Station Eleven

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

SPOILERS AHEAD

Station Eleven is a pandemic-based post-apocalypse told in alternating storylines that jump around in time from before and after the pandemic. Some of them are connected, others seem unrelated, but they all come together in the end to tell one complete story of how humanity not just survives the collapse of the world as we know it, but persists to build meaningful lives and community again. It's a story of loss and despair, and also about hope.

Arthur is a fascinating character, and one who truly ties the book together in more ways than one. His journey in life was ironic - he wanted to leave his small town because he was tired of everyone knowing who he was. The lack of anonymity was stifling. In Toronto, he became one of a million faces, and it was freeing, but eventually, his call to acting and fame put him back in the same boat, where he couldn't go anywhere without someone recognizing him, but on an even greater scale than in his youth. In some ways, he delighted in his fame, but by the end of his life, I think he realized that the fleeting nature of fame was lacking the true connection of family and friends.

Both Arthur and Jeevan, the EMT who tries to saves him, talk about wanting to make a difference in life. Even though Jeevan couldn't save Arthur, that moment on the stage with him made him feel his true calling - trying to physical heal and save people. He desired to become an essential person, and after the pandemic, he made himself useful - essential, - by training as a medic/doctor/healer in the new world. He married, started a family, and was finally and truly at peace. Arthur never achieved his peace, but that last day, he at least figured out what it was: giving away his money to people who need it, and spending every day with his son. Oh, how different his son's life would have been if he had been raised by his father instead of his mother.

I really loved Kirsten - she's not perfect, but a deeply caring person. The orchestra itself becomes a new family - from their interviews, many of their stories are the same - they wandered, until they found the orchestra; or they stayed, until the orchestra found them. The orchestra meant friends, family, and a safe space. They were trying to figure out a new way to live, and what is life if you can't adventure and create art? As was written on the first caravan: "Because survival is insufficient."

Kirsten and the Prophet's obsessions with Doctor Eleven were oddly parallel, but the appeal was evident. It was a fantasy world when they first read it, but over time, it soaked into their subconsciousness. Just as the refugees of Station Eleven were in a new world, and some just wanted to go back, everyone left on earth was basically stranded in a new world, where they COULDN'T go back. Doctor Eleven stands at the edge of the world and says, we need to make the best of the world we are living in because there are no other options. Looking to the past won't do us any good.

I loved the ending, when you could tell all the storylines were starting to converge at the airport. There is Clark, Arthur's longtime friend, who had been living at the airport since the pandemic, and was the one person who could tie everything together. And then there are Kirsten and the Orchestra who headed there to find their friends, followed by the Prophet and his men. During the final conflict, between Kirsten and the Prophet, it seems almost fitting that it was an unsuspected child who ended things for good.

The Prophet had developed a following partially based on fear, once they had accumulated so many guns, but for the most part, the people following him just wanted something to believe in. They wanted something to make SENSE again after their world was torn apart, and here was this man who seemed to have it all together. The Prophet seemed to know all the answers, and provided them reassurances that their life had purpose (they survived because they were good), as well as peace and safety, providing they followed his rules and let him do whatever he wanted. The boy who ended up killing the prophet was someone who didn't CHOOSE to follow him, he was just picked up by them/born into it, and he was never happy there. His conversation with Sayid, that their way was wrong, that there was better way of life, seemed to have a huge impact on him. I'm just sad that he chose to end everything, I'm sure out of guilt for all the things they'd done. As Kirsten mentions, killing someone changes you for good, but that doesn't mean you can't move on and have a good, fulfilling life.

Most of all, I love that this book ends with hope. Despite all the terrible things that have happened, the billions of people dead, the horrible things that happened on the road, there is literally light on the horizon, and Kirsten and the others are excited to see what the future holds in this new world. As am I. The world can be a dark place, but together, we can make a different and change the world into something better.

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