‘Station eleven’ by Emily St John Mandel had been on my radar for a while, but I was reluctant to read it because it was about a pandemic. I recently felt enough time had passed, but I really shouldn’t have worried because the focus isn’t really on the event itself but rather the aftermath, about resilience and how to find hope.

Pandemic

What is station eleven about?

The book starts during a production of King Lear, when famous Hollywood actor, Arthur Leander, collapses. An audience member called Leevan attempts resuscitation but to no avail. One of the child actors, a little girl called Kirstin, watches on. Later, Arthurs ex wife Miranda and his friend Clark get a phone call about his death. It’s in the aftermath of this event that the world outside starts to disintegrate, as people fall sick. The pandemic that takes place here is a deadly swine flu that works extremely fast, and kills most of the worlds 7 billion population.

Travelling Symphony

Most of the action in ‘Station eleven’ takes place in the great lakes region, where scattered bands of survivors still live. We follow a a theatre troupe called the Travelling Symphony, who move around performing Shakespeare and playing music, which is where we find Kirstin again. This part of the book shows you just how much the world has changed.

The book move’s back and forth between the present and the past, focusing on Kirstin, Arthur, Miranda, Clarke and Leevan and the connections between them. This was one of the strongest parts of the book for me, and it reminded me a bit of the TV show ‘Lost’.

Survival is insufficent

It’s an incredibly thought provoking book. The travelling Symphony have a saying on the side of one of their caravans - ‘Survival is insufficient’ and the book emphasises the message that is not enough just to survive - society depends on kindness and needs art. Another of the questions it asks is - how beneficial is it to continue to look back at the past? Those who were alive pre pandemic struggle the most.

Books like Station eleven that I’ve read include ‘The road’ by Cormac McCarthy and ‘The stand’ by Stephen King but this felt like a slightly different novel in that although it’s a tough post apocalyptic wasteland, there’s more hope and people trying to rebuild things again. The people here will never get their old lives back but they are determined to salvage and live the best lives they can, within the parameters they have found themselves.

Imagery

There’s so much memorable, haunting imagery in ‘Station eleven’. A childs untouched tea set. Fake snow falling on a stage. Seven shopping carts. An world underneath the waves. Huge container shops with lights blinking a few miles off shore.

Summary

It’s definitely not a plot driven book but you do become intrigued by the lives of the characters and the connections between them and their old lives. I couldn’t put this down, and found it had moments of real beauty. For a book that was about how a pandemic devastated the world, it ultimately had a hopeful and uplifting message.

Book review - Station eleven by Emily St John Mandel

339 pages, Picador

First published September 9, 2014

Bookshop.org Amazon.co.uk Amazon.com

Books Like Station Eleven

Are there any more books like Station Eleven? Without stating the obvious, you’ll also love ‘The glass hotel’ or ‘Sea of tranquility’ by the same author. In terms of zeitgeist, I’m going to say Patricia Lockwood, in many ways completely different but with her own distinctive style and with something to say about the world we’re living in. Also quite elegiac and moving, so ‘No one is else is talking about this’ was a book I found interesting.

‘Blindess’ by Jose Saramago is another book that springs to mind, as it is also about humanity’s desire to connect, despite the world falling to bits. And it has moments of real beauty as well. I also read ‘The passage’ by Justin Cronin a few years back and though it is also about a decimated world, but involves bats and reads much more like a vampire thriller. Terrifyingly fun though, and a reminder for me to go back and read the rest of the trilogy.

Those are the only books like Station eleven I can think off for the moment, but if any more come to mind I’ll add them here. Maybe you can think of some, if so leave them in the comments below.

Station Eleven Discussion Questions

What does ‘survival is insufficient’ mean to you?

In what ways are Kirsten and the prophet different?

What is the connection between Art and Memory in the book?

How does the undersea from the comic books connect to the events of the book?

What do you think the Travelling Symphony will find when they reach the south?

Why do you think Emily St. John Mandel divided the book into structures like she did?

What do you think happened to Kristen in the year she couldn't remember?

If you had the choice between travelling with the symphony and staying at the airport - what would you do and why?