This post is chock full of spoilers for Station Eleven, read no further if you don't want them
I started reading Station Eleven originally after it was featured on a Planet Money podcast about fiction books that mention the economy, or something similar. The podcast focused on the part of the book where Miranda is talking about seeing cargo ships on the horizon and thinking about how important they were. So, I started reading the book thinking it was going to be about shipping.. nooo.
(As an aside, "Ninety Percent of Everything" by Rose George is an absolutely excellent book about shipping that should be read by everyone) (Or, ninety percent of everyone)
This book was such a mixed bag for me. Practically no shipping at all- disappointing. I kept thinking there was going to be a plotline where Miranda would get onto one of the cargo ships she's gazing at and ride out the pandemic, but no, Ms. St. John Mandel leaves her to just die on the beach in Malaysia alone. It seemed like an unnecessarily sad end for a generally sad storyline.
What is the point of Miranda? What are we supposed to take away from this character? Don't be an artist? Don't date abusive art students OR famous actors? This character feels vaguely autobiographical from the author, but other than being kind of sorry for her (and as a plot device to write the graphic novel), I didn't think she added much.
Arthur Leander was completely unsympathetic. He also feels very cliched- how many stories do we have that feature famous and successful man-children who are unhappy with their lives and success, and unkind to those who love them? I resent that this book uses him as a central focus device, kind of like how Bojack Horseman is the central character (and least sympathetic) in his titular show. That said, Bojack is 1000% more interesting and sympathetic than Arthur, who just seems shallow and selfish.
The passages with the post-apocalyptic Shakespeare troupe are brilliant. I really loved the book for them. Kirsten Raymonde is a great character, the rest of the troupe characters are sketched out nicely, and the way she writes the post-flu world is haunting and wonderful. I think Ms. St. John Mandel shines in writing about the troupe as a collective devoted to preserving art, and in building the suspense as they travel. Such a great tagline- "Survival is insufficient." Jeevan's storyline is also quite compelling. I read that he and Kirsten travel together in the TV series (which I haven't seen). That feels weird, but I would have liked it if they had met up again in the post-apocalyptic world. The fact that they don't, along with leaving poor Miranda to die alone, made the book feel weirdly incomplete to me.
In summary, I thought this was great book with some wonderful world-building, but it could have used a lot less Arthur and Miranda. Am I missing something? Would it help if I read King Lear?
by justaddwater1000