A fiction book about a pandemic, not long after a real pandemic? Go on, then. Written in 2014, Station 11 is about a pandemic that sweeps across the world, wiping out 98% of the population. It leapfrogs between the pre- and post-pandemic world and follows a range of characters who all intertwine, regardless of whether they survive the outbreak or not.
In short, this book is brilliant, and here's the book review.
Of course, like any book, there is a plot to follow. But to be honest, if Emily St. John Mandel had just written a book about the world’s transition from pre- to post-pandemic, I would have been fine with that.
Look, I will say that the main plotline was not entirely obvious (who was even the main character?), but I’m a sucker for apocalyptic stories (see The Road), and I was inevitably going to enjoy this regardless of the story.
I took a look at some of the reviews online, and the general negative vibes were that there was a weak plot or that it was confusing. Personally, I think this serves the world we would have to adapt to: disparate, siloed, archaic, unknowing. There was a point where I thought things could get a little bit supernatural (when the band suddenly disappears), but this was not the case. But that was okay.
I particularly liked the jump between both worlds (pre- and post-pandemic). Mandel could take us out of this hopeless world and back into a world where things were ‘normal.’ It also gave us a chance for character development and some origin stories, which led to some of the decisions made by these characters once the world had collapsed.
I felt that Mandel also cleverly nodded to some cultural pillars, like pop culture, heritage, and religion. She seamlessly weaved in the “values” we hold dear—for better or for worse—and showed that no matter how much the world changes, they will always be present. I liked this idea, and for the most part, I agreed with the things that might remain with us and those that might not. Take pop culture: the collection of artifacts from a famous movie star and a sought-after comic book series that acts almost as an alternative religion. Next, heritage: the museum one of the characters built and how everyone wanted to travel to see it, proving the importance of history and never forgetting the past. And finally, religion, and how, no matter what happens in the world, the idea of a deity remains.
I really liked this book, but let’s not get things twisted—it’s not a positive story with a magical ending where everyone rides off into the sunset. Most of the population dies, for a start, and it’s not like life gets easier for the survivors. That being said, if you want a multi-character, time-hopping novel that is pretty easy to read, I give it a big thumbs up.
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