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Station Eleven

66 replies

HomeMeasurements · 09/03/2016 05:12

Oh my god this might be the best book I've ever read. Has anyone else read it?

OP posts:
CoteDAzur · 14/03/2016 21:34

"If the current human population were reduced by 98% there's basically nothing to fight over."

Human population was a fraction of its current level several thousand years ago and there was a lot of fighting between tribes, not to mention inter-tribal violence from the strong towards the weak.

"Loads of land, food and water for everyone."

Finding enough food to keep going took up most of everyone's time. If one group of people had easy access to clean water, a stronger group came and pushed them away. Strong preyed on the weak. People were enslaved. It wasn't all pastoral heaven, as people taste the abundant fruits of Eden.

"That said, I wouldnt describe SE as Sci Fi. I'd describe it as post-apocalyptic accessible literary."

Post-apocalyptic is a sub-genre of SF. It is "accessible", for sure, but that is because it is not terribly clever. It's chick-litty SF.

Nothing wrong with enjoying a light read, but it really shouldn't be the best SF anyone has ever read. There really are many excellent books that explore a post-apocalyptic world.

marfisa · 14/03/2016 22:13

Just because an award is named after Arthur C. Clarke doesn't mean it is an award for the sci-fi novel of the year that best imitates Clarke! SF has moved on a far bit with its depictions of race and gender since Clarke's time (to mention just one kind of development).

Ime people who say they loved "soft" SF like Station 11 and Never Let Me Go don't normally read SF and think these are brilliant books because they haven't read any other books that deal with the themes of global catastrophe or clones.

Um, if you know anything about some of the judges on last year's panel, they've spent decades reading SF. Their taste just differs from yours, cote!

Post-apocalyptic is a sub-genre of SF. It is "accessible", for sure, but that is because it is not terribly clever. It's chick-litty SF.

This patronising dismissal of an entire genre makes me Grin, it's so over the top.

I don't have a problem with people not liking Station Eleven. It's the dogmatic, reductionist claims about what 'good' SF should and shouldn't be that I find absurd.

CoteDAzur · 14/03/2016 22:35

Of course the award isn't meant for whoever best imitates Arthur C Clarke. What a silly thing to say. I made a personal observation that Arthur C Clarke himself would be disappointed, that is all.

If you look at the list of its shortlists & winners, you will see that last year's list is quite different than any of the previous years'.

Anyway, I'm repeating myself now. Happy to move on.

Igneococcus · 15/03/2016 06:41

I don't really think of if as SF and I don't think the author meant it as a discussion of the scientific and technological issues of a post-apocalytptic world. For me it is a look at how people are trying to keep their humanity and what is important to them beyond their immediate physical needs, e.g. literature and music in a world that has completely changed.

CoteDAzur · 15/03/2016 07:10

It is sci-fi, though Confused Just not one that makes much sense.

It's like someone says "This is not a great biography because..." and people reply "I don't think of it as a biography". How, when the book is the non-fiction story of a famous person's life?

Igneococcus · 15/03/2016 07:24

I don't read it as SF and this is entirely my prerogative. You can see that differently, that's yours.

TheCountessofFitzdotterel · 15/03/2016 07:50

It doesn't matter whether it's scifi or not, if it's a study of how people behave in a world that has changed then the changes have to make sense.

CoteDAzur · 15/03/2016 09:51

"I don't read it as SF and this is entirely my prerogative"

As I said, "This book is non-fiction, it is about the life of that famous person but I don't read it as a biography, and that's entirely my prerogative" Smile

CoteDAzur · 15/03/2016 09:52

"if it's a study of how people behave in a world that has changed then the changes have to make sense"

Exactly.

RedRosie · 18/03/2016 21:39

I loved it for the quality of the writing, the ebb and flow of the stories, the atmospheres. For me that transcends the genre or what people think makes for true SciFi.

And the image that stayed with me the most... was the quarantined plane at Severn City Airport that landed far from the terminal, and that no-one ever left.

HumphreyCobblers · 18/03/2016 21:46

I really liked this book! I am surprised it is a marmite book, I thought it was a great read. Wasn't bothered at all by how implausible it was. I liked the linking of all the characters. I didn't really think of it as SF though. It is a story. I wouldn't have thought toput it in for a science fiction prize. I mean, Ray Bradbury wrote about space a lot, but it isn't really science fiction, is it?

And I have read everything Arthur C Clarke ever wrote too. And Isaac Asimov. And Clifford D Simak etc etc.

ladydepp · 20/03/2016 00:03

Homemeasurements - I loved it too, one of my favourite books from last year. I have one of her other books on my kindle waiting to be read, Last Night in Montreal., sounds good too.

CoteDAzur · 20/03/2016 07:45

"Ray Bradbury wrote about space a lot, but it isn't really science fiction, is it?"

Of course it is. What do you think SF is?

HumphreyCobblers · 20/03/2016 08:23

Ha, I knew I would be pulled up on that. I was just rambling really, I meant that it isn't about science, just about the future. Like Station 11.

