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Station Eleven

by Emily St. John Mandel
Station Eleven

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  • Synopses & Reviews

ISBN13: 9780804172448
ISBN10: 0804172447
Condition: Standard


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From Powells.com

Staff Top Fives 2015

Our favorite books of the year.


Staff Pick

I usually veer away from post-apocalyptic fiction; reading about bleak futures and humankind's seemingly inevitable descent into gritty, animal cruelty just leaves me depressed. I'm so glad that I gave Station Eleven a chance, because unlike so many post-apocalyptic novels, it's full of hope. At the heart of this book is the assertion that art — of all kinds — is what allows us to connect to one another, and the conviction that in times of trouble, art and connection are more important than ever. Mandel's borrowed Star Trek quote says it best: "Survival is insufficient."  Recommended By Madeline S., Powells.com

An unusual take on the evolving genre of postapocalyptic fiction, Station Eleven describes the end of the world through the eyes of thespians. The power of storytelling is explored through Shakespeare's plays and St. John Mandel brilliantly describes the power of the stage even when the world is crumbling around us. Recommended By Alex Y., Powells.com

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments

A National Book Award Finalist
A PEN/Faulkner Award Finalist

Kirsten Raymonde will never forget the night Arthur Leander, the famous Hollywood actor, had a heart attack on stage during a production of King Lear. That was the night when a devastating flu pandemic arrived in the city, and within weeks, civilization as we know it came to an end.

Twenty years later, Kirsten moves between the settlements of the altered world with a small troupe of actors and musicians. They call themselves The Traveling Symphony, and they have dedicated themselves to keeping the remnants of art and humanity alive. But when they arrive in St. Deborah by the Water, they encounter a violent prophet who will threaten the tiny band's existence. And as the story takes off, moving back and forth in time, and vividly depicting life before and after the pandemic, the strange twist of fate that connects them all will be revealed.

Review

"A superb novel...[that] leaves us not fearful for the end of the word but appreciative of the grace of everyday existence." San Francisco Chronicle

Review

"Deeply melancholy, but beautifully written, and wonderfully elegiac....A book that I will long remember, and return to." George R. R. Martin

Review

"Darkly lyrical....A truly haunting book, one that is hard to put down." The Seattle Times

Review

"Mandel delivers a beautifully observed walk through her book's 21st century world....I kept putting the book down, looking around me, and thinking, 'Everything is a miracle.'" Matt Thompson, NPR

Review

"Think of Cormac McCarthy seesawing with Joan Didion....Magnetic." Kirkus (starred)

Review

"It's hard to imagine a novel more perfectly suited, in both form and content, to this literary moment. Station Eleven, if we were to talk about it in our usual way, would seem like a book that combines high culture and low culture — 'literary fiction' and 'genre fiction.' But those categories aren't really adequate to describe the book." The New Yorker

Review

"Audacious....A book about gratitude, about life right now, if we can live to look back on it." Minneapolis Star-Tribune

Review

"A surprisingly beautiful story of human relationships amid devastation." The Washington Post

Review

"Soul-quaking....Mandel displays the impressive skill of evoking both terror and empathy." Los Angeles Review of Books

About the Author

Emily St. John Mandel was born in British Columbia, Canada. Her most recent novel, Station Eleven, was a finalist for a 2014 National Book Award and a New York Times bestseller. Her previous novels were Last Night in Montreal, The Singer's Gun, and The Lola Quartet. She is a staff writer for The Millions, and her work has appeared in numerous anthologies, including The Best American Mystery Stories 2013 and Venice Noir. She lives in New York City with her husband.

