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The Last Generation
This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it.
This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.
Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.
This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.
Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.
30 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1908
2 people are currently reading
21 people want to read
About the author
James Elroy Flecker
78 books18 followersJames Elroy Flecker was an English poet, novelist and playwright.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
October 9, 2023
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 . 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.
Th apocalypse happens in a quite original way . 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.
October 2, 2020
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?
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?
November 7, 2021
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.
April 23, 2022
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.
May 23, 2018
The ideas behind this story are solid but of course, it lacks characterization or anyone you can care about.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews