Mandel, Emily St. John - Station Eleven - Informal Buddy Read; Start: January 18, 2015

[Moderators of NBRC, Challenger-in-Chief]

This topic is open for discussion of Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel



Book Synopsis:
An audacious, darkly glittering novel set in the eerie days of civilization's collapse, Station Eleven tells the spellbinding story of a Hollywood star, his would-be savior, and a nomadic group of actors roaming the scattered outposts of the Great Lakes region, risking everything for art and humanity.

One snowy night Arthur Leander, a famous actor, has a heart attack onstage during a production of "King Lear." Jeevan Chaudhary, a paparazzo-turned-EMT, is in the audience and leaps to his aid. A child actress named Kirsten Raymonde watches in horror as Jeevan performs CPR, pumping Arthur's chest as the curtain drops, but Arthur is dead. That same night, as Jeevan walks home from the theater, a terrible flu begins to spread. Hospitals are flooded and Jeevan and his brother barricade themselves inside an apartment, watching out the window as cars clog the highways, gunshots ring out, and life disintegrates around them.

Fifteen years later, Kirsten is an actress with the Traveling Symphony. Together, this small troupe moves between the settlements of an altered world, performing Shakespeare and music for scattered communities of survivors. Written on their caravan, and tattooed on Kirsten's arm is a line from "Star Trek: " "Because survival is insufficient." But when they arrive in 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 pandemic, this suspenseful, elegiac novel is rife with beauty. As Arthur falls in and out of love, as Jeevan watches the newscasters say their final good-byes, and as Kirsten finds herself caught in the crosshairs of the prophet, we see the strange twists of fate that connect them all. A novel of art, memory, and ambition, "Station Eleven" tells a story about the relationships that sustain us, the ephemeral nature of fame, and the beauty of the world as we know it.

[Moderators of NBRC, Challenger-in-Chief]

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[Moderators of NBRC, Challenger-in-Chief]

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[Ashley Marie]

tagging so that i remember

[Logan]

I would really love to read this, but can't get to it until February.

[Rebecca]

Ooh I'm going to try really hard to read this on time.

[Ashley Marie]

Logan (~Daeris the Shadow Elf Queen~) wrote: "I would really love to read this, but can't get to it until February."

Logan, do you want me to hold off on reading this until February with you?

[Logan]

Ashley Marie wrote: "Logan, do you want me to hold off on reading this until February with you?"

It's up to you. I don't want to hold you up, especially if others join in, but if you don't mind waiting I can be ready to go Feb. 1! I just have too many books to squeeze in for January challenges.

[Kay Kay]

I will read this one, but I am waiting for it from the library. I have it requested in four systems so I am hopeful!

[Logan]

I took one look at the hold list for both the ebook and paper copy and was like "Well, guess that means I'd be reading it in July." lol! So I'm just gonna take a chance and buy my copy. I'm really excited to read it!

[Ashley Marie]

I have a different buddy read scheduled to start in two days, so I wouldn't mind waiting a bit for you (and for Karrie to get hers from the library!).

[Logan]

Sounds good!

[Sarah]

Is anyone starting this soon? I was gonna start tomorrow. I have 1 week left on my check out.

[Stacey]

OOh, if a group of you are waiting until the beginning for February, I'd like to join you. I have too many other books to finish to start before then, but I'd really like to read this. Will see you back here in a week or two. :)

[Rebecca]

I'm really going to try and start today, or at the latest tomorrow morning.

[Rebecca]

I just read the first part. I'm already hooked. So excited for more :)

[Sarah]

I have started. Just had no one to talk to. Very different post apocalyptic novel. Plus Rebecca, we are on the same team so we don't get points until others join in.

[Rebecca]

True Sarah!! I will probably post my thoughts as a read (since I can't make myself stop now) and then join in with the other as they start.

[Tonya]

I have this to read next, replying so I can quickly find the thread again. :)

[Rebecca]

Up through chapter 22

(view spoiler)[ I love the way the book transitions from before the collapse to after. Usually this would annoy me, because I'm much more interested in the "post-collapse" era. However, I think there is going to be an important link between the two that has to do with Arthur and the Dr. Eleven comics.

