Science Fiction

I had to agree with the wife. The kindest thing to have done for that child would have been to feed him an overdose of sedatives, before taking a handful yourself. If some calamity, whether man-made or natural, destroyed all other life on earth, the future for the survivors is going to be very short and very grim (BTW what could possibly kill every other plant and animal, and leave a few humans alive? Science fail!) Even if the canned goods lasted more than a decade, once the plants were dead an oxygen shortage would get you sooner or later, since dead plants burn, and lightning happens. I suppose the novel was supposed to be metaphoric, but it wasn't just depressing; it was fucking stupid.

One of my favorite post-apocalyptic novels is an oldie: Walter Miller's "A Canticle for Leibowitz".

And Harlan Ellison's "A Boy and His Dog", of course.