The Last Man
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The Last Man
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Narrated by:
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Barnaby Edwards
The Last Man is Mary Shelley's apocalyptic fantasy of the end of human civilisation. Set in the late twenty-first century, the novel unfolds a sombre and pessimistic vision of mankind confronting inevitable destruction. Interwoven with her futuristic theme, Mary Shelley incorporates idealised portraits of Shelley and Byron, yet rejects Romanticism and its faith in art and nature.
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (1797-1851) was the only daughter of Mary Wollstonecraft, author of Vindication of the Rights of Woman, and the radical philosopher William Godwin. Her mother died ten days after her birth and the young child was educated through contact with her father's intellectual circle and her own reading. She met Percy Bysshe Shelley in 1812; they eloped in July 1814. In the summer of 1816 she began her first and most famous novel, Frankenstein. Three of her children died in early infancy and in 1822 her husband was drowned. Mary returned to England with her surviving son and wrote novels, short stories and accounts of her travels; she was the first editor of P.B.Shelley's poetry and verse.
Public Domain (P)2013 Audible LtdEditor's review
Set in the late 21st century, Mary Shelley's apocalyptic story about the end of human civilization rejects Romanticism and its faith in art and nature. Narrator Barnaby Edwards' measured performance allows the nihilism and rebelliousness of protagonist Lionel Verney to seep through as he narrates his life story, set against the failure of the English monarchy and the establishment of a republic. However, when a plague arrives, most of the population falls to this implacable enemy and Verney's life is plunged into chaos and desperation. The rules of society crumble, a messianic cult rises, and law and order is overturned. Listeners will be fascinated by Shelley's Gothic vision of the future and fatalistic view of mankind.