I love the way the characters in the orchestra are mostly just referred to by their instrument. It kind of shows how this group is just a random jumble of people who are traveling together for just one purpose.

The "prophet" scene a couple chapters back was super creepy! I know it makes sense, but I can't imagine living in a time/place where that would happen. (hide spoiler)]

[Audrey Jane]

I'm starting this book now. I haven't read that much post-apocalyptic books, I hope it's good. Will probably check back in tomorrow.

[Sarah]

RebeccaS wrote: "Up through chapter 22

(view spoiler)[The Prophet and his following totally reminded me of the origins of Mormonism in the U.S. - even with the Prophet taking plural wives, even children (a twelve year old girl) - yuck! What a pedophile. (hide spoiler)]

[Justin]

Finished this a couple nights ago and five-starred it. Check out my review for more details, but I loved everything about this book.

[Sarah]

I finished, will wait for others to discuss. It was very interesting and I liked the different story lines. (view spoiler)[ I loved that The Prophet was killed. What a scary person (hide spoiler)]

[Audrey Jane]

I'm 20% into the book. I think it's around chapter 13. (view spoiler)[I liked the first two chapter and was looking forward for more, I thought Jeevan pov interesting and wanted to know more about the epidemic. What a bummer! The story is all over the place. I'm bored to tears, I do not care about the travelling orchestra where people are alternating referring to each other by instruments or their first names. I can't even distinguish them because they are so colourless and uninteresting.

This book is not a dystopia or deals with a realistic post-apocalyptic situation. This book is so far an ode to Shakespeare, a highly overrated writer. I do not care about his plays. They only one I like is Othello, the Moor of Venice, but it's not about that so I don't care.

At this point this book would be a DNF for me but since I need it for a challenge I'm going to force myself through it. It's painful. (hide spoiler)]

[Sarah]

Audrey Jane - I didn't know anything about the play King Lear and wondered if any of its themes play into the book. Hopefully the book will get better for you. I did really struggle with all the characters and story lines as well, and this persisted throughout the book. I was doing the audio - which I think made it even more difficult. This is definitely also a literary fiction novel even though it deals with a post apocalyptic theme.

[Sarah]

Justin - I read your review. The book made me think a lot too, mostly about how people react to things in different ways and justify things and make sense of things. Some people thought they were blessed because they survived and were special God's children - magical thinking if you ask me. I think more scientifically, like others. It is a virus that wiped out a huge population. Has mostly to do with being at the wrong place at the wrong time.

[Justin]

I loved the way the story was told from different perspectives in different points in time. Actually, my favorite section from the book revolves around a pretty minor character. I also liked how most of the symphony was just named after whatever instrument they played and nut by their real name. It was like the name wasn't important, people just connected along the way for the sense of companionship and to avoid being alone.

[Kay Kay]

I think I will just have to buy this one so I can start. I am number 31 of 9 copies. And I also would like to use it for a challenge.

[Rebecca]

Finished! It was super hard to put this one down.

I agree with Justin - I thought it was awesome how it jumped around so much, because it showed all these different people. (view spoiler)[ Who we later found out were all slightly connected. I thought Arthur was a really random character, until I saw that he was the thread.

I loved the Dr. Eleven comics and I wish I could read them. They seemed to be a big impact in the book.

I can understand where the Prophet found his ideas. He certainly wasn;t the first one in history who had radical ideas. But, he really creeped me out and I am glad he's gone. (hide spoiler)]

[Audrey Jane]

