Station Eleven

French language

Published Dec. 1, 2016 by Rivages.

ISBN:
9782743637552

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4 stars (5 reviews)

Station Eleven is a 2014 novel by Emily St. John Mandel, her fourth. It takes place in the Great Lakes region before and after a fictional swine flu pandemic, known as the "Georgia Flu", has devastated the world, killing most of the population. It won the Arthur C. Clarke Award in 2015.The novel was well received by critics, with praise emphasizing the understated nature of Mandel's writing. It appeared on several end-of-year best novel lists. By 2020 it had sold 1.5 million copies.

4 editions

Read almost in one go

4 stars

If not for food-, sleep- and toilet breaks I almost read this in one go. Harrowing and layered story that gives a surprising entanglement of characters.

Even days after finishing I still had ah-ha moments when I suddenly understood how and why some things happened and who was connected to whom.

Wish there was a sequel where you learn more about the characters. Some parts are eerily recognizable now we had a real pandemic.

Mind you; the book is not sci-fi! It is our world after a pandemic; no fancy, crazy tech is used or invented in the book.

Gripping Read

5 stars

This was recommended to me and I went in knowing very little about it.

I found it to be a really gripping novel; hard to put down. I was really excited to see how the characters lives intersected and how they handled the trauma of the devastating pandemic.

The book tells the story of the characters at various stages of their lives ranging from many years before the pandemic, to around 20 years after. This gives a really interesting perspective on the characters, and keeps the pace of the book fast and interesting.

Highly recommended!

avatar for daveb

rated it

3 stars