Books || Station Eleven

                       

'What the symphony was doing and what they were always doing was trying to cast a spell'

This is one of those books where I don't even know where to start. It was one I couldn't put down, but frequently had to, simply because I didn't want it to end. 

Station Eleven is a vividly rich and deeply moving novel spanning several decades and the lives of several individuals whose lives are entangled before, during and in the aftermath of a highly contagious epidemic that wipes out almost the entirety of the earths population. On day one the Georgia flu explodes over the earths surface and by week two only an estimated 1% of the population survive and those few who remain are left to figure out how to survive in this post apocalyptic world left void of all our modern luxuries such as electric and the Internet. In year twenty we are swept into the magical world of the travelling symphony who move through the U.S performing concerts and Shakespeare to the settlements that have grown in this still somewhat uncertain new world. Through their art they bring light and hope to the people they encounter on their never ending journey, however another force is threatening the people attempting to spread a very different message of survival. The book moves back and forth between the sparkling world which once existed and this new strange world that now exists twenty years on plotting the unexpected twists that connect six individuals: Arthur Leander a once famous actor who died on day one; Jeevan Chaudry who was warned of the epidemic just in time to save him; Miranda - Arthur's first wife; Clark - Arthur's oldest friend; Kirsten a young actress of the symphony and the mysterious figure of the Prophet in this beautiful novel that asks questions about art and fame. 

This isn't however your typical post apocalyptic novel, it is about the enduring power of the human race and most importantly how we use relationships to sustain us through anything as well as art and it's incredible power to make survival bearable in a desolate world. 'Survival is insufficient' for it is how we do it and those we have around us and how we pull together that make it possible. For me it was the incredible use of art that stood out to me, the way Shakespeare is weaved into the book showing us the way art perseveres through everything and can still bring hope and joy to people in a world with little else. The voyeuristic nature of celebrity culture that permeates through the story entrigued me as it remained in a world where celebrity doesn't necessarily exist any more, our voyeuristic nature and need to know more is something that will always survive. Curiosity about the world is another thing that always remains, I loved the museum of civilisation and the attempt to preserve the world that once was rather than the attempt to recreate it. It is a book of character, one without a typical beginning,middle and end as it flows beautifully throughout time and space, clever and extremely thought provoking. 

Cloee xoxo