Bewilderment: Shortlisted for the Booker Prize 2021

In the disclaimer, the book calls itself a work of fiction. "Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental."

Well that is one huge coincidence, because I see great resemblance to current events. Around the story of the father and son, the book is a frighteningly accurate portrayal of the crumbling nature of society today, of the fragility of democracy, and of the short sightedness of the behaviour of humanity, ultimately destructive of not only our species but also uncountable species who share our world.

Though sometimes almost too realistic and sadly doom-filled, the story contains a shining thread of beauty, or hope; a beauty which, like life, is made only more breathtaking by the brevity of its existence.