Last and First Men by Olaf Stapledon
Backlisted25 Marras 2025

Last and First Men by Olaf Stapledon

Writer and critic Matthew De Abaitua joins Andy, Una and Nicky to discuss Last and First Men: A Story of the Near and Far Future (1930), the astounding first novel by Olaf Stapledon. The book is one of the founding texts of science fiction, a fact that has both assured its reputation and arguably restricted its readership, a conundrum we discuss during the show; certainly, few novels are so vast in scope or present the reader with such leaps of the imagination. Whatever you think you know about genre tropes, futurology and how best to tell a story, prepare to have your preconceptions shot out of the pod bay doors, pal. Comparisons between Last and First Men and 2001: A Space Odyssey are justifiable, not least because Kubrick's film was adapted from a story by Arthur C. Clarke, an author who said of Stapledon's novel, "no other book had a greater influence on my life". Why isn't such a 'corking good writer' (C.S. Lewis), feted in his time by Jorge Luis Borges, Virginia Woolf and Winston Churchill, more widely known today? And would it be correct to identify Olaf Stapledon, who projected his consciousness across the universe from his back garden on the Wirral, as the original Cosmic Scouser? Listen to find out. *Stapledon's archive is held at the Science Fiction Hub at Liverpool University - some of which you can view here. *For £150 off any Serious Readers HD Light and free UK delivery use the discount code: BACK at seriousreaders.com/backlisted * To purchase any of the books mentioned in this episode please visit our bookshop at uk.bookshop.org/shop/backlisted where all profits help to sustain this podcast and UK independent bookshops. * For information about everything mentioned in this episode visit www.backlisted.fm *If you'd like to support the show and join in with the book chat, listen without adverts, receive the show early and get extra bonus fortnightly episodes and original writing, become a patron at www.patreon.com/backlisted Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jaksot(260)

Giordano Bruno and the Embassy Affair by John Bossy

Giordano Bruno and the Embassy Affair by John Bossy

For this episode we are joined by the critic and former literary editor of the Independent on Sunday, Suzi Feay and the novelist and former Deputy Literary Editor of the Observer, Stephanie Merritt. B...

29 Touko 20231h 5min

Graham Greene

Graham Greene

The whole of the next hour and a bit is dedicated to the work of Graham Greene – a writer we have long wanted to tackle. We cover several representative pieces – not necessarily the most famous of Gr...

15 Touko 20231h 14min

Rerun: All The Devils Are Here by David Seabrook

Rerun: All The Devils Are Here by David Seabrook

Rachel Cooke, Observer writer, New Statesman TV critic and author joined John, Andy and former host Mathew way back in 2016 to discuss All The Devils Are Here, the astounding travelogue through Kent a...

1 Touko 20231h 5min

American Books Special

American Books Special

Welcome to the fourth Backlisted Special. While Andy and Nicky are both ‘gathering’ for the new season which will resume at the end of the month, John and Tess are joined by the writers and critics Er...

17 Huhti 20231h 1min

So Long, See You Tomorrow by William Maxwell - rerun

So Long, See You Tomorrow by William Maxwell - rerun

John introduces a rerun of an episode from November 2016, where Costa First Book nominee for My Name Is Leon, Kit de Waal joins John & Andy to discuss So Long, See You Tomorrow, the final novel by aut...

3 Huhti 20231h 6min

Archive Books Special

Archive Books Special

Welcome to the third Backlisted Special. John and Nicky are joined by literary agents Becky Brown and Norah Perkins returning for their third appearance, having previously discussed the work of Barbar...

21 Maalis 20231h 8min

Good Morning, Midnight by Jean Rhys - rerun

Good Morning, Midnight by Jean Rhys - rerun

This is the third in our re-released episodes – and only the second one we ever recorded. Has Jean Rhys’s reputation and influence grown since then? Does a seven-year-old Backlisted still pass muster?...

7 Maalis 202356min

Science Fiction Special

Science Fiction Special

Welcome to our second Backlisted special of 2023. Today we’re joined by the best-selling writer Una McCormack, returning for a record-breaking ninth appearance, having most recently participated in th...

21 Helmi 20231h 4min

Suosittua kategoriassa Vapaa-aika

nikotellen
antin-matka
the-harlin-show
ihan-oikeesti
sita
unicast
rss-nikotellen
eturivi
tahtitehdas
mutsiputki
everypodi
oral-sex
mysteeripodcast
kaikkea-hyvaa
terkuin-jenna
himocast
20-30-40-podcast
teen-spirit
kasper-ja-mikko
rss-viihde-media