More Words, Deeper Hole

A lovely review. It would be worth looking at the differences between the Reader's Digest Condensed Version and the unabridged edition. As I vaguely recall, the Reader's Digest emphasized the grimmer parts. Not sure if they were trying to conform to an American post-holocaust norm by that point, because I read a rather cheery Philip Wylie post-holocaust RD version (50s era) which I tore apart in Some Scholastic Essay On Post Holocaust Literature either late in my high school or early in my college years. I do remember comparing the Wylie to Alas Babylon and Malevil, which meant I read the nonabridged edition at that point.

I am not conversant in ROT-13, so I'll refrain from a spoilerish comment about Emmanuel, except to say that it was sadly ironic and not in line with the American post-holocaust story.