Station Eleven

by Emily St. John Mandel

First Edition, 333 pages

English language

Published Sept. 9, 2014 by Alfred A. Knopf.

ISBN:: 978-0-385-35330-4
OCLC Number:: 866615101
Goodreads:: 20170404

(239 reviews)

An audacious, darkly glittering novel set in the eerie days following civilization’s collapse, Station Eleven tells the spellbinding story of a nomadic group of actors roaming the scattered outposts of the Great Lakes region, risking everything for art and humanity.

It is fifteen years after a flu pandemic wiped out most of the world’s population. Kirsten is an actress with the Traveling Symphony, a small troupe moving over the gutted landscape, performing Shakespeare and music for scattered communities of survivors. But when they arrive in the outpost of St. Deborah by the Water, they encounter a violent prophet who digs graves for anyone who dares to leave. Spanning decades, moving back and forth in time, and vividly depicting life before and after the disaster brought everyone here, this suspenseful, elegiac novel is rife with beauty, telling a story about the relationships that sustain us.

113 editions

Sean Gursky reviewed Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

Review of 'Station Eleven' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

Survival might be insufficient...but on the other hand, so was Shakespeare

A quick acting flu wipes out 99% of the population, the world crumbles and the survivors need to learn how to live together or die alone. Your standard post apocalyptic story line but what I enjoyed about this was the focus on the musicians and actors, and how their lives were impacted by one person prior to the collapse. The story shifted from pre-outbreak, to Day Zero and beyond, which I found quite entertaining. This story doesn't bring anything new to the table but it does pose questions about survival, what defines our lives in a pre and post flu age and the resiliency of humans.

matt reviewed Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

Review of 'Station Eleven' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Picked up at Ella's suggestion, I really liked Station Eleven. Practical considerations about the lethality of the Georgia Flu aside, the characters were believable, and I like how St. John Mandel worked around and between the little linkage of characters. I also really enjoyed the prevalence of Shakespeare throughout, as I am wont to do.

There wasn't anything I didn't like about the book, but I felt it could have gone a little further. The Jeevan character felt underdeveloped, a bit of a loose thread, and the prophet character would have benefited from just a chapter more of development. Overall it was neatly tied together, but with just a frayed end or two.

4.5 / 5

Stephen reviewed Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

Review of 'Station Eleven' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

outstanding read. ideally enjoyed the story hard to put down.

Sandra reviewed Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

Review of 'Station Eleven' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

I liked it. Beauty and the apocalypse.

loppear reviewed Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

Review of 'Station Eleven' on Goodreads

4 stars

Excellent pre/post-apocalyptic tale, various threads are integrated and revealed neatly for closure and drama, with nice Shakespeare and Michigan motifs.

barbara fister reviewed Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

Review of 'Station Eleven' on 'LibraryThing'

No rating

A pandemic flu kills most of the human population worldwide and afterward a band of performers travels around the Great Lakes region performing Shakespeare and classical music. Fragments of the past and present experiences of characters in different parts of the world gradually click together. Fun and (considering nearly everyone is dead and civilization has retreated to bare survival mode and violent parochialism) encouraging.

outofrange reviewed Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

Review of 'Station Eleven' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Apocalypse stories are always intriguing to me, and this one has some imaginative details that really make it stand out, while remaining very believable.

chadkoh reviewed Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

Review of 'Station Eleven' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

4.5

A really enjoyable read. I am not into hardcore apocalypse porn, so I like how she glossed over a lot of terrible and potentially gory details. This isn't SciFi, it is a fictional account about people, the choices they make, and the consequences that they have to live with. It just happens to be set at the end of civilization.

unicorndeburgh reviewed Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

Review of 'Station Eleven' on 'Goodreads'

No rating

I read this in a couple days -- it's compelling. Interesting characters, interwoven stories.

kim karma reviewed Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

Review of 'Station Eleven' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Audiobook read by Kirsten Potter.

The story: Very engrossing and not your typical world ending pandemic story. I read a lot of this type and this is a winner.

The narration: Well done, no distractions.

John reviewed Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

Review of 'Station Eleven' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

This is a perfect little gem of a book. Post-apocalyptic in the tradition of The Stand but not nearly as dark, exciting like The Passage, but not so creepy. But most of all, well written and hugely engaging. I have a feeling it will stick with me for a long time.

Gossamerchild reviewed Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

Review of 'Station Eleven' on 'Storygraph'

5 stars

Favorite book of 2014. Blew me away. I'll say more when I've had time to process it. I will say this-this is the first book to haunt me this year. Read it!

Edit: This is going to sound really...naive, perhaps, but one of the parts I enjoyed the most about this book was the glimpse of hope at the end. I enjoy reading dystopic novels, and can usually handle the dreariness and hopelessness, but this made for a nice change. This is a difficult one for me to explain why I liked it so much. Perhaps because it takes place in the Great Lakes region and I'm fascinated with what it would be like to experience something like this in my home state?

2nd Edit: Reread in 2019 and it still holds up.