The Last Man

by Alfred Noyes

For Charles Holland, reviewing the novel in the 1940s, Noyes' combination of "such elements of human interest as apologetics, art, travel and a captivating love story" mean that the reader of The Last Man is assured of both "an intellectual treat and real entertainment". Eric Atlas, writing in an early science fiction fanzine, found the novel, despite some flaws, "well worth the reading—perhaps twice". The philosophico-religious theme, he wrote, "detracts in no way from the forceful characterizations...of Mark and Evelyn". Besides, most of the novel is set "in Italy, where Noyes' descriptive powers as a poet come to the fore". The Last Man seems to be the novel which introduced the idea of a doomsday weapon. It is thought to have been among the influences on George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four.

Genres: Science Fiction, Dystopia

233 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1940

About the author

Alfred Noyes was the son of Alfred and Amelia Adams Noyes. His father was a teacher and taught Latin and Greek and in Aberystwyth, Wales. In 1898, Alfred attended Exeter College in Oxford. Though he failed to earn a degree, the young poet published his first collection of poetry, The Loom of Years, in 1902.

Between 1903 and 1908, Noyes published five volumes of poetry including The Forest of Wild Thyme (1905) and The Flower of Old Japan and Other Poems (1907). His books were widely reviewed and were published both in Britain and the United States. Among his best-known poems from this time are The Highwayman and Drake. Drake, which appeared serially in Blackwood's Magazine, was a two-hundred page epic about life at sea.

Noyes married Garnett Daniels in 1907, and they had three children. His increasing popularity allowed the family to live off royalty cheques. In 1914, Noyes accepted a teaching position at Princeton University, where he taught English Literature until 1923. He was a noted critic of modernist writers, particularly James Joyce. Likewise, his work at this time was criticized by some for its refusal to embrace the modernist movement.

For more information, please see http://www.answers.com/topic/alfred-n...

Reviews

[Wreade1872 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Religious, apocalyptic sci-fi. The start in which our protagonist gets to view how people behave in private is quite good and theres some decent sci-fi surrounding the apocalypse, but not a lot happens for much of the text. I was all set to give it 1 star, however it picks up towards the end and has some good albeit short lived action.
Also the author is pretty good at examining the hypocracy of modern society and politics. However while good at examing these issues the author always seems to come to the wrong conclusion about them.

This is a religious story although i'm not sure what religion the writer is. At first he seemed christian, then born-again-christian, then maybe scientologist, there was a bit where he seemed to imply eden was another dimension or planet or something... i don't know. Oh and it wouldn't be religious sci-fi if the characters didn't get direct knowledge from god in the form of suspiciously accurate visions as if being sufficiently religious would qualify you to join the X-Men.

Now on to all the niggles and there are a lot of them. Large sections of the novel are just lectures like when the protagonist goes on a tiraid which comes very close to blaming the apocalypse on what he considers obscene art.
Theres a bit where its frankly stated that being a good person is pointless unless your also christian. He uses unexpanded phrasing like people forgetting the 'old loyalties', or 'the dignity of woman', i don't know what they mean but if you hear people talk like that in real life and your not a white male, i would seriously advise you to RUN FOR YOUR FREAKING LIFE! ;) .
Theres a weird attempted defense of Mussolini. The female character reminisces about her uncles plantation and comes pretty close to calling slavery the good old times. At one point they also say people had become as immoral 'as the latest nigger song'.

As i said though some parts of interest mostly at the start and end.

Edit: Made available by the Merril Collection.

[Nicholas Whyte · Rating 4 out of 5]

http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/2575910.html

interesting novel, in which almost all of humanity is destroyed by a Doomsday Weapon at the very beginning, the hero spends many chapters exploring dead cities and finding the heroine, and they must then deal with the villain (the hero's surname is Adams; the heroine's first name is Evelyn). It's pretty heavily steeped in the writer's Catholicism and hostility to war; there is a lot of poetry (including some very coy use of Theocritus in the original Greek when the central relationship is consummated); the twist at the end appears to be a case of direct divine intervention. But it's nicely done.

[Kris · Rating 2 out of 5]

A long rambling post-apocalyptic tale which I struggled to complete. There are some interesting moments in it but mostly it's lots of wandering around Europe making weird Garden of Eden parallels and angry Catholic Apologism (like saying flowers will die if they convert to Calvinism!)

Read Mary Shelley's work of the same name instead, much more worth your time.

[Justpassingby]

This novel appears to be out of print and I am currently unwilling to pay 33 pounds for a worn hardcover copy - this may change in the future.

[Sue Bridgwater · Rating 4 out of 5]

A strange book in many ways, but I’m glad I read it.