What I enjoyed most about this book was that the main character was just an ordinary guy, and his reaction to a world where you were starting afresh was probably typical of most people. But that was also frustrating. He and eventually the few survivors he connects with would simply raid stores for food and supplies, never thinking about what would happen someday when all the food was either spoiled or gone. They have electricity for a while, but that finally ends and you would think that this would spur him to find ways to become self-sufficient, but he doesn't. For example, he has a university library close at hand, and he seals it up, protecting it like the treasure of information it is, but never thinks to use it. Even teaching the children to read and write and do math is never given the priority it should have in order for them to use that information in the future. The one thing he ends up doing is creating a bow and arrows from scratch and showing the children how. That one act would be the sole bit of knowledge and hope he leaves for them.

The book ended well, I thought, and he sees that there is a future for the population he leaves behind.