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A review by timeywriter
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
5.0
Often when I read books, like this one, for my book club I have small little post-it tabs that I use to mark spots that I enjoy. If a book is not great, the less tabs I have and vise versa. However, I found that I had not a single tab in this book and it was simply because I enjoyed it so, so much. Honestly, I was so enthralled with the whole of the novel, so pulled into the story, that I forgot about tabbing anything for I would have to tab everything.
Following the events leading up to and following the twenty years after the spread of a virus that wipes out most of the human population, this novel is a beautifully written piece filled with humanistic storytelling. Everything is set into motion when an actor dies of a heart attack on stage, in the days leading to the virus outbreak around the world, and what follows is a finely woven lace of human interaction. I absolutely adored how every character connects, that each life story is its own and yet linked with each other. And while this was post-apocalyptic, it never felt dystopian. There was a need for survival, yes, but there was also the aspect of things forgotten. I loved the museum created in the airport, of technology that no longer worked and magazines no longer printed. I found it incredible that the aspect of remembering that which came before was honored here, instead of entirely forgotten for the sake of a new form of survival or society. I also found it amazing that the heartache and the struggle that each character underwent, both before and after the virus hit, was both subtle and yet profound. Truly, this was a beautiful piece about the capabilities and strength of humans.
I'm not sure how I am going to contain myself during my book club, I have too much I will want to say about this book and I will have even more opinions from others to enhance my own. Ah, see, even outside these pages the beauty of human interaction and experience is present.
Following the events leading up to and following the twenty years after the spread of a virus that wipes out most of the human population, this novel is a beautifully written piece filled with humanistic storytelling. Everything is set into motion when an actor dies of a heart attack on stage, in the days leading to the virus outbreak around the world, and what follows is a finely woven lace of human interaction. I absolutely adored how every character connects, that each life story is its own and yet linked with each other. And while this was post-apocalyptic, it never felt dystopian. There was a need for survival, yes, but there was also the aspect of things forgotten. I loved the museum created in the airport, of technology that no longer worked and magazines no longer printed. I found it incredible that the aspect of remembering that which came before was honored here, instead of entirely forgotten for the sake of a new form of survival or society. I also found it amazing that the heartache and the struggle that each character underwent, both before and after the virus hit, was both subtle and yet profound. Truly, this was a beautiful piece about the capabilities and strength of humans.
I'm not sure how I am going to contain myself during my book club, I have too much I will want to say about this book and I will have even more opinions from others to enhance my own. Ah, see, even outside these pages the beauty of human interaction and experience is present.