I started on this book and then abandoned it after 120 pages. It was really difficult for me to get into the verbose and extravagant language that may have been a function of the time it in which it was written. From Mary Shelley, of Frankenstein fame, came one her other books, The Last Man. Written in 1826, this book is an early example of apocalypse and is likely a product of its time given the frequent plagues that were the norm over human history.
I learned of this book from the podcast, The Culture We Deserve which sold me on the overall book story and narrative. I was able to find it at my local bookstore and after a false start, it stared me down on my shelf. Teasing me and begging me to finish it. I will admit it got easier to read over time. It took well into half the book before characters gave way to story - the main story. The plague takes seven years to ravage the earth.
The book has themes of love, masculine friendship, loyalty, and humanity. With so much loss and misery in the story, it is the human elements that come to the forefront.
What hit me near the end of the book is the fact that this is being told in the first person of the last man, himself. The fact that he, the last man, is authoring this very book or story for the future is both bleak but relatable. Doing it may result in nothing. There may be nobody to read it, but doing it helps maintain one’s sanity. This makes me think a lot about the habits we hold to keep it all together.