Station Eleven: Emily St. John Mandel

Station Eleven by Emily St. John MandelI was recommended this book by a friend and I’m so glad that I was as it was such a beautifully crafted novel which is set against the backdrop of a devastating flu pandemic which not only wipes out most of the worlds population but also rapidly plunges the modern world into collapse without internet, communications and electricity.The story opens with the sudden death of actor Arthur Leander on stage during a performance of King Lear. As the narrative unfolds we are introduced to a diverse cast of characters including child actor Kirsten Raymonde who is performing alongside Arthur, and then later is a member of the Travelling Symphony – a group dedicated to preserving art and culture in the post-apocalyptic world. The Symphony’s motto “Survival is insufficient” (a Star Trek quote) encapsulates the central theme – the need for more than mere survival in the face of catastrophe.The story weaves together multiple storylines and timelines, mainly pre and post pandemic, is such an easy way to follow, and links between the characters are discovered as the story progresses which adds another layer to the narrative. We follow the stories of Arthur, his ex-wives, his friend Clark, Kirsten, and Jeevan, as well as the mysterious Prophet.I found Mandel’s writing style really lyrical which captured the eerie beauty of an abandoned world, whilst also delving deeply into the characters inner lives. The story not only explores the dystopian world, but also memory and nostalgia as characters frequently reflect on their pre-collapse lives, with flashbacks that provide context and depth to their current struggles. The contrast between past and present underscores the profound loss experienced by the survivors as well as their resilience and adaptability.

So. This is the book that I chose to start my rediscovery of recent novels. For a while I thought I’d try and churn through some classics – Dickens, Waugh, etc – but, in truth, while I’ve always admired those books, I’ve never truly enjoyed them.I don’t get Shakespeare. Or Chaucer. I understand that what we have flows from them, just like I understand that the overarching stories and themes of The Wire are thanks to the groundbreaking work of Hill St Blues, but I want to read what’s NOW.I wasn’t always like this. I remember being in school (Year 10 or 11 I think) and reading Pride and Prejudice. This wasn’t a set text, you understand. I was reading it for pleasure. Or was that for pretence? Did I enjoy it? Or did I enjoy the thought of myself enjoying it? No! Not for me now the perpetual looking-over-my-shoulder for approval of whether this or that novel is VALID. No! The new me… my new journey would be about embracing a BLOODY GOOD STORY. A BLOODY GOOD READ.I’m not sure how I came to Station Eleven. I suspect Amazon was to blame in some way with its recommendations or maybe I read a review somewhere. Anyhow. I clicked and lo! it was sent, arriving in its cardboard coffin, reading to be torn and reborn!I liked this book. I’m not fully buying into the splurges and splurges of praise its receiving, but I liked it. I admired it, but there were times when I slogged through the text. That’s probably unfair. All of the text was beautifully written.Let’s take a step back.I like apocalyptic tales. For me The End of the World does something crucial. Roald Dahl once said that in all of his books one of the first things he has to do is remove the parental figures otherwise his heroes (who are mostly children) would, quite rightly, go straight to them for help. Roald Dahl had some great ways of disposing of parents (charged by a rhino???) and it’s not just him. Think about other children’s stories and you’ll see that, in some way, the parental figures have to be incapacitated. Harry Potter?The apocalypse functions in a similar way. Suddenly all the support mechanisms are gone. The police. The government. And – that killer of many a modern story – the mobile phone. Therefore you are able to tell a very precise story about very precise motivations and human traits.Think of The Road, which focused on the collapse of human civility writ large, but the ability of individuals to maintain some sort of connection. It was like the flickerings of hope in a dark whirlwind.Well, Station Eleven toys with similar themes but in a less dark way. Because the book is set twenty years after the apocalypse, much of the truly terrible deeds are done. Now is the job of sparking up civilisation again. I liked that. It was an intriguing and well written approach. I liked the characters too. They all seemed genuinely motivated and all seemed genuine.What I didn’t like? This is just me, you understand. But I just didn’t get the need for the connections. There were times when the novel moved back in time and I sort of groaned. I wasn’t that interested in the failings or otherwise of a Hollywood actor. I sort of enjoyed those parts of the novel as I read them but I wasn’t swept along.Here’s it for me: The various strands of the story, I don’t think, are individually strong enough to stand alone. If I’d read any of them seperately I’d have thought they were satisfying short stories. So if the individual strands weren’t hugely compelling to me, then how they are weaved together is vital. And they were weaved together but sometimes a little too tightly (the reveal of the big baddy) and too loosely at other times (two characters/stories that you really want to meet never do… and end up miles and miles apart!)).But here’s the thing. I enjoyed reading the book. I wasn’t wowed by it as I read it but I enjoyed it. But afterwards I had a nagging thought. Several nagging thoughts. Somehow some of those characters that were left unresolved and some of those plot points left dangling, they just kept buzzing at my mind. And that’s a good book. Or, at least, a good story.

