The Last Generation A Story of the Future

by James Elroy Flecker

"The Last Generation: A Story of the Future" by James Elroy Flecker is a dystopian novel written in the early 20th century. The book explores themes of societal decay and human extinction, presenting a future where mankind has reached a horrifying conclusion to its own existence. It narrates a grim tale about the consequences of civilization's choices and the toll it takes on humanity.

Genres: Short Stories, Science Fiction, Dystopia

74 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1908

About the author

James Elroy Flecker was an English poet, novelist and playwright.

Reviews

[Wreade1872 · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short apocalyptic tale only 50 pages or less. Despite being total edgelord stuff it has quite a poetic style with the protagonist being taken to the future by the spirit of the Wind of time.

Th apocalypse happens in a quite original way workers in industrial Birmingham create a suicide cult which takes over the world and forcibly sterilizes the population. I actually found it unintentionally hilarious it was trying so hard to be grim.

We then get a sort of interlude stolen from the Decameron, which it does acknowledge, although not by name... before getting back to edgelord territory for the finish.

Not as awesomely goth as The City of Dreadful Night, (my go-to option for delightful bleakness), but worth a chuckle; or maybe you’ll actually find it super depressing or horrifying, you have been warned.

Made available by the Merril Collection.

[Ed Erwin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Don't really know what to think of this. In this 1908 novella a man is given a magical gift to travel to the future. There he finds a world of plenty where nobody needs to work anymore. And the king declares that there must be no more babies, enforced by putting some chemical into the food and water. Some people seclude themselves for a life of leisure and decadence. Some form a suicide club. Eventually the last man dies and it appears the apes are ready to take over.

It is nicely written. I just don't get the point. Maybe it is a satire of Utopian writing? or of other last-man-on-Earth stories?

[MGF MGF · Rating 5 out of 5]

James Elroy Flecker died well before he reached his pinnacle in literature. It has been said previously no greater loss since Keats, this in itself should attract the reader to any of his works. Notwithstanding this novella, which I personally think is akin to the 1927 movie Metropolis by Fritz Lang.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

The only book I have ever read which I am willing to describe not as a book, but as a mystic experience, only Tiffany Thayer with his "Doctor Arnoldi" managed to come close to repeating what Flecker had done, but even then, the nastiness of Thayer's record of ultimate decay is edged out, by and by, by the strange, sorrowful vision Flecker has created.

[Tym · Rating 3 out of 5]

The ideas behind this story are solid but of course, it lacks characterization or anyone you can care about.