The Great Depression

Wow. This book is special.

On paper (wow, can I be more funny), this book is pretty dull. We get to know our main character. He doesn't like names so yeah, no name for him. After a suicide epidemic, he eventually decides to leave his small farm and start exploring the world after most of its people have committed suicide.

The best part about this book is the narrative voice. It really makes this book unique. Our MC is so prominent in the way he tells his story. From the get go, I felt so much sympathy. He's so open to new ideas, so good at balancing through this new world. I loved how he felt like a clear page, he listened to everyone and kept learning while still being himself. It was done beautifully.

This book reminded me of The Bunker Diary because like that book, it's not a horror or a thriller. It's a psychological test. It asks who we are as humans, what drives us, where are we compared to nature, what do we do when it all goes down. It's like a dystopian novel but in the philosophical sense of the style.

I did have an issue with the discussion about mental health. In the book, from some mysterious reason, everyone gets depressed and kills themselves. There's a conversation about this but I didn't feel it was good enough. Some characters suggest some theories that struck me as simplistic and inaccurate. Mental health issues aren't just for rich people. Leading a simple life won't mean you won't deal with suicidal thoughts. Mental health isn't that far from physical health and no one is asking if only the rich get cancer.

Despite this, the conversation about life here is excellent. It's very existential, you've got to have a meaning to your life and find a new one once the old is achieved. You've got to just do it, to face life. I feel like Max and his "let's sleep under the sky" type of life is really important.

The ending is fantastic. It caught me off guard in such a way that I could never even imagine. I am so happy that this is the ending the author chose because it is just so special. Read this book just for the ending.

<b> What I'm Taking With Me </b>
- Honestly, I wouldn't have survived the suicide epidemic.
- Lions are such a symbolic choice.
- This book plays around with faith in a way that feels almost graceful and somehow mischievous.
- I would write an article on how Buddy is Nietzsche's Ubermensch and that the entire book is the dystopian version of Nietzsche's 3 Metamorphosis.

This book surprised me by how wonderfully it was written. I was shocked at how thoughtful the commentary was on society and what the problem is with modern society.
Buddy is on the farm when the world slowly disintegrates and he must find out if his parents are still alive.
Yet, most of the human race has committed suicide. Those who are left, may not be that friendly.
This is a great post apocalyptic book and the mindset of people who constantly want/need physical things to satisfy their egos.
The surprising will leave you SHOCKED!
Overall a great book that should be a must read for every high school student!

Did We fail Mother Nature or did Mother Nature fail Us? This is just one of the many assumptions kicked around as an unknown teenager journeys through Texas to find his family during the brink of a post-apocalyptic devastation where the human race has mysteriously committed mass suicide. Few remain (there’s not even a sitting POTUS), and this lone survivor finds plenty dead bodies along the way as he searches for his parents near Houston.

He also finds hope and beauty as civilization continues to deteriorate. Why did he not succumb to suicide and why was he left to live? He finds various answers and theories from some interesting characters. A homeless man who once lived in poverty now lives a lavishing lifestyle. A stubborn zookeeper who never really interacted well with others or clutch a serious relationship for that matter, is on a crusade to free all living animals from their cages or former life of captivity. I mention animals because they are a big part of this peculiar and uncanny read. The symbolism they represented as a whole was uplifting and even spiritual in certain ways.

I highly recommend this book and thanks to NetGalley for the free copy.

The first line in the synopsis of this book caught my attention - - The world has killed itself, but a nameless man survives.

The Great Depression was definitely an interesting read. It's the first book I have read from this author and hope to read more in the future.

Synopsis:

From the confines of his Uncle’s farm, he watched on as suicide and depression ravaged the globe, snuffing out everyone around him and casting society into primitive darkness. Forced out of his isolation by hunger, the man leaves the farm behind and aims for Houston, Texas, choosing to brave the untold dangers of an abandoned, feral city in an attempt to find his parents and piece together the mystery of a people that inexplicably took their own lives.

Throughout his journey, he finds comfort in the words of a few unusual survivors and forms an unexpected friendship with a tenacious Biologist named Lauren. Together, the pair navigate a land bathed in death, finding renewed purpose in the liberation of trapped animals and forming a greater understanding of their intended role in Nature.

The Great Depression is a darkly introspective tour through a world of unchecked despair, offering a warning for a civilization that has fallen out of balance with its environment and, most importantly, itself.