Emily St. John Mandel wrote in an article somewhere that perhaps Station Eleven is not her idea of recommended reading during a pandemic, but here I am anyway. Somehow we as social creatures are drawn to morbid and tragic media not only during the course of our mundane ordinary lives, but especially during times of distress and upheaval. It is comforting to me on one hand to read of such familiar situations and thought processes, and yet, on the other hand, to have gratitude that in many ways my world is better off than this fictional one.

Still, the characters' emotional struggles and turmoils are a sort of way for the reader to sublimate their own anxieties and stresses. Which is perhaps to say, hey, if these characters can find moments of joy and happiness in this absolute hellscape, perhaps I can too... and I've still got electricity and internet, and while that lasts, more books on my Kindle that I'll ever get around to reading. Zoom meetings, hangouts, and seminars to be attended. Humans sure are a resilient bunch.