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bdingz's review against another edition
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
From what I’d previously heard about this book, I was expecting more horror or thriller elements. Once I realized that wasn’t accurate, I had to set those expectations aside and enjoy the story for what it was. I liked how the stories all intertwined, although I liked reading about some characters more than others. I would’ve liked a bit more focus on Kristen and the Symphony.
Annoying trope ofdisabled people killing themselves because they’re a burden—not once, but twice.
Still, I loved the writing style. I hope to read more from Emily St. John Mandel.
Annoying trope of
Still, I loved the writing style. I hope to read more from Emily St. John Mandel.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic and Death
Moderate: Gun violence and Violence
Minor: Suicide, Infidelity, Domestic abuse, Adult/minor relationship, and Rape
brindolyn's review
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Adult/minor relationship, Gun violence, Infidelity, Medical content, and Murder
sophiesmallhands's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Religious bigotry, and Gun violence
Minor: Suicide, Drug use, Child death, Rape, and Death of parent
lili_geek's review against another edition
dark
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
I enjoyed the majority of the book, but feel like that the author struggled with the ending and combining multiple storylines into one sequence. I probably wouldn’t recommend the book, but I also wouldn’t dissuade them from reading it. The characters were believable and so was the story, I just the connections were forced.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Infidelity, Violence, Murder, Mental illness, and Medical trauma
Minor: Rape and Suicide
kelly_e's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
reflective
medium-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? No
3.0
Title: Station Eleven
Author: Emily St. John Mandel
Genre: Science Fiction
Rating: 3.00
Pub Date: September 9, 2014
T H R E E • W O R D S
Evocative • Ambitious • Eerie
📖 S Y N O P S I S
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.
💭 T H O U G H T S
Despite hearing (and reading) so many glowing reviews from my bookish community for Station Eleven, I had no plan to pick it up... until it landed on the 2023 Canada Reads shortlist. Since 2021, I've made a point of reading as many books from the longlist as possible, with a particular focus on the five shortlisted titles. And so, despite knowing this wasn't likely to be my cup of tea, I borrowed a digital copy from my library.
I'll start by saying, I truly appreciated the dystopian Canadian content. Emily St. John Mandel has carefully constructed a realistic (eerily so) and reflective tale of post-apocalyptic survival. And of course, it's incredibly well written. While I know the ambiguous ending has been a point of contention between readers, for me it actually seemed the most fitting.
Despite that, I just wasn't a fan of the story or the structure. It's told in three different timelines from several points of view, and I definitely liked certain section a lot more than others. At times, I found myself disappointed to reach the end of a chapter only to find out I'd be ripped from what was happening in that storyline. Additionally, the plot just held very little interest for me. I'll admit coming out of a pandemic was probably not the right time to read this book, and it's quite possible the past three years impacted my reading experience.
I completely understand why so many readers love Emily St. John Mandel's descriptive and poetic writing style, yet Station Eleven was not a book for me. I don't think it's surprising it landed on this years Canada Reads list, as it definitely stimulates thought and discussion. I am looking forward to seeing how it'll fair on the panel, but in my opinion it doesn't necessarily fit the theme of shifting one's perspective.
📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• Emily St. John Mandel enthusiasts
• readers looking for pandemic fiction
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"What I mean to say is, the more you remember, the more you've lost."
Author: Emily St. John Mandel
Genre: Science Fiction
Rating: 3.00
Pub Date: September 9, 2014
T H R E E • W O R D S
Evocative • Ambitious • Eerie
📖 S Y N O P S I S
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.
💭 T H O U G H T S
Despite hearing (and reading) so many glowing reviews from my bookish community for Station Eleven, I had no plan to pick it up... until it landed on the 2023 Canada Reads shortlist. Since 2021, I've made a point of reading as many books from the longlist as possible, with a particular focus on the five shortlisted titles. And so, despite knowing this wasn't likely to be my cup of tea, I borrowed a digital copy from my library.
