Review by braynard - Station Eleven

braynard 's review for:

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

5.0

emotional hopeful 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

This book was initially recommended to me by a professor who wanted to include it in our tragedy class, but cut it for time. And let me tell you, this book was not the easiest thing to read in 2022. The writing style and story were beautiful, but the content hit a bit close to home.

Emily St. John Mandel's writing style in this book is succinct yet elegant. She keeps it simple, but this never detracts from the emotions of the story. If anything, the reserved quality makes you feel the emotions more. I don't often cry over books, but one scene had me sobbing with only a few sentences and an implication.

She handles the multiple plot lines with just as much grace. The stories of Arthur, Kirsten (a traveling actress who was only a kid when the pandemic began), Jeevan (a former paparazzo who tries to save Arthur's life), Miranda (Arthur's ex-wife and comic artist), and Clark (Arthur's old friend) are beautifully woven together to create a rich narrative.

And while I have seen some reviews upset that not of the plot lines and characters came together in the end, I think that its the mark of a mature narrative. Realistically, the chances of all of them meeting in the end is unlikely, and part of the beauty of this book is the harsh realism.

This book tackles a lot of hard questions. What is the point of art in crisis? How do we survive? Why do we survive? What do we know when everything we have known is gone? While COVID-19 is not as bad as the Georgian Flu, these questions still resonate for us, especially those of us who lost people or have been permanently affected by the virus.

This book can be a hard read for people, but I would definitely recommend it.

Content Warnings