"Station Eleven: A Novel" Emily St. John Mandell

“He found he was a man who repented almost everything, regrets crowding in around him like moths to a light. This was actually the main difference between twenty-one and fifty-one, he decided, the sheer volume of regret.” 

― Emily St. John Mandel, Station Eleven

This book has many elements that resonated with me.  It reminded me of various post-apocalyptic books.  In particular, "The Postman" in movie form, rather than the book by David Brin.  Like the Postman, the character, in this world after the plague the Traveling Symphony moves from outpost to outpost staging Shakespeare plays.  Unlike the Postman they are not trying to scam the inhabitants out of food and shelter in exchange for their performances, but like the renewed postal system that came from the Postman's visits, the art the Traveling Symphony shares with these communities breeds hope that better things are coming.

Similar to "The Postman" there is an armed cult moving around the countryside taking what is good in each town, especially the younger girls, and leaving devastation in its wake.  The religious aspect of the character in Mandell's book brings to mind the battle of good and evil in Stephen King's "The Stand."  Both books have the element of searching for a mythical city and a strange connection between the elements of good and evil.

Unlike either of those books, "Station Eleven" does not unfold linearly.  We move back and forth in time and between characters building the foundation for the relationships of the characters living in the post-plague era.  All are tied to aging actor named Arthur Leander, who doesn't survive the apocalypse, but who nonetheless plays a part in the eventual confrontation of the people he has touched in some way.

Almost a character itself is a series of comic books that would have become a graphic novel as a collection if they had been continued to be written.  The title of the book comes from the title of the comic books, that tell the story of a group of people traveling through space on an artificial moon, always looking for a way to get home and provide a parallel to the story of the post-plague era wanderers trying to find their way back to the civilization they once knew.

I was delighted with the characters in the traveling Shakespeare troupe and with Arthur and his changing entourage.  It is the character development that carries this book, and not post-apocalyptic action, which was stale and predictable.  There were some interesting questions raised such as what of our lives will endure and what will fade?  If technology were to die, is it important to tell our children the history of it when to them it is just science fiction?  And, of course, does something like a plague happen for a reason?

The best way to explain how the story was told is to say that is was unfolded - one mystery uncovered at a time.  But my need for closure was not satisfied as we were left not knowing the history of some of the prominent characters such as the Conductor.  In places it seems that pieces were cobbled together to fit.

In all, the book was a mixed bag of good and bag.  I don't see myself putting Mandell's other books on my with list unless I hear something that leads me to believe her other work is an improvement on this book.