Reviews

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

Only show reviews with written explanations

savaging's review

4.0

Death all over, and we're left with the New Testament, an unpublished comic book, William Shakespeare, old tabloids, a remembered episode of Star Trek Voyager. Listen: books are ghosts. This means we can speak to each other, even across time and catastrophe, but only in unpredictable hauntings.

Human nature is never idealized in this book, but all the same there is a believable beauty. After the plague, after the killings, people will eventually form a traveling symphony and Shakespeare troupe. I think that makes this a feminist work. Give us bread and give us roses.

I sometimes thought it was maybe the place and the plot that I loved, and the characters would have bored me if they weren't thrown up against catastrophe. But then, I like deranged characters best, and may have lost my appreciation for the merely-normal.

jennifertijssen's review

Go to review page

4.0

Interessant verhaal met meerdere plotlijnen die best wel mooi samenkomen.

Ik snapte niet wat precies de betekenis was van het toneelstuk waarin Arthur speelt, maar dat kan ook komen omdat ik niet bekend ben met Shakespeare.

Anxiety-inducing in de stukken over de paar dagen tijdens het uitbreken van de pandemie. Maar juist hoopvol over de tijd na de pandemie, als iedereen weer een beetje gesetteld is en het niet zo gewelddadig meer is. En hoopvol dat kunst zal blijven bestaan en impact zal blijven hebben.

constantine2020's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

Genre: Science Fiction

When you don't want to return to a book after your first reading session, that is not a good sign. If this is the only book you are reading, then you will most likely find yourself in a reading slump unless you decide to give up on it and move on to something else. To my good fortune, this was not the case when I was reading Station Eleven because I was also reading other books that were a great deal more exciting than this one.

Station Eleven has been sitting on my bookshelf since 2017, and I have been delaying it for no particular reason. I honestly anticipated a masterpiece from the book because it has received so much attention. I loved the author’s last book, but I was just bored with this one. Despite the fact that her writing is poetic and beautiful, the overall structure of the book was a complete and utter disappointment.

The story takes place in a dystopian world. It is more accurate to say that the events take place prior to a pandemic, as well as during and after the pandemic. We follow a group of characters through a timeline that is not linear. Why the author chose to use this particular timeline is something that I do not comprehend. This is not even a mystery where an author needs to hide information from the readers. I feel a well-structured timeframe would have done wonders for the story.

I’m among the minority here who think this is an overrated and overhyped story. The characters were OK. The writing was lyrical and excellent, but the narrative was convoluted and a total mess. I didn’t hate it, but I didn’t like it either. I’m just very disappointed in this book because I expected much more from it.