Station Eleven: A Novel (National Book Award Finalist)
This Anniversary Edition of Station Eleven, a finalist for the National Book Award and named a Best Book of the Twenty-First Century by the New York Times, celebrates ten years of this now iconic novel with a new color illustration and a guide to “The Mandelverse”
A Kirkus Reviews Best Fiction Book of the Century
An audacious, darkly glittering novel set in the eerie days following civilization's collapse, Station Eleven tells the spellbinding story of a nomadic group of actors roaming the scattered outposts of the Great Lakes region, risking everything for art and humanity.
It is fifteen years after a flu pandemic wiped out most of the world's population. Kirsten is an actress with the Traveling Symphony, a small troupe moving over the gutted landscape, performing Shakespeare and music for scattered communities of survivors. But when they arrive in the outpost of St. Deborah by the Water, they encounter a violent prophet who digs graves for anyone who dares to leave. Spanning decades, moving back and forth in time, and vividly depicting life before and after the disaster brought everyone here, this suspenseful, elegiac novel is rife with beauty, telling a story about the relationships that sustain us.
A Kirkus Reviews Best Fiction Book of the Century
An audacious, darkly glittering novel set in the eerie days following civilization's collapse, Station Eleven tells the spellbinding story of a nomadic group of actors roaming the scattered outposts of the Great Lakes region, risking everything for art and humanity.
It is fifteen years after a flu pandemic wiped out most of the world's population. Kirsten is an actress with the Traveling Symphony, a small troupe moving over the gutted landscape, performing Shakespeare and music for scattered communities of survivors. But when they arrive in the outpost of St. Deborah by the Water, they encounter a violent prophet who digs graves for anyone who dares to leave. Spanning decades, moving back and forth in time, and vividly depicting life before and after the disaster brought everyone here, this suspenseful, elegiac novel is rife with beauty, telling a story about the relationships that sustain us.
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Community Reviews
What Bookclubbers are saying about this book
✨ Summarized by Bookclubs AI
Readers say *Station Eleven* offers a poetic, character-driven exploration of a post-pandemic world, highlighting themes of resilience, hope, and the ...
I'm still trying to figure out how to review this book. Interesting premise, confusing execution.
The flow from one character into the next then all of a sudden a back story of a different character turned me off a bit.
I the end it did tie them all together but it look a long a winding road to get there... Much like the traveling symphony took in the book..
thenextgoodbook.com
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
333 pages
What’s it about?
Imagine that a pandemic quickly spreads throughout the modern world killing 98% of the population. Over time, society as you know is falls away. No technology, electricity, or communication. The world becomes a place of small, isolated communities. Ms. Mandel takes us back and forth in time from the world as we know it, to this post pandemic world she has created.
What did it make me think about?
Possibilities..... Not all good.
Should I read it?
It is the best kind of book- a book you miss as soon as you finish. I do not think of myself as a fan of post- apocalyptic novels, but I loved this book. Ms. Mandel seems to have a different approach in this novel. "Station Eleven" seems interested in the concept of how you would begin to rebuild a society. Fascinating!
Quote-
"I don't remember my parents. Actually just impressions. I remember hot air coming out of vents in winter, and machines that played music. I remember what computers looked like with the screen lit up. I remember how you could open a fridge, and cold air and light would spill out. Or freezers, even colder, with those little squares of ice in trays. Do you remember fridges?"
9 stars
If you liked this try-
The Dog Stars by Peter Heller
On a Such a Full See by Chang-rae Lee
When We Were Orphans by Kazuo Ishiguro
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
333 pages
What’s it about?
Imagine that a pandemic quickly spreads throughout the modern world killing 98% of the population. Over time, society as you know is falls away. No technology, electricity, or communication. The world becomes a place of small, isolated communities. Ms. Mandel takes us back and forth in time from the world as we know it, to this post pandemic world she has created.
What did it make me think about?
Possibilities..... Not all good.
Should I read it?
It is the best kind of book- a book you miss as soon as you finish. I do not think of myself as a fan of post- apocalyptic novels, but I loved this book. Ms. Mandel seems to have a different approach in this novel. "Station Eleven" seems interested in the concept of how you would begin to rebuild a society. Fascinating!
Quote-
"I don't remember my parents. Actually just impressions. I remember hot air coming out of vents in winter, and machines that played music. I remember what computers looked like with the screen lit up. I remember how you could open a fridge, and cold air and light would spill out. Or freezers, even colder, with those little squares of ice in trays. Do you remember fridges?"
9 stars
If you liked this try-
The Dog Stars by Peter Heller
On a Such a Full See by Chang-rae Lee
When We Were Orphans by Kazuo Ishiguro
It feels strange to describe a novel as “tender,” “hopeful,” or “sweetly yearning” when its central premise is a post-pandemic collapse of civilization. And yet, Emily St. John Mandel not only weaves such a novel, but also succeeds in creating a work that defies easy categorization and transcends genre.
The post-apocalyptic setting isn’t new, and considering the multi-year pandemic we recently lived through, neither is the threat of annihilation by microbe. Similarly, deeply flawed yet sympathetic characters are not revolutionary. But the care taken with each disparate narrative thread kept me marveling at the wonder of the world — both the fictional, titular Station Eleven and for our own imperfect, present-day, real-life world — even as the unspooling story kept me fully and deeply engaged.
As an extended ode to human ingenuity, the importance of connection, the enduring power and necessity of art… I clearly loved this.
The post-apocalyptic setting isn’t new, and considering the multi-year pandemic we recently lived through, neither is the threat of annihilation by microbe. Similarly, deeply flawed yet sympathetic characters are not revolutionary. But the care taken with each disparate narrative thread kept me marveling at the wonder of the world — both the fictional, titular Station Eleven and for our own imperfect, present-day, real-life world — even as the unspooling story kept me fully and deeply engaged.
As an extended ode to human ingenuity, the importance of connection, the enduring power and necessity of art… I clearly loved this.
“I never really understood the point of it, to be honest.” There was relief in admitting this to someone, after all these years. “The Undersea, especially. All those people in limbo, waiting around, plotting, for what?”
I'm not saying this was a bad book, I just don't understand what I was supposed to get out of reading it. The quote above sufficiently sums it up for me, in that I found it just a meandering tale of interconnected stories that didn't really go anywhere. By choosing to forgo a central main character, I didn't feel connected to any of them because none were fully fleshed out. Add to that flopping back-and-forth between timelines & POVs, and it was a bit of a bumbling, rambling tale of superficial story lines.
In the end, it was all very lacklustre.
Update: ok, I just binged the tv series and omg…don’t expect to get a cliff notes version by watching it! If someone who only read the book tried to discuss the story with someone who only watched the show, they’d think the other is crazy. I’ve never seen such a differing adaptation in my life.
I'm not saying this was a bad book, I just don't understand what I was supposed to get out of reading it. The quote above sufficiently sums it up for me, in that I found it just a meandering tale of interconnected stories that didn't really go anywhere. By choosing to forgo a central main character, I didn't feel connected to any of them because none were fully fleshed out. Add to that flopping back-and-forth between timelines & POVs, and it was a bit of a bumbling, rambling tale of superficial story lines.
In the end, it was all very lacklustre.
Update: ok, I just binged the tv series and omg…don’t expect to get a cliff notes version by watching it! If someone who only read the book tried to discuss the story with someone who only watched the show, they’d think the other is crazy. I’ve never seen such a differing adaptation in my life.
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