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Station Eleven ...

41 replies

SurpriseSparDay · 17/03/2020 21:20

Any takers?

Was unsure whether to post under C. Virus given the subject matter - but it would only scare people more.

Bloody hell though, I can see why this book has been so lauded. And I’ve only read Pt I, and a snippet of Pt II (essentially, the free Amazon sample). It was a diversion from what I should be doing so I won’t read the rest till next week.

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NellVarnish · 31/03/2020 15:36

Have just re-read Station Eleven after reading it years ago and it’s one of my favourite books ever. Now onto the sequel to The End of the World Running Club by Adrian Walker, which I re-read last week.

Might have to change genre soon!

Panicmode1 · 27/03/2020 18:19

I read it in January. Was brilliant, and I'm glad not as prophetic as I feared when I first heard about Coronavirus!!

elliereads2020 · 27/03/2020 18:17

I have just finished this and absolutely loved it - beautiful writing and human relationships so cleverly observed. The "Hell is other people flutes" graffiti really made me laugh. It definitely made me appreciate having access to the internet in a pandemic!

Anyone interested, it's 99p on Kindle at the moment.

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SurpriseSparDay · 25/03/2020 03:02

That’s interesting. I can see why you feel that, but for me there could never be a better time to read it. It’s made me:

grateful that our own pandemic has not (apparently/yet) rushed upon us with quite such merciless speed.

stoical in relinquishing any vague hope of miraculous rescue.

much less cavalier and dismissive towards the tech I rely on.

Also I need a sequel where Jeevan and Kirsten are reunited!

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HappydaysArehere · 24/03/2020 21:12

I enjoyed the book but read it just before the dreaded virus broke out. I keep thinking of it now and would never recommend it for something to read in self isolation.

wrongsideofhistorymyarse · 24/03/2020 14:03

Surprise I had chills down my spine. It was good stuff.

WeBuiltCisCityOnSexistRoles · 24/03/2020 11:58

Agree The Road is just a bit too hard to re-read at the moment, although so beautifully written. I think if I didn't have DC I could do it, but as a parent it's too distressing now.

I love Station Eleven so much, it's one of the books I have on my kindle as well as the paperback.

Original poster
SurpriseSparDay · 24/03/2020 10:56

Oh - wrongsideofhistorymyarse - it’s lovely to think of it unfolding in someone elses’s head.

Did the early chapters make you shiver?

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tiramisualwaystiramisu · 24/03/2020 10:29

I read it a few years ago and I did enjoy it, although I thought the ending was a bit contrived and rushed. I then read another of her's - Last Night in Montreal - which I thought was even better.

The Girl with all the Gifts haunted me for weeks afterwards - I refuse to watch the film because I found the ending so upsetting

wrongsideofhistorymyarse · 24/03/2020 10:17

I've just finished it and thought it was brilliant.

ICouldHaveDancedAllNight · 24/03/2020 10:14

@ellanwood.
Thanks! I love a bit of Audrey.

I think you may be right there! I guess I read it a while ago and remember finding it very melancholy because of what the world had become and how on the brink we are to that happening again. But yes, there was definitely hope.

ellanwood · 24/03/2020 10:07

@ICouldHaveDancedAllNight (great username btw - love that song) I felt the opposite. Station Eleven is so full of hope and I adore the ending. Full of trust in the best of mankind.

ICouldHaveDancedAllNight · 23/03/2020 16:45

Yes. It's an amazing and beautifully written book, but reading it felt like the way I did after reading the synopsis of 'The Human Centipede'. In other words, it's kind of scars your memory.

Youngatheart00 · 23/03/2020 16:43

Ah right - might save that one for a better time then - still got plenty more on the ‘to read’ shelf

ICouldHaveDancedAllNight · 23/03/2020 16:40

@Youngatheart00 - I loved both those first books.
But... The Road is just too bleak right now. I read it on a summer vacation and just wanted it all to be over!

Youngatheart00 · 23/03/2020 15:06

Really good book - I read it last year and was gripped. Does take on a different twist reading it in these times though.

A similar one (perhaps less ‘gentle’ but great nonetheless) is “The Girl With All The Gifts” - M R Carey, and perhaps “Never Let Me Go” - Kazuo Ishiguro. I also have Cormac McCarthy’s The Road on my shelf, not yet read.

VivaLeBeaver · 23/03/2020 15:04

Also the Wool Trilogy of books. About a virus which decimates the planet and people go and shelter in bunkers. The story is set quite a few years after they first moved to the bunkers and they’ve set up proper underground lives.

VivaLeBeaver · 23/03/2020 15:03

I read it a few years ago and loved it, might have to reread!

ICouldHaveDancedAllNight · 23/03/2020 15:02

Another book a little like this is Age of Miracles. That is truly a hope-free book.
It's about an ordinary teen girls' life when the earth tilts 1 degree off its axis. Super depressing, possibly not recommended! Really enjoyed it though.

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SurpriseSparDay · 23/03/2020 07:38

I was horribly conscious of all the pointless hope at the start. So hard to shoulder the burden of knowing that no miracle is coming..

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Methyl · 23/03/2020 05:30

It is phenomenal.
What I remember from it is the sense of hope. I'm really trying to hang on to that right now.

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SurpriseSparDay · 22/03/2020 07:52

Finished reading it last night.

I’m in awe at the writer’s skill. It’s so gentle. And so devastating. Really amazing work.

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Campervan69 · 21/03/2020 21:56

Just reread it thus afternoon. Even better on a second reading as I can take my time and not so worried as I know what happens.

Original poster
SurpriseSparDay · 21/03/2020 11:21

I’ve just read the bit where she says none of the Symphony knew much about science - which was surprising given how many years they’d had pre-flu to find things out from the Internet.

Ouch ...

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ICouldHaveDancedAllNight · 21/03/2020 10:57

It's a great book.
I just love that something as random as a comic could be a major part of the plot. And that museum in the Airport is just so haunting.
It's making me now rethink how much bollocks there is in our lives and how different the world would be if the internet switched off tomorrow.