Scan barcode
A review by elerireads
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
I loved this. I think more than anything else it was about the wonderfully melancholic and nostalgic atmosphere Mandel creates, which is just gorgeous. This was an example of a book that succeeds in jumping about both in time and from character to character without it being confusing, which is very impressive. Partly I think that's because it's not really about the plot. In fact, I'm not sure I could tell you what the plot was; what keeps you gripped is slowly uncovering who the characters really are and how their pre-apocalypse and post-apocalypse lives are intertwined. One thing I did wonder about was the significance of Arthur dying of a heart attack rather than of the virus. It felt like an important distinction but I couldn't come up with any interesting interpretation of it.
I adored the Travelling Symphony - the idea that when the world has ended a group of artists would dedicate their lives to bringing Beethoven and Shakespeare to the tiny isolated pockets of survivors. It seemed to be speaking to a wider point about the arts being a necessity and, if anything, more important in times of hardship, rather than frivolous extras when the going is good. The same applies to the comics, and the tattoos, and the cult, and the museum - all the things that the characters turn to to cope with the enormous losses they've suffered, both of people and the world they knew.
I feel kind of haunted by this book, to be honest. I suspect I'll be thinking about it for a while. Of course it felt eerily prescient and close the bone, as a pre-covid book about a pandemic. I did have a few doubts about how realistic it was - it seemed to me that the insanely high mortality rate and short incubation period of the virus would make it nowhere near as effective at spreading as it was. I guess I also have a bit more faith in humanity than Mandel does because it's insane to me that it would take so long to get some electricity going.
I adored the Travelling Symphony - the idea that when the world has ended a group of artists would dedicate their lives to bringing Beethoven and Shakespeare to the tiny isolated pockets of survivors. It seemed to be speaking to a wider point about the arts being a necessity and, if anything, more important in times of hardship, rather than frivolous extras when the going is good. The same applies to the comics, and the tattoos, and the cult, and the museum - all the things that the characters turn to to cope with the enormous losses they've suffered, both of people and the world they knew.
I feel kind of haunted by this book, to be honest. I suspect I'll be thinking about it for a while. Of course it felt eerily prescient and close the bone, as a pre-covid book about a pandemic. I did have a few doubts about how realistic it was - it seemed to me that the insanely high mortality rate and short incubation period of the virus would make it nowhere near as effective at spreading as it was. I guess I also have a bit more faith in humanity than Mandel does because it's insane to me that it would take so long to get some electricity going.