Imagine that a global pandemic has wiped out most of civilization as we know it. Who struggles the most in this world to adapt to a new way of life? Those survivors who remember what life was like before the pandemic—or those who have not experienced the beauty of civilization through art and culture? What is worth saving when the world has lost so much? These ideas are explored in the lyrical and compelling Science Fiction novel, Station Eleven, by Emily St. John Mandel.
On a snowy winter’s night, an aging Hollywood movie star slumps over during a production of King Lear, and dies onstage. