The Last Man by Mary Shelley: A Book Review
Genre: Science Fiction, Dystopian
Mary Shelley’s The Last Man did not age well. Written using Shelly’s distinct writing style, the story is told in first person of the event of an illness overcoming humankind. While, parts of nature did seem to fit with futuristic views, the main problem of The Last Man was that it was set in the year 2073 yet held the same culture and beings of Shelley’s own time period. Instead of thinking about the changes that could develop through time, Shelley’s story still features horse drawn carriages, old etiquette, and past medicine practices.
While it could be stated that Shelley did not know the events that were to take place in the future, reading the story was like traveling to the past only to be told that you were in the future making it very confusing to understand the time and events.
I found it slightly ironic that I read this story about an illness destroying humankind right after the COVID-19 outbreak and my area finally coming out of the red into a green phrase that allowed restrictions to be lifted. However, reading the novel I had to wonder who handled the disease better. While here in America the government took full force in the lives of the people, in the story it was interesting to see that some of the same practices were resorted to while the idea was continuously passed that nothing would stop the illness until it ran its course.
If you enjoy the writing style of Mary Shelley, I recommend reading Frankenstein. I can understand the difference between how Frankenstein separated from The Last Man in the terms that Frankenstein is still regarded as a classic (it has aged well) while The Last Man has been largely forgotten about. In all honesty, while I do not regret reading the novel, I feel like a lot of time was wasted reading it when I could have been reading something better.
Plot: 02/10
Characters: 07/10
Writing: 08/10
Editor: 10/10
Total: 27/40
Title: The Last Man
Author: Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
Edition: Wordsworth
Published: November 5, 2004
Publisher: Wordsworth Editions Limited
ISBN: 9781840224030
If you want to get it: Amazon, Barnes&Noble
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