HumphreyCobblers · 20/03/2016 08:24

I suppose my argument is that SF does not have to be scientifically accurate, as Ray Bradbury was not at all.

ScarlettDarling · 20/03/2016 08:59

op I loved Station Eleven too, thought it was a beautiful read.

I hate the snobbery that is sometimes shown on these threads. The first comment by cote ( have you ever read any other books sci fi?) was patronising and rude. The same goes for dismissing entire genres as "not terribly clever". This sounds so incredibly pompous. I don't read books to prove that I'm "terribly clever", I read because I love to read.

CoteDAzur · 20/03/2016 12:50

"Not terribly clever" was about Station 11, not about the entire genre of SF which happens to be one of my favourite genres, actually.

Anyone who likes reading SF can tell you that there are far better (and more clever) examples in the genre. Not just classics, either, but new books published every year.

You can enjoy whichever books you like, but if like OP, you say Station 11 might be the best book you have ever read, people will wonder how many others you have actually read. You are right, it would not be polite to say so in RL but we can be (and are) more honest on MN, which is part of what makes it so valuable.

If someone said to me in RL that Station 11 is the best SF ever, I would ask them how much SF they have read. Instead, people I know in RL who have enjoyed this book are invariably women who don't normally read SF. Which is fine. It is a bit strange that some then say it's not SF (as if they mean they can't possibly have liked a SF book) but I digress.

ScarlettDarling · 20/03/2016 12:56

Your earlier quote Cote didn't just refer to Station Eleven...

Post-apocalyptic is a sub-genre of SF. It is "accessible", for sure, but that is because it is not terribly clever. It's chick-litty SF

Sounds like you're dismissing all post apocalyptic SF books as "not terribly clever".

lorelei9 · 20/03/2016 12:59

wow, this is on my TBR and I didn't even know anyone classified it as sci fi.

I thought of it maybe as a dystopian book.

CoteDAzur · 20/03/2016 13:07

I'm sorry that you are having trouble understanding my posts Scarlett. Looking back I see that it could have been clearer, but if you read the post in its entirety, you can't help but see that "it" refers to Station 11 and not the entire genre in both my post and the one I have replied to. Especially the last sentence should make it clear that I am not dissing all post-apocalyptic books. See below:

CoteDAzur Mon 14-Mar-16 21:34:17

"That said, I wouldnt describe SE as Sci Fi. I'd describe it as post-apocalyptic accessible literary."

Post-apocalyptic is a sub-genre of SF. It is "accessible", for sure, but that is because it is not terribly clever. It's chick-litty SF.

Nothing wrong with enjoying a light read, but it really shouldn't be the best SF anyone has ever read. There really are many excellent books that explore a post-apocalyptic world.

CoteDAzur · 20/03/2016 13:09

lorelei - Dystopian is a sub-genre of sci-fi.

Station 11 is about a future catastrophe that has wiped out most of the world's population. Of course it is sci-fi.

What do people think sci-fi is? Space battles and 6-eyed Martians? Confused

deepdarkwood · 20/03/2016 13:12

I read it and thought it was OK - was surprised that it was loved by some in my book group. I think it was a bit too happy and easy-going compared to the sort of books I tend to enjoy in the genre. It made me want to go back and read Riddley Walker - which shares lots of themes around the role of art/religion, but does it in a way which (from my recall) is much deeper and richer. However that is a bloody tough book to get into unless you are prepared to mumble read aloud for the first 100 pages. As such, couldn't agree that post-apocalyptic lit is per se accessible, Cote!

lorelei9 · 20/03/2016 13:14

Cote, I have no idea about this sort of thing.

As for "what do I think sci fi is" - are you saying any theoretical scenario counts as sci fi?

if so that's news to me but I don't worry about this kind of thing, I just pick up what seems like it will work for me.

lorelei9 · 20/03/2016 13:15

just realised, I saw High Rise yesterday. Dystopia, yes. Sci fi? Now I'm confused. Maybe I don't know what sub-genre means...

CoteDAzur · 20/03/2016 13:25

Re High Rise - J G Ballard is one of my favourite writers and yes, he is notoriously difficult to categorise Smile He has said that he writes about "mindscapes" ("psychological landscapes", according to his definition).

He has written short stories about other planets and aliens etc which are clearly SF, but his short stories in Vermillion Sands for example talk about a deserted vacation spot in the desert where sculptures sing, people make art by reshaping clouds, and created poems float in the air and disturb neighbours. Vermillion Sands is a brilliant book and imho closer to fantasy as genre than anything else.

It's been a while since I read High Rise and can't say I remember every detail but I would say it's not SF or fantasy. Just regular fiction. Many of Ballard's later books are variations on that theme of seemingly normal (and often upper-class) neighbourhoods exploding in bizarre and unpredictable ways - e.g. Super Cannes, Kingdom Come, Running Wild, Millennium People.