Station Eleven

Station Eleven is the story of a worldwide civilizational collapse, but it thankfully avoids being relentlessly depressing or nihilistic. Instead, it is a quiet, thoughtful book showing the death of one world and the birth of another. The handful of characters are all connected through the actor Arthur Leander and through his ex-wife's haunting comic, "Dr. Eleven". Kirsten's storyline twenty years after the pandemic has the most conventional plot, but it is interspersed with scenes from other characters that take place before and during the collapse. I had a hard time getting emotionally invested in the characters, but I really enjoyed the writing and the emotional tone of the story. Also, "Dr. Eleven" is fictional, but it looks like St. John Mandel may write a script for the comics. It would be interesting to see if the pictures match what I imagined while reading Station Eleven!

Click below for my full review!