There's not really a theme that I love in that they're all depressing. I meant it more obliquely, that the book is one of my favorites more for the writing and the theme than the actual plot. In other words, if someone asked me to tell them what the book was about and I recounted the plot only, that wouldn't capture what I love about it.
That said, I agree that 'the world is declining into a nightmare and we are powerless to stop it' is the main theme. But the themes which touch my heart are more about the individual finding himself in a world he doesn't recognize and realizing his time is over. His confession at the end of the book is part of that, I think.
(Part of it is personal; I have a family member who went though something similar when he gave up his long career after things changed around him and he couldn't keep up. His vast stores of knowledge were basically de-commissioned from the world because he was struggling with things like PowerPoint.)
Oh dear, I keep writing and then deleting my thoughts on the matter because they don't adequately capture what I want to say. I need better vocabulary to capture a mix of sadness, poignancy, and bewilderment experienced when one feels capable of still performing some good in the world but is being left behind by forces beyond his control. Something about the brash confidence of the young to grasp the world and then the realization of the old that while they are in the world, they no longer recognize it. And spending your life in a small town and understanding and caring about your citizens, only to be invaded by an evil you didn't know existed, in the sunset of your life.
So, the title. :o
I shouldn't start on themes re: the drug wars and the militaristic state of modern policing.
:lol: