'Station Eleven' presents a more positive view of a post-disaster world
The novel 鈥淪tation Eleven鈥� by Emily St. John Mandel, which focuses on the time before, during, and after a flu pandemic, isn鈥檛 just getting attention for its positive reviews 鈥� it鈥檚 also being noted for its positive portrayal of life post-illness.
鈥淪tation,鈥� which was published on Sept. 9, first focuses on a theater performance where an actor dies during the middle of production, then centers on an EMT who watches as almost the entire world is killed by an illness called the Georgia Flu. The book then fast-forwards to 15 years later, when an actress travels with an acting troupe to perform plays and music for those who are still alive.聽
Post-apocalyptic scenarios are rarely positive 鈥� take, to name only two examples, the classic novel 鈥淭he Road鈥� by Cormac McCarthy and the blockbuster young adult series 鈥淭he Hunger Games.鈥� But reviewers are noting that Mandel鈥檚 book embraces a different view while still depicting how difficult living would be in a desolate world.
The novel was named as one of Amazon鈥檚 best books of September, with editorial director Sara Nelson calling it 鈥渒ind of touching because it's also about what survives 鈥� music and plays.鈥澛�
Of the book itself, critic Sigrid Nunez wrote, 鈥淢andel is an able and exuberant story颅teller, and many readers will be won over by her nimble interweaving of her characters鈥� lives and fates.鈥� Of its view of a post-disaster world, however, Nunez noted that 鈥渢he book falters鈥� in its imagination of disaster鈥� the survivors do not think, act or speak like people struck by such a cataclysm鈥� readers may wonder why few bad guys appear to have made it to Year 20.鈥� However, Nunez concluded, 鈥淚f 鈥楽tation Eleven鈥� reveals little insight into the effects of extreme terror and misery on humanity, it offers comfort and hope to those who believe, or want to believe, that doomsday can be survived, that in spite of everything people will remain good at heart, and that when they start building a new world they will want what was best about the old.鈥�
Karen Valby of awarded the novel an A and wrote that the book is 鈥渘ot a story of crisis and survival. It's one of art and family and memory and community and the awful courage it takes to look upon the world with fresh and hopeful eyes,鈥� while wrote that Mandel 鈥渇inds a unique point of departure from which to examine civilization鈥檚 wreckage鈥� St. John Mandel鈥檚 examination of the connections between individuals with disparate destinies makes a case for the worth of even a single life.鈥澛�
