I nearly put this book down near the beginning because it was so frantic at one point, but fortunately I figured it was on purpose to give one an idea of the conditions of "civilization" of that time, and I continued on .... glad that I did. The civilization is horrific in its sterility, it's only thoughts on seeking pleasure and avoiding anything that smacks of hardship. It takes about half the book to get to the main character of the story the one figure you can actually identify with. You can definitely feel what he feels considering we are him, as if we were the ones suddenly dropped into this maddening world. I will leave no spoilers and simply say that I could feasibly see the ending come true for myself in his shoes. A great book once you wade through the beginning chapters.