THE LAST HUMAN APOCALYPSE HOW TO

ItвЂ™s a story about what we could lose, materially and spiritually, if society continues down its dark path. McCarthyвЂ™s apocalypse annihilates the natural world, leaving behind an unlucky mass of humans to fight over what little remains. Though the premise of вЂњThe BearвЂќ invites comparisonвЂ™s to Cormac McCarthyвЂ™s 2006 novel, вЂњThe Road,вЂќ there are some marked differences. When she plunges through the ice, she is rescued by a puma, which drags her from the water and brings her back to the bearвЂ™s cave.Д«oth the bear and the puma feature in stories her father told her as a child, and she wonders whether their appearance might be вЂњa trick of the mind or apparition.вЂќ But she soon comes to believe in their reality and, as the book progresses, it becomes clear that Krivak does, as well. At one point, ignoring the bearвЂ™s advice, she ventures out on her own to cross a frozen river while her traveling companion is lost in the depths of hibernation. The bear is part guide, part therapist, helping the girl process her feelings while reminding her that she has the skills to survive. Together, they travel through the forest, collecting food, navigating obstacles and discussing her plight. вЂњYou need to eat,вЂќ he says, вЂњif weвЂ™re going to leave here.вЂќ But out of the forest, a bear emerges carrying a fat river trout and offers it to the girl. Wracked by grief, and with winter fast approaching, the girl is unsure she can make it to the relative safety of the cabin on her own, and even less sure of what her future holds once she does. His wound becomes infected and in short order he dies, leaving his daughter to make her way back to their camp alone, the last human being who will ever live. Along the way, the father stops to scavenge for useful items in the ruins of an old neighborhood and is bitten by a rat.

Shortly after the girl turns 12, the pair set off on a long journey to the ocean, where they intend to extract salt from seawater for use in preserving meat.

THE LAST HUMAN APOCALYPSE HOW TO

How to hunt for swarms of wild honeybees when the goldenrod bloomed before the autumn equinox, and how to take honey from the tree where those bees had built their hiveвЂ¦ When the nights were clear, he took his daughter outside and taught her how to look at the sky, pointing to the stars along the ecliptic and telling her the names of the constellations that traveled there,вЂќ Krivak writes. вЂњHe taught her how to take sinew from and tan the hides of deer he had shot with a selfbow made of hickory. They have achieved a delicate balance with their surroundings, synchronized to the rhythms of nature, the phases of the moon and the changing of the seasons. But their lifestyle, though humble, is not one of privation. They eat only what they can kill, trap or gather themselves they wear only what they can make with their own hands.

They cling to a few precious artifacts that have been preserved and passed down to them by their ancestors: a single pane of glass a silver comb and a few moldering books, including the works of Virgil, H.D. Several generations have passed since the world as we know it ended, and the two remaining humans know very little about what came before them. However, despite the bookвЂ™s post-apocalyptic setting, Krivak eschews the bleak, dystopic mood common to the genre and opts for a more thoughtful, meditative exploration of humanityвЂ™s place in the world. In his latest novel, вЂњThe Bear,вЂќ Somerville-based writer Andrew Krivak tells the story of the last two people on Earth, a father and daughter living in a resurgent wilderness long after the collapse of human civilization. (Courtesy Sharona Jacobs) This article is more than 2 years old.

The last human apocalypse