This is a pure and simple little novella and I loved it. Now, I am a big hemmingway fan and a particular fan of The Old Man and the Sea so that biases me big time toward the book. I've tried to think of how it would read to someone not familiar with that book and I can't tell if it would come across or not. However, while being a total different subject matter, the author manages to carry much of the same simpleness of story as Hemingway did. And "simpleness of story" may sound like an insult but it's not -- the book is grim and gritty, it's post-apocalyptic, after all -- but it's told so simply that it all rings true and sort of beautiful.

I can see where the style and the pacing may not be for everyone, though and I imagine this book falls into the 'love it or hate it' category depending on whether or not it is 'your thing'. But, as a fan of both dystopian fiction AND the old man and the sea, this little book was a complete treat for me.