Madeline
I read Station Eleven in June of 2019. This is long before anyone could suspect a great killer flu would brake out and then a killer flu broke out. The story seemed implausible. Like, “that’s a good one.” Then it happened. The silver lining is that it was not as bad as the story says, but that does not mean it was not deadly. Now after this story came to life, it is available to watch as a television show.
Premise of Station Eleven
Kristin is a child actress in a Shakespeare play. Jeevan attends the play she is acting in. When, Arthur, the leading actor dies on stage, it is clear that something is not right. With no one to take care of her and her parents are not answering her calls, Jeevan walks her home to find no one there. Jeevan’s sister is a doctor and calls him to warn him of a deadly flu. He then stocks up on groceries, takes Kristin to his brother’s house, and they bar themselves up in the Chicago penthouse for months.
The rest of the story is how life is after the flu. Arthur’s ex wife and son survive the flu as does his best friend. They are living in an airport where they had quarantined during the outbreak. Kristin has joined a traveling Shakespeare play troupe, called the Symphony, where we have a new cast of characters.
The name of the series comes from a fictional graphic novel about outer space written by Arthur’s other ex wife. The story is about an astronaut named Doctor Eleven who find himself in space alone. The story is one that she did not share with anyone until days before the end. Arthur shared it with only his son and Kristin. No one else has it but it becomes an obsession of both of their’s.
Why Station Eleven is Not Reality
It does feel like we need to remind ourselves that this is a story of fiction. We no longer need to bar ourselves indoors without any interaction with others. A majority of the population has made it to the other side. There are now vaccines and booster vaccines. Humanity will not be subject to devastation.
Final Thoughts
Station Eleven was the first book I read of Emily St John Mandel, but it was not the last. Before Station Eleven the show was release, Mandel had another great book, The Glass Hotel. All three, the two books and the television series, were great works. I have heard that watching the show a second time shines a lot of light on small things that may have gone unnoticed the first time around. And for that, I may need to watch it a second time around.
