Station Eleven

Station Eleven

by Emily St. John Mandel

First published in Great Britain in 2014.

A newspaper introduced me to this book.  Last year the Metro had a full page article about apocalyptic novels and how they were on the up, so I went through the article and highlighted the books it mentioned to add to my 'To Read List'.  For my birthday a friend got me one of these books - Station Eleven.  It was only out in hardback at the time but it's out in paperback now, incase you have a preference.

It's a story that goes back and forth in time, from a world readers would recognise as similar to ours to one set after a massive flu pandemic has caused the collapse of society.  There are several major characters in both the world before and the world after the collapse.  I particularly liked Jeevan, a man who's doctor friend warns him about the flu just in time.  He was the character I related to the most, as I often wonder what would happen if things like pandemics happened out of nowhere.  As I was reading this book the Ebola crisis was in the headlines every day, and was suddenly becoming a real fear that the world was having to deal with.  The book did make me think what I would do in the situation Jeevan faced.  I thought things like the news being read by cameramen because the newsreaders had died was very realistic and well written, and something I hadn't thought of.  Jeevan's story made me realise how much we take for granted in the way society is run, by so many people all playing their parts.   

Post-collapse, I found myself relating to Clark's character.  He is an older man who is stranded in Severn City airport when his flight is diverted due to the outbreak. He takes it upon himself to make a museum of sorts in the first class lounge, for items that are no longer needed but that people don't want to simply throw away.  It becomes full of everyday items, from high heels to mobile phones, and I felt I too would want to save some part of the world I had grown up in if it were me.  After sixteen years in the airport 'settlement', Clark is explaining to a sixteen year old what planes were and why airports existed.  She was born in the airport and has no knowledge of the world before the flu outbreak.  This was interesting and a bit strange to imagine, and I found myself wondering what people would think of our world if I had to try to explain everyday objects to them.

The Travelling Symphony was a brilliant little group that I felt I was travelling along with.  They are a group of survivors who have found each other wandering the country and go around performing Shakespeare to other survivors in towns as they pass through.  They do this simply to keep their love for acting and music alive, which I could very much appreciate.

This book stayed with me a long time after reading it (such a cliché I know) and I would definitely recommend it, whether or not you like post-apocalyptic fiction.  It has a good amount of time before and after the collapse, and the flu outbreak is detailed enough to make it seem worryingly realistic.  I felt the characters were well-rounded, even those who only said one line.  An example of this is a lone man who appears at the airport a hundred days after the outbreak.  He is crying.  When the other survivors ask him why, he says he thought he was the only one.  I felt his absolute relief at finding other survivors, and his few short lines made me imagine his struggle, believing that he was the last survivor on earth.

So to sum up, get Station Eleven added to your 'To Read' list right now!