Reviews

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

ovenbird_reads's review against another edition

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4.0

compelling. a lot is familiar from other post apocalyptic fiction but the centrality of the arts is a new twist.

dingusdaemonicus's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

roboxa's review against another edition

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5.0

Originally posted on Roberta's Literary Ramblings

Overall Impression: One of the best books I've read in some time, and definitely one of the best post-apocalyptic books I've ever read.

Recommended For: Fans of post-apocalyptic literature and just fiction in general. Also fans of character-driven stories.

Emily St. John Mandel's post-apocalyptic tale is one of the most human of its genre, focusing more on the lives of its characters before and after the disease that decimated the Earth's population, rather than the actual event itself. Mandel takes us on a journey that demonstrates the human ability to love, hate, forgive, and ultimately, endure in an unforgiving world.

This story isn't plot driven, like so many other books that examine this same subject, but rather character-driven. This, in my opinion, can be even more all-consuming than a fast-paced plot as long as the characters are written well. Station Eleven is an example of that kind of book.

I had pretty much had my fill of post-apocalyptic books, and pretty much won't read them anymore unless they are recommended to me. One of my grad school instructors raved about this book, so I decided to give it try, and I'm so happy I did. The take on the post-apocalyptic genre was refreshing, mainly because it focuses more on the aftermath of the event (in this case a disease) as well giving us enough information into the past lives of some of these characters that makes us feel the underlying fear that many of us carry—this could be us one day.

Much like what World War Z did with zombies, Station Eleven is a book that focuses on the consequences of the decisions that were made when the event actually happens. There is barely even a description of what occurs, which is fine since it's a flu like virus that spreads and that's all you really need to know, and because of this, Mandel is able to focus on the psychological consequences for its survivors, and how this affects the type of societal structures that are formed.

I also have to say that the use of the comic book "Station Eleven" was very well done. "Station Eleven" is the last comic book that Kirsten receives from the ageing actor who dies in the beginning of the book. Kirsten has managed to keep this comic through all of the trials she has faced growing up in this post-apocalyptic and often dangerous world, and she considers it her most prized possession.Throughout the narrative, sections are interspersed about the woman who wrote the comic and her life while she wrote it, thus giving us a reason to feel a connection to this work along with Kirsten. Granted, it is for different reasons that we end up feeling this connection, but the connection is made nonetheless and that is more than most books do. So many times, we will read about characters who have an object they feel highly attached to, but something is lost when we aren't able to feel the same connection. In the case of Station Eleven, both the reader and the character feel a connection to this central object which gives this book a whole layer that other books lack. Am I saying that this should occur with every coveted object that a character has, no. I'm just saying that it is interesting to see it done, and see it done so well.

This is a stunning accomplishment that is a must-read for any literary fiction or post-apocalyptic fiction fan. I'm looking forward to reading more work from Emily St. John Mandel.

lysmar's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

noz021's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

magdub's review against another edition

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dark fast-paced

3.0

cmcdougs's review against another edition

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adventurous dark hopeful mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

naomi_hyde's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

Re-read for the five year anniversary of Brum Book Club <3

This was my third time reading this book, and I was surprised how much I enjoyed it! I remember reading it five years ago and finding it quite boring and insubstantial, but I felt completely differently on this re-read.

Firstly, it was so weird reading about a flu-like pandemic after the events of COVID-19. At the start when Jeevan was stockpiling food, his partner wasn't taking him seriously, and then he stopped watching the news because it was really troubling and depressing - it took me back to those early days of March 2020 when we didn't know what was going on and what the future held. The depiction of character's reactions to the pandemic were so realistic to how the real-life pandemic played out which I thought was quite interesting. There was also a moment later on in the book when Clark reflects on his life before the pandemic and all of the things he did for the last time - again, this reminded me of the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic when it had been months and even over a year since we'd done ordinary activities such as going to the cinema or visiting other people. I found the parallels between this book and the character's experience of the pandemic very poignant and made me reflect on how different the world would be if we hadn't created the COVID-19 vaccine.

My main gripe last time I read this book was the lack of a plot and the fact nothing really happens in the story. I still agree with this point, and I wasn't particularly compelled with the book to really want to pick it up and read it, but I think re-reading it multiple times enabled me to understand the characters better and pick up on some of the details which made me enjoy this book a lot more the third time round. I loved how the book switched between following different characters before, during, and after the pandemic, and that fact that their lives all intersect in some way. I do wish Jeevan had also found his way to the Severn City airport too - I felt like his story got a bit lost and wasn't as prominent or interconnected with the other main characters' lives. I particularly liked how each character had quite a different experience post-pandemic and we got to see the variety of experiences in this new world. I loved the inclusion of the prophet - it felt very realistic that some people would end up being religious extremists in a time of crisis, however, I did feel this sub-plot was underexplored and wish we could have seen more of his journey to becoming the prophet. 

A few random thoughts:
- Frank being a wheelchair user and not being able to leave his flat was incredibly upsetting and really made me think about all of the different people, whom in one way or another, wouldn't be able to survive due to the inaccessibility of a post-pandemic world.
- The plane that lands at the airport but no one leaves was incredibly chilling and scary. To think about the last moments of everyone on that plane and the difficult decisions that would have been made is so distressing.
- There was a funny conversations between two characters, Clark and Garrett, about corporate jargon and how weird it is, which gave me a lot of anti-capitalist vibes and highlighted how immaterial and unimportant the world of work really is compared to what really matters in life.
- An interesting point was made about the internet and the lost data and information due to no electricity. It made me think about how our world is becoming increasingly digital and if a catastrophe like this were to happen, there would be no lasting legacy from the digital era and so much would be lost. I recently saw a TikTok about the same subject and it made me think about all of the photos and memories I have on my phone or on a hard drive that wouldn't be accessible if electricity and the internet suddenly weren't there anymore.
- I loved the ending of the book -
the flicker of electricity in a nearby town gave me such a sense of hope that despite almost ending up extinct due to the virus, humans find a way to come together to survive and rebuild society.

geekwayne's review against another edition

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3.0

'Station Eleven' has been touted as a literary post-apocalyptic novel. It's received a lot of good press and reviews. I felt like it hit strong, then slowly trailed off. I enjoyed it, but I didn't love it. Maybe I was overhyped going in.

The book starts with the death of an actor, Arthur Leander, on stage during King Lear. Shortly afterward, a flu strain wipes out most of the people on the planet. We see the events, past and present through people connected to the actor. I liked that aspect of the book. While much of the book takes place in the future with a travelling orchestra/Shakespeare troupe, I found myself enjoying the flashbacks to the present. The apocalypse offered some beautiful glimpses of what was lost, but a lot of it kind of felt like things I've read before elsewhere. How many maniacal people will there really be in an apocalypse, where people are just trying to figure out how to survive? At this point, it feels a little overdone, even if it has an interesting, albeit obvious, reveal.

So, I would recommend any of the Margaret Atwood MaddAddam titles or The Handmaid's Tale. I would recommend David Brin's The Postman, which is a book that I need to reread soon for the 4th or 5th time. This was good, but I've read better, more affecting novels.

curriedpeas's review against another edition

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adventurous dark hopeful medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5


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