AMC released an unusual trailer for the final episodes of Breaking Bad, as star Bryan Cranston read “Ozymandias” by the great poet, Percy Bysshe Shelley.
We’ve embedded the video above–what do you think? If you want to explore more Shelley poetry and essays before the final episodes begin this weekend, we’ve collected a long list of free books by the author. Open Culture has more about the poem:
It seems perfectly in character, then, that the show’s producers would tease the final season with the ominous and dusty clip above, with Cranston reading Percy Bysshe Shelley’s sonnet “Ozymandias,” a poem about the hubris of another desert tyrant—well-known for his megalomaniacal folly—Ramesses II (also known by a transliteration of his throne name, Ozymandias).
If you want more poetry connections from the critically acclaimed TV show, check out our post about Walt Whitman and Breaking Bad.
We made similar literary mixtapes linking to free samples of the most overlooked books of the year, the ALA Youth Media Award winners, the 2013 Man Booker Longlist, the Best Horror Novels of the Year, the LA Times Book Prize nominees, and the Nebula Award nominees.
Free Books by Percy Bysshe Shelley
The Complete Poetical Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley — Complete
A Defence of Poetry and Other Essays
The Complete Poetical Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley — Volume 1
The Complete Poetical Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley — Volume 2
The Complete Poetical Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley — Volume 3