaire de ce roman, par son excellente narration de part en part - hormis peut-être l'épilogue qui est vraiment trop facile genre la ficelle elle est tellement énorme je pense que tu peux l'utiliser comme pull-over, et puis pourquoi briser cette continuité narrative qui fonctionnait si bien jusqu'ici ?????
c'est difficile d'arriver à retranscrire une forme d'allée et venue de la pensée, de la mémoire dans un texte, ça devient vite sacrément désagréable (toutes les personnes ayant été se casser la rétine sur un bouquin de James Joyce pourront ici pousser un geignement de circonstance pour confirmer mes dires). mais l'autrice parvient ici à le faire avec beaucoup de talent et d'émotion, et je me suis sentie vraiment impliquée et interpellée par ce geste d'écriture-là.
pour le fond, le reste, disons que c'est un roman du féminisme de la deuxième vague, qu'il est extrêmement intéressant d'accueillir comme témoignage d'une époque en le confrontant à la nôtre. certaines choses sont ultra pertinentes, d'autres un peu caricaturales, mais l'un dans l'autre je suis sortie de ce roman avec le sentiment qu'il m'avait fait avancer, et qu'il avait débarbouillé certaines ombres de mon champ de vision, qu'il m'a emmenée à des endroits nouveaux, et pour ça je suis ravie de l'avoir lu.
hormis le moment où elle baise avec le père de son ex meilleure amie. ça c'était ni nouveau ni ravissant.
également scandale concernant cette couverture qui suggère un lesbianisme honteusement absent du texte.
September 19, 2007
It took me a long time to read this book, but that shouldn't be misconstrued as negative criticism. I liked this book quite a lot, enough to give a copy to my mother for her birthday. (She didn't like it as much as I did, and this annoys me more than it should*.) Though I normally blow through a book, I took my time with this novel. I wanted to think about the things the main character experienced, especially the disintegration of her friendship with her unusual college roommate,Ann, and her inability to forget Ann. (This relationship forms the major plot of the book.) I found that I liked spending time in the world of this novel, even if--often--the details of that world were difficult, heartbreaking or depressing for the main character.
Characters make this novel. That and the author's ability to evoke the era of the 60s. (Actually I wasn't alive back then, so I am not sure if it's authentic, but it sure *felt* authentic.) I could see, and understand thanks to Nunez, how some of the things taken for granted as normal in the 60s came to be viewed as absolutely bizarre only a few years later. I also learned the term "balling" which I will now try to work into all of my low-brow conversations. On a more serious note, Nunez shows her reader a world of immense idealism coupled with sometimes shocking selfishness. How does altruism become selfishness? Look to the character of Ann/Dooley to find out. Her idealism becomes mania. Her unbending principles really ruin her life, and those of the people who love her most. And yet Ann never lets go her ironclad idealism and the price it demands. Is this a good thing or a bad thing? I found it absolutely horrifying. And I couldn't stop reading.
This was a wonderful read, and my mother clearly knows nothing!
*It should be noted that my mother *did* live through the sixites. I think this book may have reminded her of some of the people/ideas/things she didn't like so she was obviously too biased. Right? Right! And on that note, there was a great quote towards the end of the book, something along the lines of, "Parents will do anything for their children, and their children will step right over their parents' bodies and walk on" or something like that. I've pretty much mangled that. Go read it yourself!
Characters make this novel. That and the author's ability to evoke the era of the 60s. (Actually I wasn't alive back then, so I am not sure if it's authentic, but it sure *felt* authentic.) I could see, and understand thanks to Nunez, how some of the things taken for granted as normal in the 60s came to be viewed as absolutely bizarre only a few years later. I also learned the term "balling" which I will now try to work into all of my low-brow conversations. On a more serious note, Nunez shows her reader a world of immense idealism coupled with sometimes shocking selfishness. How does altruism become selfishness? Look to the character of Ann/Dooley to find out. Her idealism becomes mania. Her unbending principles really ruin her life, and those of the people who love her most. And yet Ann never lets go her ironclad idealism and the price it demands. Is this a good thing or a bad thing? I found it absolutely horrifying. And I couldn't stop reading.
This was a wonderful read, and my mother clearly knows nothing!
