Nontrad Book Club: Station Eleven, by Emily St. John Mandel

[QofQuimica]

This is our March 2016 selection. I would characterize this book as apocalyptic fiction, though sans any zombies. It is slow to start but definitely got more interesting over time. There is not much emphasis placed on details of the pandemic that wipes out most of the world's population, but what little info is given about it strikes me as not being very believable. However, I thought the author did a quite good job of describing people's reactions to the situations they found themselves in; her descriptions of human nature did seem believable. The character of the Prophet is especially interesting, even though his identity was easy to guess long before it was revealed. I do wonder, however, what became of his mother.

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[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

I think you have to suspend your belief a bit with post-apocalyptic novels, as almost any means to dystopia is pretty far fetched (I leave Brave New World as the exception).

That said, I enjoyed the premise. I was really interested in the Symphony and what life must be like for them. I would have liked to see more of that just out of my own interest. I also enjoyed the stuff in the airport. I too wonder what became of his mother. Did she simply die? Did she notice him going off the rails and try to reign him in, only to have him leave her (or worse)?