Station Eleven: A Difficult but Fascinating Read

Station Eleven: A Difficult but Fascinating Read

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel is a post-apocalyptic novel that opens up with the death of an actor performing “King Lear” in Toronto. Shortly after, “the Georgia flu”, a deadly, infectious disease spreads throughout the world, killing off most of the population and destroying human civilization. One survivor group, the Traveling Symphony, is comprised of various musicians and actors who perform Shakespeare for other survivors of the virus. Their motto, taken from Star Trek, is “Survival is insufficient.” The novel also focuses on another survivor group, which has built a mini-community at an airport, and although it cannot be compared with the modernity of society before the outbreak, it is still quite impressive, considering the circumstances. Through the long-standing devastation that one disease caused all of mankind, Mandel expresses that today’s civilization is paper-thin, and that there "had always been a massive delicate infrastructure of people, all of them working unnoticed around us, and when people stop going to work, the entire operation grinds to a halt. No one delivers fuel to the gas stations or the airports. Cars are stranded. Airplanes cannot fly. Trucks remain at their points of origin. Food never reaches the cities; grocery stores close. Businesses are locked and then looted. No one comes to work at the power plants or the substations, no one removes fallen trees from electrical lines.” Mandel forces the reader to appreciate the lives they live now, compared to the misery and suffering experienced by the various characters in the novel. Just the thought of the world coming to a stop, with everything that we’ve ever known taken away from us in a matter of days, makes the hairs on one’s back stand up. Mandel’s simple and elegant use of language paired with the depressing circumstances makes this a heart-rending and difficult book to read. One would often find themselves shutting the book to give themselves a break, as thinking too much about the world of Station Eleven can be distressing.

            Mandel further reminds us of the delicacy of our world as the narrator says," so many species had appeared and later vanished from the earth; what was one more?” Reading this, it is difficult for someone not to feel hopeless. For one who might have thought that the pain experienced by the people in the novel was somehow special, Mandel shuts them down with this quote, putting humankind alongside every other species that has went extinct. It is simply inevitable, basic, natural, and it makes the situation seem even more miserable. For some, the gloomy atmosphere of the book might be a bit too much to handle, but this just further shows Mandel’s ability to convey the despair dominating her world of Station Eleven.

Even though the characters in the book have survived, they truly stand by their belief that “survival is insufficient.” (Mandel)  The survivor group and the Symphony struggle with the basic needs to life, but they still are able to appreciate the fact that they are alive. The Symphony’s journey through the wasteland, and their performances for other survivors are inspiring, showing us that there is always hope, even in a world as desolate and bleak as the one in Station Eleven.

Overall, Station Eleven was quite a heavy and emotional read, especially in the first half, but soon the reader will find bits and pieces of hope throughout the storyline. Mandel’s use of language fits the theme of the story, but because of her intricate descriptions, the reader might feel a bit overwhelmed by the emotions she conveys through her novel.