The Book of Lasts || being first is not always possible...
Written: Feb 02 '08 (Updated Mar 16 '08)
Product Rating:
Pros: Comprehensive, wide-ranging, educational . . .hey, it is fun..!!
Cons: Content dense, wanders all over the map and globe, not necessarily a bad thing.
The Bottom Line: The Book of Lasts examines the cultural and historical 'lasts' we all share. Moments of pride, moments full of sorrow, moments evoking times never to be seen again.
sleeper54's Full Review: Ian Harrison - The Book of Lasts
...
We all remember the 'firsts' of our loved ones: first birthdays, first steps, first day of school. We also remember our personal 'firsts': first crush, first kiss, first car, first job, first wife.
Coming in first wins you a gold medal and a laurel wreath crown. Coming in first locks up your party's Presidential nomination. Coming in first gets your picture on the cover of Sports Illustrated.
The 'lasts' in our lives are perhaps not so fondly remembered: the last time we saw our fifth grade BFF before the family moved to Seattle, the last time Grandma baked us cookies, the last time we saw Uncle Bob before that last, ill-fated skydiving jump.
The Book of Lasts takes a different look at the ideas of growth, development, and change. The 'lasts' of technology, science, and actors on the grand stage of history are all examined and discussed. It seems for every 'first' there must surely be a 'last'.
A larger-sized, hardbound book The Book of Lasts is a colorful jumble of photos, drawings, paintings, timetables, and 'Did You Know?' boxes. Perhaps half is straight text; the remainder is a cacophony of images, thoughts, facts, and more than a few moments of sadness over a particular 'last'
Some of the more poignant 'lasts' open the book: the dodo bird, the passenger pigeon, the Tasmanian tiger. They bear silent witness (for many more species unspoken) to the power of mankind to exterminate through greed, avarice, and sheer stupidity.
The 'lasts' of the sports world are noted in the last Ancient Olympics, the last sprint start at Le Mans, and the last place efforts of modern Olympians 'Eddie the Eagle' and the Jamaican Bobsled team among others.
Movies (last films of directors, last films of stars e.g. James Dean and Marilyn Monroe) music (lasts of Elvis, Mozart, the Beatles, Sinatra, etc.) authors and playwrights (Dickens, Hemingway, Twain, Shakespeare, George Bernard Shaw and others) all draw discussion, illustrations, and a bit of remembrance.
The expected historical events also get their due. The last day at Pompeii, Aztecs, Incas, French royalty, the last day of WWII (with the obligatory sailor-kissing-nurse-in-Times-Square photo) the fall of Saigon in 1975, the last day of the Berlin Wall; these and many more are all discussed in an interesting and engaging manner.
Two sections I found particularly interesting were Last Requests and Bequests (John Harvard, James Smithson, Alfred Nobel, etc.) and Last Words. The author notes that "...for a variety of reasons, people's last words are often disputed." The ones here, many new to me, are those generally accepted as being accurate and true.
The Bottom Line
Many of us never experience the thrill of being first in competition. But we all remember our own personal 'lasts'.
The Book of Lasts examines the cultural and historical 'lasts' that we all share. Some are moments of pride, some moments of exquisite sorrow, some moments evoking a time never to be seen again.
While this should probably not be the 'last' book you read, it would certainly not be a bad choice to be the 'next' book you read.
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