I'll start by saying, I truly appreciated the dystopian Canadian content. Emily St. John Mandel has carefully constructed a realistic (eerily so) and reflective tale of post-apocalyptic survival. And of course, it's incredibly well written. While I know the ambiguous ending has been a point of contention between readers, for me it actually seemed the most fitting.
Despite that, I just wasn't a fan of the story or the structure. It's told in three different timelines from several points of view, and I definitely liked certain section a lot more than others. At times, I found myself disappointed to reach the end of a chapter only to find out I'd be ripped from what was happening in that storyline. Additionally, the plot just held very little interest for me. I'll admit coming out of a pandemic was probably not the right time to read this book, and it's quite possible the past three years impacted my reading experience.
I completely understand why so many readers love Emily St. John Mandel's descriptive and poetic writing style, yet Station Eleven was not a book for me. I don't think it's surprising it landed on this years Canada Reads list, as it definitely stimulates thought and discussion. I am looking forward to seeing how it'll fair on the panel, but in my opinion it doesn't necessarily fit the theme of shifting one's perspective.
📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• Emily St. John Mandel enthusiasts
• readers looking for pandemic fiction
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"What I mean to say is, the more you remember, the more you've lost."
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Violence, Terminal illness, Medical trauma, Gun violence, Murder, Medical content, and Grief
Moderate: Infidelity, Blood, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Ableism, Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Alcohol, Sexual violence, Pregnancy, Pedophilia, Mental illness, Sexual assault, and Child abuse
wormgirl's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
reflective
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief and Death
Moderate: Pedophilia and Adult/minor relationship
Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Suicide, and Death of parent
littlemelly's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment
Moderate: Death, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Suicide, Violence, and Medical content
Minor: Death of parent, Alcoholism, and Child death
emtees's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I don’t really know how I feel about this book.
The story follows Kirsten, a young woman who, as a child, survived a horrific flu pandemic that killed off most of the human race and left them small, isolated communities without electricity, mass communication or modern medicine. A child actor before the pandemic, Kirsten is now part of a group of actors who travel from community to community, performing Shakespeare and playing music. Though she loves performing as much as she always did, Kirsten is otherwise a person dramatically changed by her experiences, and the trauma of the years since the pandemic hangs heavily over her. On an otherwise routine trip through the town of St Deborah by the Water, Kirsten and her fellow performers encounter the Prophet, a religious fanatic and cult leader. When they leave the town, they accidentally take with them something the Prophet considers his, and his menace follows them.
The plot of this book is meandering, following a whole host of different threads. There is the main plotline, with Kirsten and her friends on their journey, pursued by the threat of the Prophet. Then there is the story of Arthur Leander, a famous actor who died on stage during a performance of King Lear, right in front of Kirsten, on the night the pandemic came to North America. Some sections of the book are dedicated to Arthur’s own life; other chapters go his best friend, Clark, his ex-wife Miranda, a comic book artist, and to Jeevan, the former paparazzo turned EMT who tried to save his life. Some of these chapters tell us what happened to these characters during the pandemic, or, for those who survived, in the years after; others go back years before, to when life was still mundane. These stories are all connected, but not in the sense that there is a single through-plot to them. Rather, all these characters impacted each other’s lives in one way or another, sometimes through obvious relationships, sometimes in ways they never knew about, second hand or through their art.
There is a lot to like about this book. The author has an incredible gift for setting a scene - not just in the way she paints the picture of the post-apocalyptic world after the pandemic, full of abandoned cars that stopped when their drivers ran out of gas or died and houses that are sealed up time capsules of a world people like Kirsten can barely remember - but also in the more ordinary scenes of the pre-pandemic world, like a painfully awkward dinner party that the story returns to again and again, or a snowy night in a city. She is equally deft with character. There is a lot we don’t end up knowing about many of these characters, but I had a full sense of them anyway, just from the details the author chose to reveal. And the tone of the book is one of longing for something you can’t quite imagine, one that hangs over every moment of the story.
