“Survival is insufficient.” 

 

After a rapidly spreading flu decimated the world’s population, the few remaining survivors set out on foot, eventually forming communities across the United States. Without electricity, the Internet, gas or simple pleasures from life “before,” our cast of characters reflect on their journeys to the present—their joys, regrets, and twists of fate. 

 

STATION ELEVEN is a beautiful story about humanity persevering after life as we know it ends. Through present-day events and flashbacks both before the pandemic and the 20 years following, Mandel explores the ways people learn to survive—and more than that—find peace and joy after tragedy. 

 

There are several primary characters: Kirsten, a former child actor who we largely follow in the present day; Jeevan, a paramedic whose actions on the first night of the pandemic change his life forever; Clark, a consultant-turned-museum curator; and Arthur, a famous actor who links them all together in numerous ways. I found them all to have great depth and interest and loved piecing together how they mattered to one another. But the world, and to some extent, a set of comic books entitled Station Eleven, also serve as “characters” that influence the story from start to finish. 

 

I loved the way the story was told through flashbacks and flashforwards, jumping through time and geography to weave the characters’ journeys little by little. Even seemingly meaningless items like a glass paperweight have their own stories and demonstrate the multitude of ways we affect one another through the smallest of interactions. Other elements of the story, like the Traveling Symphony’s dedication to performing Shakespeare or the Museum of Civilization that honors pre-pandemic items exemplify the book’s theme of the pursuit of beauty and joy, beyond mere survival. 

 

It was particularly strange reading this novel after surviving our own pandemic and understanding this was written before. Although COVID-19 was not nearly as catastrophic as the fictional Georgian Flu, I drew parallels with the way we stripped back our existence during lockdown, forgot the corporate grind and poured ourselves into art and new skills and community. While the plot meanders in a slow fashion, STATION ELEVEN has so much heart and depth beyond “what happens.” It’s a beautiful reminder to appreciate what we have, find beauty in the simple things and let go of regrets before it’s too late.