The book is told through the eyes of Kirsten who is 8 when a mysterious plague devastates the earth, and through other eyes too. Disparate characters whose paths cross in unexpected ways. St John Mandel is a very fine writer who is somewhat reminiscent of Anthony Doer and Jennifer Egan, but is very distinctive too. She is one of the most lyrical writers of her generation whose characters carry stories so well.

Emily St. John Mandel's Station Eleven is a masterful exploration of humanity's sense of self-preservation and survival, the power of art, and the connections that bind us. At the heart of this novel is Kirsten Raymonde, whose journey from childhood to adulthood in a post-apocalyptic world is inspiring.Introduced as a young actress in the final performance of King Lear before the Georgia Flu pandemic devastates civilization, Kirsten is thrust into a wild world. Yet, even amidst the collapse of society, her passion for the arts remains undiminished. This duality—her will to live and her dedication to preserving art—defines her character and provides the novel with a heart.As a member of the Travelling Symphony, Kirsten traverses the remnants of civilization, performing Shakespearean plays for scattered communities. The Symphony's motto, "Survival is insufficient," taken from an episode of Star trek Voyager, encapsulates the belief that life must be about more than mere survival; it must also encompass the richness of human experience, creativity, and connection.Kirsten's journey is marked by her quest to piece together her fragmented memories of the past, particularly those of her time with the actor Arthur Leander, whose death coincides with the pandemic's onset and who's the connection between all characters even if he's dead. He's also the link with the comic book Station Eleven by Miranda Carroll, the first of Arthur's ex-wives. This narrative thread underscores the novel's theme of the interconnectedness of all human lives, even in the face of societal collapse.Mandel’s portrayal of Kirsten is nuanced and deeply human. Her strength and vulnerability, her moments of reflection and action, create a character who is both relatable and heroic. Kirsten’s growth throughout the novel, from a child struggling to understand a shattered world to a woman determined to find meaning within it, is profoundly moving.Station Eleven is a triumph of literary fiction. Mandel’s exquisite prose and richly layered narrative make this novel a must-read for anyone seeking a story that beautifully balances despair and hope, isolation and connection, destruction and creation.

I am late getting to this but I just finished this exceptional, beautiful, profound work. A novel which broadly concerns the importance of art and culture in making a meaningful life - set just before and after a great pandemic kills 99% of humanity. Interlocking stories of characters connected through an actor whose death of a heart attack occurs on the day the pandemic hits Toronto - a child actress, his ex-wives, his best friend, a paramedic who tries to save him, his son. And a travelling company of musicians and actors who have a circuit around the Great Lakes playing symphonic music and performing Shakespeare in the tiny settlements of survivors. Mandel describes ordinary things with such beauty, as she sets them in the context of the great disaster and social collapse - how ordinary things like the telephone, coffee at a coffee shop, are made strange because a few days later the plague will hit, how the small moments become significant in the light of death.

Me encantó este libro, a pesar de ser una distopía guarda esperanza, amor, suspenso, de todo. Varias historias unidas por un mismo hilo, y dadas las circunstancias actuales de pandemia, uno puede evitar quedar agradecido, podía haber sido peor.

What was before and what came after: a post-apocalyptic world where art, culture, kindness and nostalgia can offer hope to make a new future. This book will stay with me far longer than other novels I have read and made me reminiscent of Heller’s The Dog Stars, yet another wonderful page-turner.

La caracterización de los personajes es impecable y el cierre de la trama,incluso con varias líneas temporales, es perfecto. Me ha encantado