*It should be noted that my mother *did* live through the sixites. I think this book may have reminded her of some of the people/ideas/things she didn't like so she was obviously too biased. Right? Right! And on that note, there was a great quote towards the end of the book, something along the lines of, "Parents will do anything for their children, and their children will step right over their parents' bodies and walk on" or something like that. I've pretty much mangled that. Go read it yourself!
September 8, 2024
The kind of book that has like 8 different subplots, overall really liked, for some reason felt really long. Was unique, feminist, political, had drama, classic affair, prison. I’m always obsessed with a book taking place (only the beginning of this one) in college
Read
August 6, 2011Somehow this book manages to be very readable yet horrible. The storyline does not match up with the blurb; only peripheral characters are interesting and sympathetic; the whole thing was like like this character Georgette's journal - except that Georgette is the kind of shallow person that I run far from. There is no depth to this character. I can't help but think that in the tangent where Georgette talks about her second husband, a critic, it's like the author is daring the audience to criticize her. It's very easy to be critical, Georgette says about her husband's profession. Harder to be kind. Nevertheless. I suppose because Georgette is the narrator and Ann ends up in jail and neither of them are speaking, the author has sort of written her way into a hole. Presuming the audience wants to know what happens to Ann, she has one of Ann's friends from jail write a story about Ann and send it to Georgette's husband's literary journal. All neat and cozy -- and seems too pat. Too contrived. True enough that real life sometimes ends up this way, and maybe I could be more forgiving the characters had more redeeming qualities. I do find that I'm more sympathetic to Georgette when the story of her relationship with a man twice her age is told in third person, so perhaps it's the first-person persona that's so grating to me.
I will say the book does a good job of showing a fraction of the ideals of the radical student left at Columbia in the late 60s, but unfortunately this book is only vaguely about that, and I had thought that was the main crux of the story. In the end I wanted to run this book over with my car.
I will say the book does a good job of showing a fraction of the ideals of the radical student left at Columbia in the late 60s, but unfortunately this book is only vaguely about that, and I had thought that was the main crux of the story. In the end I wanted to run this book over with my car.
March 9, 2024
This is a book that reminds me *why I read*. A bizarre, unlikely plot makes this a page turner and beautifully, weird characters make me FEEL.
February 18, 2023
everything abt this book is bursting at the seams
September 27, 2020
The back of my copy of this book has review son it containing words such as "unflinching" and "disoncerting". For me, at the beginning anyway, it was "relentless" but it was also "compelling". It tells the story of two girls who are college roommates in the sixties. But it not a story of deep female friendship. Most of the book is seen through the eyes of Georgette, and although she and the idealistic Ann, talk far in to to the night, Georgette does not seem to be really fond of Ann, she is herself a damaged soul. I found Georgette a very interesting character, although she lives and loves she seems very detached from everything. The only part that really touched me regarding her was her care for her wayward sister, who is scarred not just by their difficult upbringing but also by the sixties drug scene. The depiction of the sixties is the part I found relentless, its such a story of broken ideals, of ideals that go too far and then turn dark. Even sadder because the sixties flower children were unaware of many of the negative effects of the drugs they felt were freeeing them. But this love for her sister was one of the things which really kept me reading. This book had so many touches of unexpected warmth and kindness, of joy found in strange places.
And as for Ann. She is the relentless idealist. About half way through the book the author talks about Simone Weil, and about Dorothea from Middlemarch, who apparently is described in Middlemarch as the last of her kind. At that point I realized this is a book about idealism. What makes people idealistic in unexpected circumstances, to choose a difficult life when their life could be so easy, and how far can this idealism go without becoming destructive. I really loved this description of Ann
"her strictness and her purity, her diamond hardness, her terrifying honesty."
And as for Ann. She is the relentless idealist. About half way through the book the author talks about Simone Weil, and about Dorothea from Middlemarch, who apparently is described in Middlemarch as the last of her kind. At that point I realized this is a book about idealism. What makes people idealistic in unexpected circumstances, to choose a difficult life when their life could be so easy, and how far can this idealism go without becoming destructive. I really loved this description of Ann
"her strictness and her purity, her diamond hardness, her terrifying honesty."
September 9, 2021
The last of her kind charts the early-late years of two college roommates -Ann and Georgette, as they come of age against a rather politically charged 60s America.
The two young women, though initially intrigued by one another’s differences -personal and political, begin to see their worlds are perhaps a little too far apart to sustain such friendship.
