What's so great about Station Eleven? 

It's been years since I read this and I don't remember being tied to the characters as much to the world building and the mundane approach to often sensationalized material. That said, I just finished the miniseries on HBO and they gave so much life to Miranda Carroll that she is now one of my favorite characters in anything ever.

This was such a beautiful and candid review. I love it!

I studied this book for my senior year of high school and absolutely fell in love with it if I’m being honest. I think I can understand the difficulty with connecting to characters, but I would like to think that the characters are intended to be a backdrop for the idea of art that the book is so intensely dedicated to purveying. In a sense, the novel attempts to define civilization, and I think it does a fine job.

I didn’t even realise you didn’t have 100k+ subscribers on here until you mentioned it! Your videos deserve millions of views!

On top of the good reasons you’re mentioning, I also loved the subtle understated poetry of the writing style. It felt very humble yet sensitive. ☺️

I just finished reading the book for an upcoming book club discussion. Before I read the book I watched the HBOMax tv series, and when I read the book I was astonished at the way that the screenplay had adapted the novel, changing some of the plot lines. Whaattt!?!? I was surprised. That said, I must say that I loved both the book and the tv series, and would recommend to others who have read the book to view the tv series, too. Between the two media, i think I have a greater appreciation for the characters and the storyline that were created by Ms. St John Mandel. I know that our book group is in store for an excellent discussion. I give the book five stars, and the tv series, too.

I just finished this book and I agree with your assessment of it and I have a theory on why we find it curiously unsatisfying despite it being 1) such a page turner and 2) Really clever with the pacing. The first character we meet is Jeevan.Jeevan leaves the theater before anyone identifies him, which turns out to be a bit of a red herring. In fact his whole story line, does not interweave as tightly with the other characters leaving us with an empty taste in our mouths because he was our opening point of view. I think if the author had shifted the opening chapters to the Kirsten's point of view OR if Jeevan had met up with either of the other 2 main groups, the book would have been tighter. Put another way, if you followed Jeevan's story and only his story from start to finish, it's very anti-climatic, which is not expected based on the opening scenes...

Dont attack me but i found Station Eleven boring up until I reached the last 70 pages of the book. The writing is very good though and this book has potential to be expanded, there’s a subplot in it that intrigues me so much that when it was unfolding rapidly nearing this end, I just yearned for that explanation of “what happens next???”

I’ve struggled with this book, and now that the series is out, I was hoping it would clarify some things for me but unfortunately it hasn’t. Now I’m looking to RU-vid to find people who can explain it better, and you’ve been the best so far! The book and the series are both well done; however, just feel like the point has gone way over my head. Thank you for your honest review. :)

It is okay to feel the way you do about a book. Just because others rave over it doesn’t mean it will tick off all your boxes. I learned that a while back as much of what I read my friends don’t and vice versa. So enjoy the read and keep on feeling what you feel.

Just finished the book this afternoon and it was refreshing having a post-apocalyptic story that was very sparing with actually violence typical of this setting. Genuinely appreciated your insight about the theme of the survival of human endeavor as the focus of the novel. Great review. Thank you.

I absolutely agree with everything you said - and you said it in a much better way that I could possible ever formulate. The characters did feel distant and perhaps that's why, despite loving it while I was reading it, it isn't one of my favourite books, one of those books that you'd read over and over again. But the story and all the threads were constructed and interwoven in such a masterful way and it ended with that sense of hope and togetherness? Only for that, I wouldn't actually mind rereading it... funny thing, I read it a few months before covid and back then, who would have thought...

Lovely video with great analysis. I agree with you about the characters - I do feel she kept us at arm’s length with a lot of them, maybe because it feels so ensemble? Idk!

Hello Willow I grew up being a visual learner where at times its harder for me to put faces to the pages I read. I am wondering if you have ever seen the MAX adaption of Station Eleven cause I am considering watching before I read it and if so how close it resembles the book. PS If you havent read the My Brilliant Friend series they are just wonderful

Great review (as usual), even though I kinda disagree. I'm not saying Station Eleven is the best book ever written, but it's in the top one. Or maybe not, as The Glass Hotel may actually be better.

