The Bear by Andrew Krivak (#12 in 2020)
There are no names, there is no specific setting, there is no time period, and there are no quotation marks, but The Bear absolutely blew me away.
In most post-apocalypic plots, the environment is futuristic and technology-based with characters who have trouble surviving without their modern and futuristic conveniences. There are no modern conveniences, and I honestly didn't get the impression that this was a sci-fi/post-apocalyptic story. Instead of telling the story about the last two people on Earth, I felt that this story could have been about a survivalist family who chooses a life disconnected from the modern world or even from Native American folklore.
The Bear doesn't center itself around a time period, or location, or even around character drama. Rather, The Bear focuses on love, nature, and humanity's connection to the planet we are perpetually destroying. The storyline contains only two real characters: the girl and her father. Neither character has a name, but the father constantly teaches his daughter survival skills and shares folktales with her that serve to teach valuable lessons. In time, a few symbolic characters present themselves, but these characters are more spiritually-based than the girl and her father.
While the father tells fables to educate his daughter, The Bear, in itself, is a folktale meant to teach us, readers, a few lessons. The plot is simplistic in form, but the girl is an ever-evolving character full of dimension and wisdom. Krivak includes tropes of grief, love, and survival, but his biggest trope hauntingly connected humans to nature.
It's difficult to praise this book as much as it deserves, but I suggest reading it aloud to yourself. This is the kind of book you need to speak aloud to truly feel its power. 5 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Also-- I saw that Libro.fm has an audio copy, so I gave it a quick listen to see if I could recommend it to you all. DO NOT do the audio. The voice made me want to run to the wilderness, myself, and live out my remaining days.
"But we don't get to choose when we leave here to sleep on the mountain. We all have to sleep on the mountain one day. Even the bear. Even when we struggle with all our will not to."
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