Station Eleven: A Depressing Novel about a Post-Pandemic World

Posted On June 3, 2022

Hi Readers! I had three Emily St. John Mandel books on my bookshelf, so I finally picked up Station Eleven. Now, this book has great reviews. It’s very highly rated on Goodreads. Every time I read anyone’s review on it, it’s glorifying amazing. Most people have also loved the book’s TV adaptation. Now, with this much hype, I am always doubtful whether to read a book or not. More likely than not, I don’t like such books. And, yes, I did not like Station Eleven.

~~GOODREADS DESCRIPTION~~

Set in the days of civilization’s collapse, Station Eleven tells the 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.

One snowy night a famous Hollywood actor slumps over and dies onstage during a production of King Lear. Hours later, the world as we know it begins to dissolve. Moving back and forth in time—from the actor’s early days as a film star to fifteen years in the future, when a theater troupe known as the Traveling Symphony roams the wasteland of what remains—this suspenseful, elegiac, spellbinding novel charts the strange twists of fate that connect five people: the actor, the man who tried to save him, the actor’s first wife, his oldest friend, and a young actress with the Traveling Symphony, caught in the crosshairs of a dangerous self-proclaimed prophet.

~~TIMING OF READING THE BOOK~~

Station Eleven was published in 2014. If I had read it then, there is a slight chance that I might have liked it slightly more than I did now. The book is set in post-pandemic world, where almost the entire civilization is wiped out. And, unfortunately, the only people living are utterly boring. So, me reading this book after 2 years of Covid was super depressing. I wanted to quit the books so many times. But, somehow miraculously, I completed it.

~~MULTIPLE CHARACTERS & MULTIPLE STORY LINES~~

We have Arthur Leander who is an actor in the pre-pandemic world. There’s Kirsten Raymonde who is a child actress, who later becomes a member of the Travelling Symphony. There’s Jeevan Choudhary who is on his own path. And lastly, we have Clark Thompson who is Arthur’s friend.

Arthur Leander’s story line is only in the pre-pandemic world because he dies just before the Georgia flu takes over. He has three ex-wives; Miranda Caroll, Elizabeth Colton and Lydia. Because of him having three ex-wives, he became instantly dislikeable to me.

Kirsten Raymonde is an 8-year-old child actor. She is on stage when Arthur dies. After this, we see her in the post-pandemic world as a part of the Travelling Symphony. Basically, this group goes from place to place in their caravans to perform Shakespeare plays. On one hand, I found this to be utterly stupid. On the other hand, I thought it was good to see people still doing what they love even if they lived in a world where most of the population had died.

I wanted to read more about Jeevan’s story. The way we connect with him in the initial chapters, you would hope to get more of his survival story, but there isn’t much. On the other hand, we see Clark’s life all played out in detail.

Lastly, there’s the Prophet. You would think adding a villain figure when there are so few people left might spice things up. But, again, on one hand, I thought it was really stupid. And, on the other hand, it just goes to show that humankind will continue to have at least a few people who will look to dominate and bring back violence in a perfectly peaceful world.

I did not like any characters particularly. Neither did I enjoy the story. Even with the story line in parallels of pre and post pandemic did not help much with the reading experience.

~~STATION ELEVEN~~

Now coming to the actual meaning of Station Eleven. Station Eleven is a graphic novel written by Miranda Caroll. She works on it for many years. And then she gives a copy to Arthur, who then gives a copy to Kirsten and his son Tyler (who later becomes the Prophet.) This kind of reminded me of Cloud Cuckoo Land where a book gets passed through generations but still survives. Well, I didn’t enjoy Cloud Cuckoo Land and I did not enjoy Station Eleven.

~~TO READ OR NOT TO READ~~

If you or your closed one have suffered losses because of Covid-19, then I would not recommend reading Station Eleven. If you are looking for some depressing to read then, this one checks the box. If you like to read between the lines in a novel, then you should read this book. Personally, I don’t think anyone should read this book for a good few years, because it has so many triggers relating to Covid. It will be quite hard to read for some, and might just be the last thing to do if you are in grief. I rated Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel at 2/5 stars!

Until next time,