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Station Eleven

Emily St. John Mandel

Start date: July 21, 2015

Finish date: August 16, 2015

Discussion: Book Discussions

Discussion leader: Brendan

Why we're reading this: Group Contemporary Novel discussion for July 2015
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What Members Thought

Jan 29, 2016 Kevin Xu rated it liked it · review of another edition

I wish the world was more complex with a closing ending, rather than leaving it open ended.

14 likes · Like · see review

Dec 30, 2016 Nuno Ribeiro rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: scifi, own, distopia

Gostei deste livro. Está muito bem escrito, as palavras são bem escolhidas e as frases são construídas de uma forma que dá prazer a respetiva leitura.

No entanto, como livro de SciFi deixa um pouco a desejar. A história baseia-se numa trama pós-apocalíptica e vai-nos contando as histórias de vários personagens que fazem parte da "Sinfonia", um grupo de teatro itinerante que se desloca de terra em terra para apresentar peças de Shakespeare. Existem muitos flashbacks sobre a vida das personagens an ...more

7 likes · Like · see review

Sep 03, 2015 Scott Firestone rated it it was ok

A horrifying flu has wiped out 99% of the world's population in a matter of days. This is the story of a troupe of musicians and actors who travel around the midwest and perform for the survivors.

But it starts during a production of King Lear, where an aging actor dies on stage. From this launching-off point the rest of the book deals with characters whose lives intersect around this troupe, and how they deal with the changed world around them. And, of course, there's a PROPHET, because what po A horrifying flu has wiped out 99% of the world's population in a matter of days. This is the story of a troupe of musicians and actors who travel around the midwest and perform for the survivors.

But it starts during a production of King Lear, where an aging actor dies on stage. From this launching-off point the rest of the book deals with characters whose lives intersect around this troupe, and how they deal with the changed world around them. And, of course, there's a PROPHET, because what post-apocalyptic world is complete without a PROPHET?

We're made aware early on that all of these stories and characters are connected, and as the book proceeds, the connections tighten. As soon as I realized that, it was easy to work out who the PROPHET was, so that removed some of the wonder for me.

It feels strange when my opinion of a book is so different from the rest of the world. Station Eleven has received accolades galore. The Washington Post's Ron Charles gave it 5 stars, and said it was one of the best books of 2014. The rest of my friends who have read it all gave it at least 4 stars.

So what did I miss? Why was it just "okay" to me? I consider myself an open and careful reader. The writing was strong, but I didn't find myself caring about these people. Or their situation. Or their desire to doggedly hold onto this piece of our old civilization. David Brin tried that in The Postman and he was vilified for it. Why is it okay here? Because it's the arts, and therefore more civilized?

I wonder if this book has been the beneficiary of the Atwood Effect. (I just made that term up.) When a genre piece is written by a "legitimized" author, it's celebrated and becomes okay to read--even if you'd normally not "slum it" in those geeky wastelands.

"Want to read this post-apocalyptic book?"
"Of course not. I hate that Stephen King crap."
"It was written by an award-winning staff writer for The Millions, who studied dance in college and moved from Canada to New York City."
"Oh. Well, I guess I can give it a try. Oh, look at this lovely writing. It's about the arts! Yay arts!"

But you may like it. Everyone else on the planet does, so let's assume the problem lies with me... ...more

5 likes · Like · see review