Enjoyed the journeys well enough. I am left with a couple of questions, though, especially in light of people saying this story highlights the importance or power of art. My big question, then, is: Why does there seem to be no NEW art? The Symphony performs Shakespeare, already hundreds of years old. And then a few people in the world are connected by a couple of comic books also created pre-pandemic. I wondered where the new art might be (carvings in trees? Drawings with charcoal? People are resourceful.

Also, I was quite surprised by how little nature had moved back in. Fifteen years and cars were still sitting on roads without any growth over them. I mean, where birds poop, plants grow. Ever left a car sitting for a few months, to a year? How often have you seen a car with moss beginning to grow around wing mirrors? It doesn't take long, not in a damp temperate zone, anyway. Granted every micro-climate is different.

It's likely because we are in the middle of a real pandemic (thankfully less deadly than the one in this book) and we can see the immediate effect it has on nature when humans just stop that I was highly aware that nature didn't really feature in this book.