My friend had been telling me for easily the last few years to read this book. I realised I had not read as many books for this particular book club so finally decided to give it a go. I think I put it off originally because of its size, the copy I have is hardback so it was a bit daunting, but actually the book wasn't too bad to get through.
The story starts with the death of an actor followed by the collapse of civilisation. We move back and forth in time following the survivors of a terrible pandemic wiping out 99% of humanity. Some of the survivors include the Travelling Symphony, a group of actors and musicians travelling the wilderness sharing their gift of the arts, among some others while also flitting back to before the pandemic following the actor and his life and lead up to his final scene in King Lear.
Ok, so I guess now was probably not the best time to have started this book. There was a time that I found myself regretting choosing a book about a pandemic, a lot of the text resonating too close to home and some of the hardships my family have had recently. However, for anyone worried about reading this book for that reason I recommend to keep going. The similarities end pretty quickly as the level of this pandemic far outdo our own and I was unable to relate almost instantly.
For some the switching between times may be confusing, and on top of that the people we follow and the times they are in are quite a lot to keep up with. I didn't have too much of a problem myself but I know of others who found it was not as clear as to the timing of the chapters.
Now I love a dystopian story, in case I have not mentioned before. What I loved about this was how clever the author is at creating this world we live in but not in the way we live now. Every day objects can be deemed useless, the things we take for granted run out, technology and travel among others. The way of life and standard of life of course changes but the level of detail in this I was very impressed with.
The writing itself I enjoyed also. I have a picture in my head as to what the characters looked like, the Travelling Symphony and their set up and also the planet itself. I did imagine it as a desolate wasteland, which I am not sure was the desired effect, but either way I had my vision as I read.
I did find that there was no big climax which is a shame. I had guessed what I assumed to be the twist in the story but I don't know whether to be proud of myself or disappointed it was easy to guess. I think I found it more interesting than entertaining if that makes sense?
Overall I did enjoy this book, I don't think it was as wow as it could have been but it was definitely fun and interesting to read.
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
Pages - 333
Goodreads Rating - ⭐⭐⭐