Where Ann is the politically active “born into money, yet rejects everything it stands for” radical, minority status George, is in fact an embracer of the mainstream, consumerist culture that Ann so strongly resents.
It is no exaggeration when I say Nunez writing excels once again to not only capture the essence of such a seismic and influential counterculture moment, in history, but offers such thought provoking insights into the many complexities and nuances of humanity.
At its core, this is a book exploring the limits or merits of idealism -or in Ann’s case, romanticised (or radicalised?) ideals prevalent to the younger generation of the time. A generation of *insert David bowie* “young Americans”, who strongly believed that their “life’s work” was to change the course of history.
Though the book was narrated by George, it was definitely Ann’s character that left me with the most questions. Was she sane or insane in her ideals? Did she act selfishly or selflessly? Was she ever truly an admirable and genuine character, capable of great change and sound moral compass that she and so many others desperately believed they could achieve, or just another obnoxious and disillusioned rich kid, caught up in yet another far flung fantasy?
All I can safely say is, Nunez is quickly becoming one of my favourite modern day social commentators, who time and again (having read at least four of her books now) creates such immersive and thought provoking novels!
4.5
The two young women, though initially intrigued by one another’s differences -personal and political, begin to see their worlds are perhaps a little too far apart to sustain such friendship.
Where Ann is the politically active “born into money, yet rejects everything it stands for” radical, minority status George, is in fact an embracer of the mainstream, consumerist culture that Ann so strongly resents.
It is no exaggeration when I say Nunez writing excels once again to not only capture the essence of such a seismic and influential counterculture moment, in history, but offers such thought provoking insights into the many complexities and nuances of humanity.
At its core, this is a book exploring the limits or merits of idealism -or in Ann’s case, romanticised (or radicalised?) ideals prevalent to the younger generation of the time. A generation of *insert David bowie* “young Americans”, who strongly believed that their “life’s work” was to change the course of history.
Though the book was narrated by George, it was definitely Ann’s character that left me with the most questions. Was she sane or insane in her ideals? Did she act selfishly or selflessly? Was she ever truly an admirable and genuine character, capable of great change and sound moral compass that she and so many others desperately believed they could achieve, or just another obnoxious and disillusioned rich kid, caught up in yet another far flung fantasy?
All I can safely say is, Nunez is quickly becoming one of my favourite modern day social commentators, who time and again (having read at least four of her books now) creates such immersive and thought provoking novels!
4.5
August 11, 2020
4.5 stars!
The Last of Her Kind was gifted to me, and I don't imagine I ever would have picked it up on my own. I'm very glad it came into my life, though.
The Last of Her Kind is a stunning novel. The characters are fascinating and though it's set in the 60s, much of the discussion about activism and revolution and such is still very relevant, or perhaps of renewed relevance, today. The world through which the characters walk, too, perfectly complements their story.
What brings the characters, the world, and the plot together so well is Nunez's writing. It was delightful. It was fun, the way it utilised side comments and italicisation, how the end sentence of one paragraph would be the catalyst to deviate the narrative elsewhere before winding back. Especially early on in the book, Nunez spent many pages just describing and telling stories about Ann. Suddenly I was surprised at how many pages had passed, how it had been so thoroughly engaging to read page after page about the narrator's roommate.
I docked half a star just because of the last chunk of the book, distinguished by the new narration. It wasn't bad and certainly served a clear purpose within the story, but I just didn't care for it the way I did for Georgette's narration.
The Last of Her Kind is a book ripe for discussion, and one I'm certain would be just as enjoyable upon re-read.
The Last of Her Kind was gifted to me, and I don't imagine I ever would have picked it up on my own. I'm very glad it came into my life, though.
The Last of Her Kind is a stunning novel. The characters are fascinating and though it's set in the 60s, much of the discussion about activism and revolution and such is still very relevant, or perhaps of renewed relevance, today. The world through which the characters walk, too, perfectly complements their story.
What brings the characters, the world, and the plot together so well is Nunez's writing. It was delightful. It was fun, the way it utilised side comments and italicisation, how the end sentence of one paragraph would be the catalyst to deviate the narrative elsewhere before winding back. Especially early on in the book, Nunez spent many pages just describing and telling stories about Ann. Suddenly I was surprised at how many pages had passed, how it had been so thoroughly engaging to read page after page about the narrator's roommate.
I docked half a star just because of the last chunk of the book, distinguished by the new narration. It wasn't bad and certainly served a clear purpose within the story, but I just didn't care for it the way I did for Georgette's narration.
