Normally when I love a book, the highest compliment I can pay is saying I want to live in the world the author created. Here, I have to say that’s the last thing I would do. I didn’t want to read this book. I mean, I wanted to read this book a lot (which is why I own it), but about halfway through I put it down and started reading something else. I didn’t want this book to end, and the faster I read it, the […]
Where has everybody gone?
Station Eleven made a lot of noise when it was published earlier this year. It was heaped in critical praise and when it began to be shortlisted for prestigious awards, even more noise was made about how Mandel had written a novel so brilliant it had defied the limitations of its genre. Such hyperbolic waffle tends to make me roll my eyes and end up disappointed (I’m looking at you, Donna Tartt), so I approached Station Eleven with caution. And as any regular reader will know, the caution […]
The most beautiful post-apocalyptic novel I’ve ever read.
Oh, wow. I think I have found my 2014 favorite for CBR. If you have not read Station Eleven, make it a priority. Even if you don’t like post-apocalyptic writing, you need to read it. It transcends the conventions of the genre and is a beautiful, uplifting, sad book. Arthur Leander is a famous actor doing a theatrical rendition of King Lear when he drops dead of a heart attack. EMT Javeen Chaudhary rushes on stage to save him and meets child actress Kirsten Raymonde. […]
A Tender Apocalypse
Station Eleven’s set up is typical for a post-apocalyptic story: worldwide epidemic (in this case, the Georgia Flu) wipes out nearly everyone (in this case, 99%) in a short amount of time (in this case, less than a week). Lucky survivors toughen up or die in the new world, quickly learning how to live without modern technology, grieving their lost loved ones–and lost comforts–and try to figure out what’s next for themselves and humanity. Babies are born, people band together, life is brutal and often short. Settlements […]
Survival is Insufficient
Sometimes, a book comes out with a lot of hype attached to it. The writer is supposedly the next “big thing” and there’s a huge buzz for months after the book’s release. Jonathan Franzen. The Dragon Tattoo books. The Hunger Games. Gone Girl. And these books (yeah, I hated The Corrections) don’t always live up to the hype for me. I’ve read tons and tons of rave reviews about Station Eleven over the past few weeks, and I was so worried that it would fall […]
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