I didn’t really like this book because it had too many cons. For example, the flashbacks are annoying because in the different acts they talk about how the protagonist was in a accident, when she looks back on it it gives less detail the more she keeps bringing it up. Another example is when the protagonist speaks is confusing because through out the book she talks with really long words. She is also 14 years old and that’s strange with this type of vocabulary. To this in chapter 6 in act 7 she says premeditated caresses. Also how the protagonist is lonely is sad because in the times of the acts she spends some sort of time by herself with not talking to anyone at all. There is always a moment in the acts where she is by herself. This book had one pro for me where how they expressed the feelings is detailed because in the first act when the accident happened they expressed how they were going through it and how they were feeling. It gave a lot of description about this accident. This book really didn’t catch my attention like some that I already read.

I was deeply affected by this story - no doubt influenced by having myself lived in Algeria very shortly after independence and then, later on, meeting displaced French pied noirs in France and America as well as experiencing the viewpoint of the Algerians with whom I was friends and worked with. My favorite novels are those that are multi-layered exposing cultural biases and our own inability to always be aware of implicit biases and to see that manifested in others. I was particularly moved by the later chapters in the book where different viewpoints of the "Algeria experience" came to light. I did not want the book to end.

Claire Messud is a beautiful writer so it pains me to say I did not enjoy The Last Life. Maybe it is because this is outside of my usual genre but I was very bored during this read. I love the fact that Claire was weaving the histories of many different generations into what could have been a very inspiring story, but I found myself skimming chapters and even skipping some all together because I just couldn't get into it.
I gave two stars because you can't ignore her talent and I think if she worked on a story with an interesting plot line Claire could be phenomenal.

perfect book on the endless personal and collective repercussions of reckless colonial gestures. i found the beautiful but elaborate language a little tiresome. the characters are not entirely sympathetic, which is of course the point, and brave on the part of the author, yet that, too, drew away from my pleasure in reading this book. it is, however, a truly valuable and beautiful book, and and it deserves a higher rating than than the subjective one i gave it.

Here is a soaring yet intimate epic about a half-French Algerian (or pied noir) and half-American family, continually reeling from the paternal side of the family’s exile from the former French department in the dying days of the Algerian revolution. The novel is narrated by the daughter, Sagesse, and through her, we delve into the family's Algerian past, catch glimpses of Sagesse's American future, and learn about the pivotal years at the family's Mediterranean resort when Sagesse was a teenager and two gunshots once again changed her family—and her own trajectory—forever. Sagesse's story and her family's overlays the experience of political violence and exile with everyday sensual and corporeal intimacies (with friends, family, and lovers) that make us whole again—or at least, that make us want to be whole again.

Messud is a talented writer who creates memorable characters in this tale of a family in French Algiers. The narrator is a young girl coming of age who sees only parts of what is happening in her family. My only criticism of the book is that all of the characters are so miserable. The misery lifts a little at the end, but not much.

The story begins with a shooting, then moves back and forth between generations, their past in pre-revolutionary Algeria, their present in France. In spite of numerous pretensions and lies (lies they tell others and lies they tell themselves) they never find a happy fit. As the primary character grows to adulthood, she understands how the family is trapped in the past, but even she cannot escape it. Messud skillfully weaves a haunting web of memory, desire and loss.

Really depressing and I didn't like her writing. I got so I would read the first line of paragraphs and skip to the next just to move the book along. I read it to help learn about French/Algerian history, which I did, but I just didn't like the book.

Coming of age novel embedded in three generation history spanning Algeria, France, US. Beautifully written, totally believable.

I am in shock that more people did not find this book ridiculously boring. Seriously. I had the hardest time caring about any of the characters besides Sagesse and her brother. I cared a little bit about Sagesse's slutty friend, apparently more than she did; a bit about her summer paramour, again, apparently more than she did; her American cousins, see above. That the more engaging characters just sort of drifted out of the story really frustrated me, even though I know the book wasn't about them. I suppose, since the book was technically about the LaBasse family, I should have appreciated those characters a bit more, but the grandmother's stories? UNBELIEVABLY TEDIOUS.

I hated the style with oh so long sentences, and didn't much like the story nor the characters. Felt like a novel written by somebody who lives the sound of their own voice and who lives talking about their own lives.
So glad I managed to reach the end. My only question is why did I inflict that upon myself?

Messud is a good storyteller and creates intriguing characters. The plot however is not all that compelling and the jumping back and forth between time periods does not help. Overall this is a good relatable tale about family history & secrets, and how we choose to distance and/or recreate ourselves from them. A bit of knowledge of France's colonization of Algeria is helpful to put the story in context.