The Last of Her Kind is a book ripe for discussion, and one I'm certain would be just as enjoyable upon re-read.
February 8, 2024
This was one of those ever moving stories with many components that somehow the author makes so followable. I never once felt lost and I loved Georgette as the main narrator, allowing others to narrate the story when needed. Even though we never get any inner monologue from Ann herself, following her life through those that observed and interacted with her made her character believable. Although I’ve never met somebody like her before I can imagine someone like her existing because of Nunez’s writing. I also see her character as a sort of allegory/metaphor/symbol in which I can’t stop reflecting. A compelling story connecting historical events and interweaving the lives of many characters all touched by Ann!
October 28, 2025
i enjoyed this novel about two young women who meet as roommates their first year of college. ann is brilliant, rich, & from connecticut. george is cunning, poor, & from upstate new york. both envy one another's upbringing and what follows is a long, complicated friendship.
November 6, 2021
Simply put, a Great American Novel and I think one of the ten best books I've read this year. The scope of this, the intimacy, the heart, some of the technical innovations that allow this book's subject matter to flourish. Ends with some musing on The Great Gatsby, which is very fitting. 5 stars.
May 27, 2023
Sigrid Nunez is a total genius. Her novels have such interior conviction they always seem like true stories. At first this seemed like an expansion of a tiny but unforgettable moment in Feather on the Breath of God--when that main character brings her rich college roommate home and later the roommate asks dismissively, "How are your little parents?" Because this novel started out as the story of poor roommate/rich roommate and how unbelievably annoying the rich roommate was with her tone-deaf appropriation. But there was so much more to the story than that.
I also don't think you could get a better explanation of the 1960s and 1970s--how they thought about things--than this. There were all kinds of little details I never knew before, and proper from-the-inside explanations of rape culture, the feminism of that period, and the range of hippies from gentle to Charles Manson. (I don't mean the character's views were the same as my own--I just wanted to hear and understand them.) It was really interesting to read about a character (the revolutionary roommate who was so ashamed of being rich) who was completely unbending and committed to her beliefs, from the point of view of her friend. This novel was inexpressibly moving and thought-provoking. I read it greedily but it was almost painful to read. My era of New York City was later than most of what is depicted in the book but there were glimpses that were the same--going to Cafe des Artistes after/before the curtain went up on NYCB at the New York State Theater.
I also don't think you could get a better explanation of the 1960s and 1970s--how they thought about things--than this. There were all kinds of little details I never knew before, and proper from-the-inside explanations of rape culture, the feminism of that period, and the range of hippies from gentle to Charles Manson. (I don't mean the character's views were the same as my own--I just wanted to hear and understand them.) It was really interesting to read about a character (the revolutionary roommate who was so ashamed of being rich) who was completely unbending and committed to her beliefs, from the point of view of her friend. This novel was inexpressibly moving and thought-provoking. I read it greedily but it was almost painful to read. My era of New York City was later than most of what is depicted in the book but there were glimpses that were the same--going to Cafe des Artistes after/before the curtain went up on NYCB at the New York State Theater.
April 30, 2025
I tried to diversify my reading with this one but unfortunately it confirmed that I much prefer contemporary fiction… some important messages and an insight into a different time that probably isn’t really all that different to now, but overall a very slow read that wasn’t my favourite. Glad I tried though.
January 26, 2021
Love that feeling when you finish a book wanting more. This is my third Sigrid Nunez and I have loved all three. Just brilliant. Highly recommended.
April 16, 2025
To know me is to know that I adore Sigrid Nunez. Having consumed a handful of her novels already, I have been on a quest to complete her backlist of work (along with anything new she publishes). Using this as my credentials, I can confidently say that The Last of Her Kind is unlike many of her more recent works. While there is still the Nunez feel within the writing, the framework and fluid plot was both unexpected and welcomed.
There is a lot happening in this novel and while I wasn't sure if it was too much while reading it, I have come away from the book greatly appreciating everything this story has to offer. A number of different themes present themselves throughout the text including feminism, mental health, addiction, womanhood, the judicial/prison system in America, and of course, race. I actually found my love for this book grew the more I was away from it, recognizing that I was missing my time in the plot and with the characters. In true Nunez fashion, you leave this book contemplating the larger questions on life:
Why does society so easily accept the threat (and acts) of violence on women, encouraging them to move on with heads held high?