4.8 6

What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating 4.8 (6 comments)

`
Abi Edwards , July 27, 2017 (view all comments by Abi Edwards)
This book was recommended to me by my Sophomore English teacher. Usually, I would never read anything post-apocalyptic or distopian, and science fiction books essentially repulsed me. Recently that view has changed, and that's why I recommend this book to others. Station Eleven is a novel that speaks to our world, reflecting back a universe full of cruelty, and devastatingly devoid of art. This book illustrates the importance of art in a broken world. Art should never be considered less than utterly important. Art breathes life into a dead world, into broken people, and most importantly is the glimmer of light we see at the end of a dark time. This book reminds us of that, it reminds us to never stop fighting for beauty, and for art. Art may seem frivolous to some, but it is sometimes the only thing keeping a fragile world afloat

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JennyK , July 06, 2016 (view all comments by JennyK)
Emily St. John Mandel's "Station Eleven" really grabbed me. Excellent character development, interesting writing style, and a unique plot made it hard to put down. In a time where there are many "post-apocalyptic" novels out there, this one achieves a solid story that moves through time using surprising heroines/heroes. The story felt real and terrifying at the same time, with just the right amount of hope. I really loved a little "Station Eleven" surprise that appeared when I turned a page toward the end.

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Sheila Deeth , October 01, 2015 (view all comments by Sheila Deeth)
Some novels paint a dystopian future after the end of the world. Others portray the world ending and the hero marching to survival. But Emily St. John Mandel’s Station Eleven does neither of these. Instead she interweaves stories of before and after, of a time when so many details were important and a place where survival alone takes priority. She adds music and Shakespeare, to help survival make sense. And then she makes her own sense of it all through wonderful, slowly-grown interconnections, building a future on the ruins of our mistakes. The world most surely ends with a whimper in this novel. Survivors are real people rather than heroes, and heroes might die or go mad. But the future grows, like seeds in a scarred land. And the author distills it all into smooth reading. A wide-ranging novel of only 300 pages---no marathon slog---this is a beautifully constructed tale, a story that switches between locations and seasons with perfect timing, that builds its characters with convincing dialog and gorgeously imagined scenes, and that slides its mysteries and connections under the radar until they shine, like a glow on the horizon, like hope for the future of mankind. Love, romance, the search for meaning in life or death, the search for identity, and the responsibilities of relationship, all are here in a literary novel of the present time crossed with convincing science fiction. I love this book! Disclosure: My husband knew I would love it and kept telling me to buy it, so I did.

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Pamela Reid , August 11, 2015 (view all comments by Pamela Reid)
A story that ties Shakespearean actors and their play to the aftermath of pandemic flu that has decimated the world population. Fifteen years later one of the child actors takes up the novel’s narration. She is now traveling by horse and cart in a vagabond traveling Shakespeare and music show. As she travels others affected by the original production take their places in the now real life stage.

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Kim Siegenthaler , July 26, 2015 (view all comments by Kim Siegenthaler)
I loved this book. I couldn't put it down. It was a bit anxiety-inducing but I like how it made me think about all the things we take for granted...lights, warm water, A/C, cell phones, the internet, air planes, etc. Which in a matter of days can disappear. But I really liked how the author went back and forth before the pandemic and after and wove all the character's stories together. Best book I have read this year.

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mccaly28 , July 07, 2015 (view all comments by mccaly28)
This book is somewhere between 3 and 3.5 stars. The premise is interesting and I liked that it came full circle. There's some fascinating characters experiencing terrible things. Each character's story is thoroughly explored so I liked how real they felt and how true the story could seem. I was impressed with the range of characters too and how they grew or changed. I also liked the full circle story telling. There were a few places in the middle I felt like the story got muddled and very little was actually happening, but it's an interesting exploration of the human condition and what it means to survive disaster.

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Product Details

ISBN:
9780804172448
Binding:
Trade Paperback
Publication date:
06/02/2015
Publisher:
Vintage
Pages:
352
Height:
.75IN
Width:
5.25IN
Thickness:
.75
Author:
Emily St John Mandel
Author:
Emily St. John Mandel
Author:
Emily St. John Mandel
Subject:
Science Fiction and Fantasy-Adventure
Subject:
Literature-A to Z

Ships free on qualified orders.
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List Price:$16.95
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