Station Eleven

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Average customer rating 4.8 (6 comments)

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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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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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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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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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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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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.