Station Eleven - A Novel - by Emily Saint John Mandel - 2014 - 336 Pages

 

Station Eleven- A Novel by Emily Saint John Mandel- 2014 - 336 pages 

Written before the current Covid 19 world wide pandemic began, Station 11 is an account of what happen when the Georgia Flu (it originally came from Georgia in Eastern Europe) ends up killing 99 percent of the population of the Earth in a just a few months.

For those seeking a plot summary, Wikipedia has a decent one, so I will just post a few observations on Station Eleven.

As I read this book I did at times feel maybe a book about a horrible World Wide Pandemic was not the best choice for me but as I read on I did find the descriptions of the impact of the Georgia Flu, dating from what became known as “Day O” interesting.  The primary story line takes place in Year 20 in The Great Lakes region of what was once the USA and Canada, all national Borders are gone.  Older people remember the internet, TV, air conditioning, cars that still run, and much more.  Younger people have no real pre-Year O memories.  There is a second story line, tied in with the primary, set in the old days, centering on a movie Star and his romances.

We follow a traveling symphony company that also puts on Shakespeare as they tranverse through very dangerous roads.  Everyone is armed, they savange what they can from abandoned houses and stores.  They hunt deer and rabbits.

I enjoyed Station Eleven.  It was sort of fun to read the descriptions of the World  after Year 0, though i found the secondary plot less interesting.

“Short bio:

Emily St. John Mandel is the author of six novels, including Sea of Tranquility, The Glass Hotel, and Station Eleven. She lives in New York City”. From https://www.emilymandel.com