User Profile

I found out about Station Eleven through an NPR podcast. I had added the book to my reading list but didn't get around to reading it before my wife suggested we watch the show. We get four or five episodes into the show and I am confused on character motivations - characters in the show don't behave how real humans would. So I looked to the book to fill in the blanks.

I found that the book far out-shined the show when it came to quality. The show seems lost in trying to append a moral message and action sequences to the book's initial plot. It takes what it wants from the show, primarily character names and origins and overarching plot points like the Georgia Flu, then twists them into an alternative interpretation in an effort to distinguish itself from the book. In my opinion, instead of bastardizing the well-written story of the original novel, the show should have created it's own characters with their own motivations built in the same universe. The two mediums needed never cross paths, but instead are forced into comparison.

Focusing on the book, I found it uplifting and hopeful. After each reading session, I found myself looking at things in my life that I take for granted - especially technology and the internet - and I see them with fresh eyes and renewed appreciation. I am writing this message using a machine that translate kinetic energy on a keyboard into electricity and stores that electricity as a series of 1s and 0s somewhere on a server someone else hosts. The concept is astounding and its recreation would be nearly impossible if everyone responsible suddenly died. In my opinion, this is where the book excels. Pointing out the things in modern life that take astounding feats to produce and result in simple tasks - all this effort should be honored and appreciated more than we do now.