  | Book Details Title: Last and First Men: A Story of the Near and Far Future |
Book DescriptionLast and First Men: A Story of the Near and Far Future is a "future history" science fiction novel written in 1930 by the British author Olaf Stapledon. A work of unprecedented scale in the genre, it describes the history of humanity from the present onwards across two billion years and eighteen distinct human species, of which our own is the first and most primitive. Stapledon’s conception of history is based on the Hegelian Dialectic, following a repetitive cycle with many varied civilizations rising from and descending back into savagery over millions of years, but it is also one of progress, as the later civilizations rise to far greater heights than the first. The book anticipates the science of genetic engineering, and is an early example of the fictional supermind; a consciousness composed of many telepathically-linked individuals.A controversial part of the book depicts humans, in the far-off future, escaping the dying Earth and settling on Venus — in the process totally exterminating its native inhabitants, an intelligent marine species. Stapledon’s book has been interpreted by some as condoning such interplanetary genocide as a justified act if necessary for racial survival, though a number of Stapledon’s partisans denied that such was his intention, arguing instead that Stapledon was merely showing that although mankind had advanced in a number of ways in the future, at bottom it still possessed the same capacity for savagery as it has always had. Customers Review: Heavy, slow, dense–but brilliant and visionary. I would not be surprised if religious or scientific cults have formed around this book. More than once I wondered whether the “Last Men” actually did reach back and communicate this narrative to Mr. Stapledon. This book has genuine Messianic ambience. It kind of gave me the creeps, but in a good way.Mostly, my respect for Stapledon himself ploddingly grew with each page. How in the world did he come up with this elaborate story arc–one which covers billions of years? (He actually uses diagrams to show you his conception of time for the story.) There were so many intriguing and fanciful elements to the evolution of the various creatures he describes that I can not fathom where he came up with all of it. He obviously had a serious command of many branches the biological sciences, as well as psychology, economics, philosophy, astronomy, theology, astro-physics and more.The so-called story here, which has virtually no characters or plot, is dark and not entralling or promising. This is not feel-good reading. I actually became depressed at points. But there is a solemn and real quality to the story he tells…the changes our species and this solar system will endure over time may not be precisely the same as he describes here, but there will be ominous changes. Our Universe is all about ominous changes.One criticism: The Last Man seems to connote that the “last men” are basically of the same species, spiritually at least, to the first men (who are us). So, with their demise, our story ends. But the creatures he describes at the end of his book seem entirely different from us in every way. They may have evolved from us, but I didn’t see their fate as part of our human story. I think our story ended when we left Earth. The Last Men’s story is as much ours as the salamander’s story is ours. We may have come from them at some point, but I feel no real kinship.Anyway, this is merely an academic point. This book was a slow read, and Stapledon uses a lot of words. Brevity is not his strong point. I frequently kept thinking that what he was saying could be said in a third of the words he was using. And, he beats some points to death (e.g., telepathically communicating minds). Some things I couldn’t visualize, or I couldn’t fathom exactly what he was describing (e.g.,babies being dropped from aeroplanes to test their strength). The lapses may have been mine, though, as this book requires a lot of energy to read comprehensively, and there may have been points where I merely lost track of where he was going. But he does successfully describe a vast, mystical, pulsating Universe. I’d be willing to bet that Carl Sagan loved this book. I wouldn’t be surprised if this was the book that drew him and others to astro-physics, as this story has that kind of impact on the attentive reader. This book was hard work, but the reader is amply rewarded.All told, 90% of the time I was astonished at the narrative delivered by the benevolent Last Man. I wondered what his name was (will be). I wanted to give the guy a hug and buy him a beer, although I believe he is several times bigger than me. There is not a word of dialogue in this story, it is just pure narrative from our friend in the future. It does indeed seem as if He is calling back to us from that distant future, through Stapledon, telling us to enjoy the moment and take care of planet Earth. Becase Man’s Future is going to be a Wild Cosmic Ride. | |
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