I think reading Station Eleven in 2014 and 2024 must be a very different experience and I honestly am disappointed that I hadn’t read it sooner.

Station Eleven is the interwoven story of child actor Kirsten, movie star Arthur Leander, his first wife Miranda and his best friend Clark. Others come and go but in this post-pandemic dystopian world these are the mainstays. 99.6% of the population have been wiped out by Georgian Flu within weeks and what is left is minimal, no electricity, phone, air travel, internet, gasoline. The Travelling Symphony walk from town to town performing King Lear and music to those who remain. The Prophet is a threat.

It’s a brilliant book, I can see why so many rate it highly but it fell slightly short at the end for me. I did feel it was a little abrupt and left me with questions.

This was a gripping book, very difficult to put down. It wasn’t the post-apocalyptic adventure I was hoping for, more a series of beautifully written scenes. Although I can’t 100% say I liked the book, it’s really stuck with me. The writing was compelling and the plot strands came together to form a wonderful whole.

I absolutely adored Station Eleven and it's one of my favourite books. The flipping back and forth between the past and the present worked incredibly well and I felt like I knew all the characters. I also loved the way Shakespeare was so important as a ray of light in the post apocalyptic world.

The first thing to say about this book is that it’s very different to anything I’ve read before. Puzzling, but breath-taking in its approach, I have to admit that for a substantial part of the reading I was wondering quite how these characters/their stories linked.
The second thing to say is that this was a book that made me feel I was constantly reaching for something, only to have it tugged away at the last moment. It was elusive, but not in a frustrating way. Having just finished it I’m aware of feeling unsettled, as if I need to read it again to get a firmer grasp on its message.
Station Eleven is the title given to a comic book series that features at moments throughout the book. It’s a work of love by Miranda, a character within the story, that explores the idea of a hidden civilisation.
Very often when reviewing a book I focus on the general plot and give my reactions to it. Station Eleven felt, for a lot of the time, like a book with no story - more an exploration of the timeless ideas of what makes us who we are/what it means to be civilised. So, why does it feel like a book that’s so important?
There’s no simple answer.
The book opens with famous actor Arthur Leander dying on stage as he performs Lear. It’s a moment that foreshadows the events to come. For, at the same time as trainee paramedic Jeevan is trying to resuscitate Arthur, a deadly virus is spreading the world. Within hours of coming into contact with this virus, people come down with flu-like symptoms. Within hours they are dead.
Civilisation as we know it is coming to an end.
The timeline skips and, at times, I found this disconcerting. We flit between the time Arthur is dying and the immediate aftermath to twenty years after the end of the world. We also venture into the past to learn more about the five characters central to the story. They are connected in ways that seems most unlikely, but reinforces the sense of humanity.
My somewhat random thoughts here do, I think, reflect what a strange read this was. That’s a good thing, but not one that immediately feels comfortable.

Already reviewed and feedback sent. Not sure why these are duplicating. But please find review content at my archived blog www.behindonbooks.wordpress.com

- Thanks! Sorry this is a little haphazard.