Station Eleven - Emily St. John Mandel

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

I ran into this post-Apocalyptic work in my local book store last month and just got to it.  It focuses on the few people who survive a massive an virulent flu pandemic. It shifts between their lives immediately prior to the pandemic and events following after with great deftness.  It is a dark book but one that examines why we do what we do with our lives and the emptiness we frequently find.  The pandemic serves as a crucible through which all the characters (but one) are passed and the interesting  question is what they find in themselves after their flaming trial.

I’m not quite finished but I am profoundly enjoying this book.

[williamjm]

1 hour ago, Ser Scot A Ellison said:

I ran into this post-Apocalyptic work in my local book store last month and just got to it.  It focuses on the few people who survive a massive an virulent flu pandemic. It shifts between their lives immediately prior to the pandemic and events following after with great deftness.  It is a dark book but one that examines why we do what we do with our lives and the emptiness we frequently find.  The pandemic serves as a crucible through which all the characters (but one) are passed and the interesting  question is what they find in themselves after their flaming trial.

I’m not quite finished but I am profoundly enjoying this book.

I really liked the book, occasionally some parts of the pre-flu plotlines felt a bit uninteresting but the post-flu parts of the storyline were very compelling. I should try some of her others books sometime, I think she has a new one coming out sometime soon.

[Maithanet]

I thought the book was just beautiful, lovely prose and memorable setting., with some interesting commentary on art and humanity.  Definitely in the top 5 books I read in whatever year I read it. 

[BigFatCoward]

1 hour ago, Maithanet said:

I thought the book was just beautiful, lovely prose and memorable setting., with some interesting commentary on art and humanity.  Definitely in the top 5 books I read in whatever year I read it. 

This. I read it a while ago so I cant remember the specifics but I remember thinking it was fabulously well written. I think it's getting made into a tv show iirc 

[AncalagonTheBlack]

3 hours ago, BigFatCoward said:

 I think it's getting made into a tv show iirc 

https://deadline.com/2019/10/mackenzie-davis-himesh-patel-to-star-in-station-eleven-limited-series-hbo-max-1202763678/

[Iskaral Pust]

I cannot remember all of the specifics now but I really enjoyed this.  There are plenty of post-apocalyptic novels out there but this was really well written and maintained a good balance between suspense/tension and characterization. 

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

1 hour ago, Iskaral Pust said:

I cannot remember all of the specifics now but I really enjoyed this.  There are plenty of post-apocalyptic novels out there but this was really well written and maintained a good balance between suspense/tension and characterization. 

I like the way it used the Actor’s death in the first chapter as the framework for the entire novel.

[Isis]

I found it overrated.

Also Elizabeth Hand did the post-apocalyptic-travelling-Shakespeare-troupe thing better a couple of decades before in Winterlong. 

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

20 hours ago, Isis said:

I found it overrated.

Also Elizabeth Hand did the post-apocalyptic-travelling-Shakespeare-troupe thing better a couple of decades before in Winterlong. 

I haven’t read that one.  Is it set in our world or something else?  One of the things I appreciated about Station Eleven was how familiar the broken civilization was.  It wasn’t bizarre or strange, it was something I could imagine seeing.

Is Winterlong that sort of post-apoplectic fiction, or something else?
 

[Isis]

On 12/29/2019 at 7:46 AM, Ser Scot A Ellison said:

I haven’t read that one.  Is it set in our world or something else?  One of the things I appreciated about Station Eleven was how familiar the broken civilization was.  It wasn’t bizarre or strange, it was something I could imagine seeing.

Is Winterlong that sort of post-apoplectic fiction, or something else?
 

I'd say it was set in our world but that it's probably near future. It's definitely both bizarre and strange but that's all part of its charm. It's still P-A though.