Art, stories, and the meaning we put into them is a major theme of this book. Kirsten’s group claim they perform Shakespeare because he, too, lived in a time of plague; they impose meaning onto his stories to help them in their own lives. Kirsten carries with her a comic book called Station Eleven, a story of isolation and loss of home and lonely travel; it was written long before the pandemic, but its themes echo in the lives of the survivors, though not in the way they did for the author. Because Arthur’s death looms large in her life, her last memory of the pre-pandemic world, she also collects any artifacts she can about him and his family, carrying around clippings of gossip magazines, trying to recreate the story of a man she only briefly knew. One of her friends clings to the memory of Star Trek episodes he saw twenty years ago. Not all this searching for meaning is positive - one character looks for such meaning in the Book of Revelations, to terrible effect - but it is all extremely human.
With all this, though, I ended the book feeling vaguely dissatisfied. While I understood that the point of the story was the distant connections between the characters, the way they impacted each other’s lives without even knowing, the main plotline was also seemingly building to a climax, and when that came, the story faltered. By the end of the book, I was sure that two things would happen - the actors would have a confrontation with the Prophet that would have some kind of deeper meaning, and Kirsten would meet Clark and learn the significance of Station Eleven - and technically both did, but neither had the payoff I was hoping for.
Spoiler thoughts about the ending: The confrontation with the Prophet fell flat for me, not just because it devolved into random violence, but because Kirsten finally met someone else who knew Station Eleven, only for him to die immediately. However, I knew she still had the meeting with Clark ahead, so I wasn’t too disappointed. But then when the story got to Clark, whatever conversation they had about Arthur, Miranda and the Prophet happened entirely off-page, and I found that frustrating. It was one thing to have characters with connections cross paths and not know it; it’s another thing when it is obvious they do know it - Kirsten left Station Eleven with Clark, and he knew it was Miranda’s work, at minimum, and probably could make the connection to the Prophet - and yet we are deprived of seeing them discuss the connection. We are left to wonder if they shared the full connection between their lives, if Clark told her who the Prophet probably was. It was nice that their other connection - that Clark had read the interview with her years before they met, and remembered her fascination with electricity - was addressed, and I suppose it was more important to see them looking to the future of a world with electricity again rather than dwelling on the past of Arthur and Miranda, but it was still frustrating. Having said that, I did love Clark finding the dinner party scene in Station Eleven and recognizing it for what it was. After so many examples of people imposing meaning onto art, it was neat to see someone reach back through the years to recognize what an artist was actually saying .
None of this ruined the book for me, and maybe my slight sense of a story unfinished was the point. I haven’t stopped thinking about this book since I finished it.
A warning: there is a TV adaptation of Station Eleven. I haven’t seen it, but I was curious about the actors chosen for the various roles, so I looked up the cast list on IMDB when I was only about halfway through the book. Don’t do this! There is a character in the book whose identity is a mystery and that mystery will be spoiled for you by the cast list, where they are listed by their true name. I don’t usually care about spoilers, but this is a mystery that isn’t ever explicitly solved in the book, though the clues are there, and while I think I would have figured it out if I hadn’t known ahead of time, I’m annoyed that I’ll never know.
Also, a second warning: If you’ve never read The Passage by Justin Cronin and you want to, be aware that a character in this book spoils the big twist of that one.
The story follows Kirsten, a young woman who, as a child, survived a horrific flu pandemic that killed off most of the human race and left them small, isolated communities without electricity, mass communication or modern medicine. A child actor before the pandemic, Kirsten is now part of a group of actors who travel from community to community, performing Shakespeare and playing music. Though she loves performing as much as she always did, Kirsten is otherwise a person dramatically changed by her experiences, and the trauma of the years since the pandemic hangs heavily over her. On an otherwise routine trip through the town of St Deborah by the Water, Kirsten and her fellow performers encounter the Prophet, a religious fanatic and cult leader. When they leave the town, they accidentally take with them something the Prophet considers his, and his menace follows them.
