Any arbitrary Choate Rosemary Hall student may have not been so thrilled with Emily St. John Mandel this past summer. After all, she did subject those of us who actually read Station Eleven to several hours of a good book. Her fourth novel commences in the most Shakespearean of ways--tragedy. While ironically performing King Lear, Arthur Leander, a widely renowned actor drops dead on stage. As if coincidentally, a virus-prompted apocalypse begins to wage war on humanity that same night.
Fast forward twenty years, the audience finds itself alongside Kirsten Raymonde, an actress who had been onstage during Arthur’s death. Now a part of the Traveling Symphony, she travels the Great Lakes region of what was formerly the United States to perform Shakespeare for all who are willing to watch. Throughout various flashbacks in the novel, we become acquainted with Arthur’s pre-apocalyptic life, through the memories of his ex-wife Miranda and his former best friend, Clark. We begin to learn that Kirsten feels a particular connection to this man whom she only knew for a short while, especially through the Station Eleven comic books she received as a gift from Arthur. The work of Miranda, there are distinct characteristics about the comics which symbolize the experiences of the characters in Mandel’s story. The symphony’s motto, a line which was taken from Star Trek and was originally Shakespeare’s, emphasizes the central theme which is reinforced by the Station Eleven comics: “Survival is insufficient.”
As we follow the Symphony to St. Deborah by the Water, in search of lost friends, we encounter a prophet with twisted words and a suspicious persona. Traveling on, half intending to escape the prophet, half intending to find their friends, the Symphony proceeds to the legendary Severn City Airport’s Museum of Civilization. Evading peril at what seems like every turn, it is inevitable the Symphony will have to confront its obstacles in order to reach its ultimate destination.
Mandel is an expert storyteller. She is able to incorporate many different elements and characters into this singular plot and keep the audience engaged. This is reflected best near the climax and falling action of the book. After a long period of a quite possibly confused audience, she begins to reveal not only how the characters in the story all relate back to Arthur, but how they benefitted from him. A former bartender and paparazzo discovers his purpose in life after falling just short of saving Arthur’s life. Miranda’s comics locate an audience to please. Kirsten gets to witness electricity. A former employment manager finds a sense of ownership in his life. In turn, Arthur, who died a vain man, finally got the chance to reveal his compassion for others.
At a first consideration, it may seem as though Mandel failed to encompass what a true dystopian-style novel is all about. One might feel as though she should have focused more on the time directly following the collapse, as opposed to twenty years beyond it. This was actually Mandel’s intention. Instead of focusing on the horrors which come with a traditional collapse, it was of her interest to focus on what kind of a world became of a post-apocalyptic community.
Her writing style may be a bit confusing and take some getting used to, due to the fact the story progresses differently with respect to different characters. She also struggled to define what the singular purpose of the plot was. We cannot be sure if the story is to show how Arthur’s life related to that of the survivors; if it is to show why Arthur’s death is most important amongst millions of others; to find the Symphony’s lost friends; or any other specific purpose.
Despite Mandel’s ability to storytell, she lacks the ability to emotionally connect with the audience. In this type of book, where characters should theoretically be struggling to survive, there are no instances which are particularly moving or saddening. Being emotionally moved was likely something an audience would hope for in this kind of book.
Station Eleven is overall a well-developed and intriguing novel. By Mandel using her ability to engage readers and her straying from the typical path of dystopian-style novels, she is able to create something quite unique and captivating. On the flip side, her plot may be a bit confusing to comprehend and lacking of emotional content, but this did not completely take away from the fact that Station Eleven is a well-composed piece of literature.
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