Can those who are graced with a privileged status in society truly stand in solidarity with those who are oppressed by the same systems?
Where is the line between allyship and romanticizing the suffering of others?
Even when rejecting one's privilege in America, can you really meet the struggle of marginalized communities when the society around you is constantly pushing you back into entitlement?
If anything, this novel pushed me further into my decision to continue reading Nunez's works and to keep telling everyone else to do the same.
There is a lot happening in this novel and while I wasn't sure if it was too much while reading it, I have come away from the book greatly appreciating everything this story has to offer. A number of different themes present themselves throughout the text including feminism, mental health, addiction, womanhood, the judicial/prison system in America, and of course, race. I actually found my love for this book grew the more I was away from it, recognizing that I was missing my time in the plot and with the characters. In true Nunez fashion, you leave this book contemplating the larger questions on life:
Why does society so easily accept the threat (and acts) of violence on women, encouraging them to move on with heads held high?
Can those who are graced with a privileged status in society truly stand in solidarity with those who are oppressed by the same systems?
Where is the line between allyship and romanticizing the suffering of others?
Even when rejecting one's privilege in America, can you really meet the struggle of marginalized communities when the society around you is constantly pushing you back into entitlement?
If anything, this novel pushed me further into my decision to continue reading Nunez's works and to keep telling everyone else to do the same.
June 3, 2020
Very satisfying read! A book that was filled with such wisdom, insights and moments of reflection. I still need time to think about it.....
Darling, self-righteous, complex Ann… She is filled with such ideals and one realises in order to commit to these ideals you have to live a life of extremes. And then ironically those that you wish to advocate for can still end up resenting you. And paradoxically, the ones who truly love Ann she ruthlessly hurts in order to live up to these high ideals.
Was Ann selfish? Yes, I think she was to a certain degree. But she couldn’t help herself. It was the way she was born. Of the friendship between the two women I am still a little unresolved. I was more captivated with the way that Ann treated her parents. And by proxy, the love that was given to her parents through Georgette. Very interesting twist in the story.
This is no superficial story. It requires time to absorb and consider. Very, very clever how Nunez compares the great American novel (The Great Gatsby) which lusts after the riches and privileges of having money and being white to Ann’s thinking.
I really loved this book and it’s references to the time of the 70s. Nunez invites us to consider Ann’s point of view which is hard to counter against. Yet ... her life lies in ruins.
Congratulations, Sigrid Nunez and a big thank you to Ella for recommending it!
Darling, self-righteous, complex Ann… She is filled with such ideals and one realises in order to commit to these ideals you have to live a life of extremes. And then ironically those that you wish to advocate for can still end up resenting you. And paradoxically, the ones who truly love Ann she ruthlessly hurts in order to live up to these high ideals.
Was Ann selfish? Yes, I think she was to a certain degree. But she couldn’t help herself. It was the way she was born. Of the friendship between the two women I am still a little unresolved. I was more captivated with the way that Ann treated her parents. And by proxy, the love that was given to her parents through Georgette. Very interesting twist in the story.
This is no superficial story. It requires time to absorb and consider. Very, very clever how Nunez compares the great American novel (The Great Gatsby) which lusts after the riches and privileges of having money and being white to Ann’s thinking.
I really loved this book and it’s references to the time of the 70s. Nunez invites us to consider Ann’s point of view which is hard to counter against. Yet ... her life lies in ruins.
Congratulations, Sigrid Nunez and a big thank you to Ella for recommending it!
March 28, 2019
This author has a new award winning book and a few of my GR friends wanted to read it so I checked the author out and found this older gem by her that none of my GR friends have read - and because it is not brand new I could get it for free from our national rural library program here in Canada.
As someone who was in a 70s/80s suburban Canada white privilege bubble during my childhood/adolescence this story resonated deeply despite being set in a different era and country and in downtown NYC too.
The characters and the story pierced my heart, often. I do not think I will ever forget this book. Ms. Nunez has a great sense of humour too and I chuckled a number of times.
As someone who was in a 70s/80s suburban Canada white privilege bubble during my childhood/adolescence this story resonated deeply despite being set in a different era and country and in downtown NYC too.
The characters and the story pierced my heart, often. I do not think I will ever forget this book. Ms. Nunez has a great sense of humour too and I chuckled a number of times.
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