I finished the book a couple of days ago, in the end it didn't pick up for me. I know I'm in the minority since I didn't like this book. I agree with Sarah that it does feel more like a literary fiction. (view spoiler)[I thought the post-apocalyptic setting a mere afterthought and not thought through. There isn't any explanation for the flu outbreak and its survivors.
The characters felt really detached, I didn't connect with any of them. The most likeable is Miranda. I can't remember the rest of the characters, the fact that they were referred to as instruments which a lot of readers seem to like, bothered me because they're seen as a number. It creates distance and implies you don't want to form a bond with them. And as a reader I felt the same.
I wasn't invested in the plot either. I think the author wanted to show the hardships and importance of arts & cultural heritage but again no post-apocalyptic setting needed for that. Plus I believe that there's beauty in the ephemeral. Also the author mentioned a list of things we take for granted and have to live without after the apocalypse. Again maybe I'm alone in this but everything mentioned was expendable. This should have been the chapter that makes a punchline and grabs my attention, but it didn't.
So yes, nothing groundbreaking here for me. (hide spoiler)]

I guess this book wasn't meant for me. I admit GR Choice Awards and I are not good friends to begin with :p

[Sarah]

Audrey Jane - I kind of agree with you.

[Kay Kay]

I just started this one and I am very curious. I am a germ a phobe, so I hope this doesn't give me nightmares!

[Rebecca]

I agree some of that as well Audrey Jane. I was really interested in (view spoiler)[ the Post-apocalyptic setting and then was disappointed that it was most used as a base to tell all these flashback stories. Though I did like those characters too. I definitely think they had a detached vibe too and Miranda was my favorite. (hide spoiler)]

[Audrey Jane]

I can understand why some readers really liked it. Rebecca, (view spoiler)[I did find some redeeming qualities. I liked that everything came together in the end, that the characters' lives were interwoven through the book. It wasn't particularly bad, but I had a completely other idea of the book before I began reading it. Yes, me too :) (hide spoiler)]

[Justin]

Definitely more literary fiction and I would even say calling it dystopian is a little misleading, too. Still awesome. Loved it.

It elevated to five stars for me near the end (view spoiler)[when Clark is in the airport with the others and they build the museum and recreate a new life under the circumstances. It just felt so real, how normal people would react. (hide spoiler)]

[Rebecca]

I definitely think my favorite part of the book was (view spoiler)[ reading about Clark and the people of the airport. How they transitions from "normal life" before the collapse into "normal life" after it. (hide spoiler)]

[Kay Kay]

Just finished part one starting part two (view spoiler)[ I am surprised that the book jumps ahead 20 years. I thought that more time would be spent telling about the flu outbreak. (hide spoiler)]

[Sarah]

Oh Karrie - the book will jump all over the place.

[Snowtulip]

Karrie wrote: "I just started this one and I am very curious. I am a germ a phobe, so I hope this doesn't give me nightmares!"

I'm with you on this Karrie, I'm almost done with part one and I keep reaching for the Purrell :D

[Snowtulip]

Karrie wrote: "Just finished part one starting part two [spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[not sure how I feel about not knowing more about the outbreak and what was done, and how people managed those first years...how did they survive?? Yes, part one leaves unanswered questions for me (hide spoiler)]

On to Part 2!

[Cynthia]

Snowtulip wrote: "Karrie wrote: "Just finished part one starting part two [spoilers removed]"

[spoilers removed]

On to Part 2!"

(view spoiler)[
I liked not knowing about the tumultuous immediate aftermath. I think I would have been distracted by the details, and been less invested in the impact on the individuals (specifically the emotional impacts). (hide spoiler)]

[Cynthia]

RebeccaS wrote: "I definitely think my favorite part of the book was [spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[ Clark and the airport are my absolute favorite part, too. It's interesting to see the airport as a destination rather than a point of departure. (hide spoiler)]

[Snowtulip]

Cynthia wrote: "Snowtulip wrote: "Karrie wrote: "Just finished part one starting part two [spoilers removed]"

[spoilers removed]

On to Part


I t..."

Apparently I'm following you around tonight Cynthia ;)

Now that I'm further in the book (view spoiler)[I see what you're saying about the characters. I'm becoming so invested in their current or past life. spoiler> (hide spoiler)]

[Snowtulip]

Finished, definately not what I expected, but in a good way. For me it really was a thoughtful book, it's left me thinking (view spoiler)[I appreciate the stories woven together and the overwhelming sense of hope and moving forward with life (hide spoiler)].

As anyone read anything else by this author? if so, would you recommend?