Station Eleven
An audacious, darkly glittering novel set in the eerie days of civilization’s collapse, Station Eleven tells the spellbinding story of a Hollywood star, his would-be savior, and a nomadic group of actors roaming the scattered outposts of the Great Lakes region, risking everything for art and humanity.
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Community Reviews
It wasnt bad, just wasnt really what i was expecting and Im probably not literary enough for it xD
It wasnt bad, just wasnt really what i was expecting and Im probably not literary enough for it xD
Emily St. John Mandel is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. Her style of science fiction is so grounded in the human experience of the setting and doesn’t get lost in the scene setting that happens to some authors. In this one we get a deeply personal view of what the end looks like and potential rebirth of civilization.
Even with that bleak premise Mandel pushes us to hope against hope. Developing characters and plot lines that lure you in deeper and deeper. Through these protagonists and antagonists we see how you can lose parts of yourself in order to survive. Mandel prompts us to think of where we go for hope when the foundations of what we understand crumble?
The answer I took away lies in the power of community to create belonging. That conclusion is portrayed to us through clever use of time shifting and perspective swapping that feels like a jigsaw puzzle coming together. Mandel also subtly shows us how the creations we put out create permanence even if their meanings change. Much like her own marvelous books.
Really scary read and made me think about covid being as lethal as the Georgia flu. Maybe ours is the universe they talk about in the book where it’s not as severe and life goes on as normal. Some parts were a little draggy like when station 11 was being described in such detail as were the travelling symphony members but overall the story was incredibly unique - an apocalyptic world where an actor, his son, his paparazzi, his ex wives, his stage children’s seemingly disconnected lives are all connected. The flashbacks are crafted really compellingly too. I’ve rated this higher for the way everything ties up, the fear it instils, and the uniqueness of the story with the travelling symphony in an apocalypse - have never read a book like this before.
Enjoyable for the mood and writing style. The coincidence-heavy plot left something to be desired though.
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