November Reading Recap

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel (4.5 Stars out of 5)

My November Reading Recap is for the book Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel.  I don't like to read the description on backs of books because I always feel like they give something away.  So I usually read the first few paragraphs & yes, I judge books by their covers.  I thought the tents on the cover looked like a camping book & the first few paragraphs drew me in, so I bought it!

Well, Station Eleven was not AT ALL about camping and was completely unlike the type of book I normally read. But with that said, I really liked it!

Have you ever thought about what you would do in the event of an apocalypse or end of the world?  The base of the story is a catastrophic flu has hit the earth and there are few survivors.  We start in the modern day world & a well-known actor has a heart attack on stage during the Shakespeare play King Lear.  This also happens to be the evening the flu pandemic hits the city.  The story goes back & forth between the stories of multiple individuals present on that pivotal night, to what life has turned to 15-20 years following.  A traveling symphony, a prophet and a comic-book about Dr. Eleven are all seamlessly woven into the story.

My favorite part of the book was the resilience of people when the modern conveniences of cell phones, automobiles, and electricity were gone.  It reminds us, that the world we currently live in is very fragile and makes you look inside & wonder what you would do.  The interconnection between the characters is believable and at times gives you an "ah ha!" moment. If you are looking for something a little different, that will grip you until the end - Station Eleven is a great choice!