Last and First Men
One of the most succinct and accurate renderings of mankind's present state of mind and future progression. It documents the future of man from the start of WW2 and continues until the Sun engulfs the earth, and beyond. Considering this book was first published in 1931, it is remarkable, both in its honesty as regards human nature, and in its phenomenal span. By the time we reach chapter 3 of the 16 in this book, it is already 2300 AD and you feel like you have had the viewpoint of a God. So intense is the writing, that a few pages can take you hours to read and weeks to think about. What a writer, what a visionary. Of particular interest to me was the laconic way he can sum up an entire country's culture and people, and the accuracy of prediction in the first part of the book. Points to note:- All budding politicians should be forced to read this book. It should be part of any politics curriculum. Strikingly accurate and plausible portent of homo sapiens future. Read in the context of 2002, it is easy to see mankind's current folly and the extrapolation of current scientific endeavours. For example, we may achieve global peace ("An Americanised Planet"") for a few millennia, but at the cost of spiritual and intellectual freedom and development.
Stats for nerds
24recommend
52mentions
39people
2008–2026years
58% recommend38% neutral4% critical
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- I loved this, and his Last and First Men. It made me crave more "future histories."
- Olaf Stapledon, Last and First Men (1930)
Olaf Stapledon, Star Maker (1937)
Rather difficult reads for me as a non-native english speaker, but it was worth it. It is hard to imagine a more epic science fiction scenario than "Star Maker".
- Olaf Stapledon’s Last and First Men, from 1930, seems to fit this genre too. It gets a bit outlandish with telepathy, but it’s ambitious novel telling of humanity’s ebbing and flowing, evolving a lot along the way, from ‘present day’ to the far, far future when the solar system is engulfed by a supernovaing sun. Considering its ambition, it reads surprisingly well.
- If you can handle the science changing since publication in the 1930s(!!!) Olaf Stapledon is simply remarkable. "Last and first men" is one of my favorite books for just how unique it is, but "star maker" has some interesting parallels
- Olaf Stapledon has two sci fi works that incorporate many ecological ideas into his vision of a future history of the human species (Last and First Men) and his ideas for possible alien life (Star Maker). They are both incredible works of human imagination
- ...I completely forgot that I was also introduced to Last and First Men by that same dialogue in Deus Ex. It's a great book!
