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. A National Book Award FinalistA PEN/Faulkner Award Finalist Kirsten Raymonde will never forget …
Kirsten Raymonde will never forget the night Arthur Leander, the famous Hollywood actor, had a heart attack on stage during a production of King Lear. That was the night when a devastating flu pandemic arrived in the city, and within weeks, civilization as we know it came to an end.
Twenty years later, Kirsten moves between the settlements of the altered world with a small troupe of actors and musicians. They call themselves The Traveling Symphony, and they have dedicated themselves to keeping the remnants of art and humanity alive. But when they arrive in St. Deborah by the Water, they encounter a violent prophet who will threaten the tiny band’s existence. And as the story takes off, moving back and forth in time, and vividly depicting life before and after the pandemic, the strange twist of fate that connects them all will be revealed.
Look for Emily St. John Mandel’s new novel, The Glass Hotel, available in March.
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Beautifully written. A classic.
I finished this book the end of February and now with the Covid-virus nightmare I can’t stop thinking about it. I recommend reading this perhaps next year when there is a vaccine.
I’m a tough critic (former literature teacher), but I loved this book. Beautifully written and cleverly conceived, it offers hope in the aftermath of a terrible pandemic, which we are experiencing with Covid 19 as I am writing this review. Even in STATION ELEVEN’s dystopian world, life goes on in affirming fits and starts. A testament to the power …
I love a book that makes me think and stays with me long after I finished the last page.
Written for the reader that enjoys putting together the author’s devises (symbols, quotes,observations,contrasts….)
I want to read more from this author!
The story imagines a post apocalyptic world ravaged by a virus. One of the characters had written a graphic novel about a post apocalyptic world ravaged by climate change. The 2 stories weave thru each other and follow several characters as they build new lives and a new world. Very well written and SO timely. I couldn’t put it down.
What a book to read anytime, but especially in these days of COVID-19! A virus called Georgia flu (as in Georgia the country) wipes out a significant portion of the world’s population, triggering an apocalypse. As in England in the aftermath of the 1665 plague, a group of traveling artists move through the American Midwest. They struggle for …
At this particular moment in time (with COVID-19), Station Eleven is particularly haunting. But I still recommend it because I could not put it down. The threads of the story are woven together in such an intricate way, and I found myself wanting to keep following these characters.
Interesting the way the author tied all the characters together. And a realistic look at how things would turn out if there was something that killed off a large percentage of the population quickly.
I thought that the book was depressing.
I loved this book. A post apocalyptic tale about the 1% left on Earth after a virus
kills everyone else. All the characters relate to a theatre performance right before the virus attacks. All the characters are believable, the true mark of a successful book.. The plot moves along quickly. I recommend this to everyone.
I thought many parts of this book were unbelievable.
I’m a pretty fast reader and this book took me FOR.EV.VAR…. to finish, it was an actual chore and honestly I really don’t know what I read or the point… do not recommend.
I loved this book! A post-apocalyptic story of family, trust and connectedness told in a unique way. It is as if the author took a portrait of these survivors all together, cut it into a jigsaw puzzle, threw the pieces on the floor, and asks the reader to put it back together. Following each thread, moving forward and backward through time, the …
Interesting since I live where this takes place. A little confusing with the jumping around in time.
Dystopia. A virus kills 99% of the earth population, this happens 20 years after the crash, lot’s of it is about the past, before the crash, though. Just a story how life changed.
If you’ve ever wondered about the post-apocalyptic world, “Why would I even want to survive?” this book answers that question. It’s a feel-good tragedy.
Words that come to mind when I think of this book: exquisite. Heart-breaking. Beautiful. Not words you would ordinarily think of when referring to a book set after an apocalypse.
The thing that Emily St. John Mandel does in this book that I’ve never seen before is that she actually lets you see the world fall apart in slow motion. Usually …
THE TRAVELING SYMPHONY: Because survival is insufficient.
The world as we know died very quickly. A deadly strain of influenza started in the Republic of Georgia (hence Georgia flu) and rapidly spread around the world, killing 99.9% of the population. The flu was fast acting, killing people just hours after the onset of the first …