The plot of this book is meandering, following a whole host of different threads. There is the main plotline, with Kirsten and her friends on their journey, pursued by the threat of the Prophet. Then there is the story of Arthur Leander, a famous actor who died on stage during a performance of King Lear, right in front of Kirsten, on the night the pandemic came to North America. Some sections of the book are dedicated to Arthur’s own life; other chapters go his best friend, Clark, his ex-wife Miranda, a comic book artist, and to Jeevan, the former paparazzo turned EMT who tried to save his life. Some of these chapters tell us what happened to these characters during the pandemic, or, for those who survived, in the years after; others go back years before, to when life was still mundane. These stories are all connected, but not in the sense that there is a single through-plot to them. Rather, all these characters impacted each other’s lives in one way or another, sometimes through obvious relationships, sometimes in ways they never knew about, second hand or through their art.
There is a lot to like about this book. The author has an incredible gift for setting a scene - not just in the way she paints the picture of the post-apocalyptic world after the pandemic, full of abandoned cars that stopped when their drivers ran out of gas or died and houses that are sealed up time capsules of a world people like Kirsten can barely remember - but also in the more ordinary scenes of the pre-pandemic world, like a painfully awkward dinner party that the story returns to again and again, or a snowy night in a city. She is equally deft with character. There is a lot we don’t end up knowing about many of these characters, but I had a full sense of them anyway, just from the details the author chose to reveal. And the tone of the book is one of longing for something you can’t quite imagine, one that hangs over every moment of the story.
Art, stories, and the meaning we put into them is a major theme of this book. Kirsten’s group claim they perform Shakespeare because he, too, lived in a time of plague; they impose meaning onto his stories to help them in their own lives. Kirsten carries with her a comic book called Station Eleven, a story of isolation and loss of home and lonely travel; it was written long before the pandemic, but its themes echo in the lives of the survivors, though not in the way they did for the author. Because Arthur’s death looms large in her life, her last memory of the pre-pandemic world, she also collects any artifacts she can about him and his family, carrying around clippings of gossip magazines, trying to recreate the story of a man she only briefly knew. One of her friends clings to the memory of Star Trek episodes he saw twenty years ago. Not all this searching for meaning is positive - one character looks for such meaning in the Book of Revelations, to terrible effect - but it is all extremely human.
With all this, though, I ended the book feeling vaguely dissatisfied. While I understood that the point of the story was the distant connections between the characters, the way they impacted each other’s lives without even knowing, the main plotline was also seemingly building to a climax, and when that came, the story faltered. By the end of the book, I was sure that two things would happen - the actors would have a confrontation with the Prophet that would have some kind of deeper meaning, and
Spoiler thoughts about the ending:
None of this ruined the book for me, and maybe my slight sense of a story unfinished was the point. I haven’t stopped thinking about this book since I finished it.
A warning: there is a TV adaptation of Station Eleven. I haven’t seen it, but I was curious about the actors chosen for the various roles, so I looked up the cast list on IMDB when I was only about halfway through the book. Don’t do this! There is a character in the book whose identity is a mystery and that mystery will be spoiled for you by the cast list, where they are listed by their true name. I don’t usually care about spoilers, but this is a mystery that isn’t ever explicitly solved in the book, though the clues are there, and while I think I would have figured it out if I hadn’t known ahead of time, I’m annoyed that I’ll never know.
Also, a second warning: If you’ve never read The Passage by Justin Cronin and you want to, be aware that a character in this book spoils the big twist of that one.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Violence
Moderate: Infidelity and Suicide
Minor: Child abuse
The main plot involves a deadly pandemic and there are graphic scenes of characters dying. A character commits suicide off-page. A case of an adult having sexual relationships with children is discussed.szuum's review against another edition
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Pedophilia, Religious bigotry, and Violence
Moderate: Grief, Infidelity, Suicide, and Medical trauma
Minor: Child death and Rape
lynxpardinus's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic, Medical content, Suicide, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Kidnapping, and Violence
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Blood, Colonisation, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Ableism, Alcohol, Animal death, Drug use, Infidelity, Pedophilia, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Rape and War
Adult/minor relationship warning is partially for a couple who met when one was a minor. Ableism warning is for the trope of a disabled character dying as part of an abled character's story. Colonisation warning is just in case, for discussion of Israel in a normalized light.