I found this video on Station 11 :) I sort of agree with you. I somehow didn't know it was a hype when I read it, I just found it on a book exchange shelf while traveling. I really loved it actually, but I agree with you that I didn't feel like I connected to the characters. I love the world and the style, but the characters less so. Maybe you've seen the series since. If you haven't, please do. It feels like a very good editor has ran through the book and saw exactly that. They changed some things but more importantly added a more human element and connection between the characters. You end up truly caring for them, especially for Kirsten's and Jeevan's relationship which basically doesn't exist in the book other than a few minutes at the beginning. And it's filmed beautifully. It's so rare that TV/film adaptation adds to a book or even does a decent job. I've seen it several times which I never do with TV.

Pretty much agree with everything said. I'd give it 4 out of 5.

I have not yet read this book, but I completely understand that frustration. I felt similarly about Arcadia. The writing was smart, the narrative was tight (even a play on Shakespeare), but something was just off about it. And that frustrated me to no end. Thank you for such an insightful and fair analysis of Station Eleven. It's been on my list for some time and your review made me feel less guilty about not picking it up yet.

I had S11 on my bookshelf for years and finally buddyread it a couple of months ago, and we both loved it! Can understand why people reacted to your book stack this way😁😍

Thank you for saying it! I thought I was the only one scratching my head wondering why everyone thinks this is the next best novel of the century. It was ok but I think the hype was due to what we are going through with COVID-19. Sorry..not sorry? Love your channel my friend.

I agree with what you said the message of the book was about with its tag line survival is insufficient. I found the reflection of a traveling theater doing Shakespeare plays in the aftermath of a plague of their own interesting and how wild that they decide to make it an hbo series which will air to a society dealing with the aftermath of their own pandemic.

I read this book when it came out. Awesome book! I loved it and i really enjoyed reading it!

Thank you for encapsulating my feelings about this book better than I could. LOL... I really wanted to really love it, but ultimately it fell just a little short for me.

hey, can you please make "where to start reading kazuo Ishiguro" thanks :)

I would love to hear what you think of the tv show adaptation of it

Being from that very Georgia, this is going on my list.

One of the things that bother me about this book is [SPOILERS!!! ] how like ten years after the pandemic things are still not functioning in a bigger scale in any way. Like it's a big event that a city has electricity. I think it's unrealistic and it falls under the idea that humans would be helpless without things like government, police, etc. In real life it is regular people organized that makes things happen, often despite the government instead of because of it. It's an enjoyable reading tho, nice review :)

Station 11 is one of my most favorite books. I dunno if I’ll ever read anything like it again.

I haven't read Station Eleven in years; I originally read it around its initial release. I really want to think I'd love it just as much, but I won't ever read pandemic books the same way again. I have found something lacking in the three Mandel novels I have read, probably the most in The Glass Hotel. I was sadly letdown by it, and it makes me resist the temptation to return to Station Eleven.

I was kind of disappointed by this book. Everybody told me it was great then I had high expectations... I do think it is very well written but I was looking for a survival story I didn't really get.......

Sorry, but it has been only meh for me. 😂 Still enjoyed this review though. 😘 Not interested in the new Sally Rooney at all. Two have been more than enough for me...🙄

Happy Halloween.

Se parece a the leftovers.. es amazing

Are you gonna watch the series on hbo max?

Thanks for telling me enough honest details about this show that I can make the decision to NOT WATCH this show. It seems I'm not the target audience.

starts at 2:06 ish

Although the pacing is wonderful, dont be fooled. It is not an essy read. If you dont pay attention youll lose the meanings of the characters and their relationships. Im also surprised its storming where this person lives and he didnt meantion anything about that in the book

It sucks so bad, I mean so bad I downloaded the first 2 episodes for free then deleted them. That is how bad. Whoever wrote this is on shrooms.

Its bad i hated it

S11 is such a bad book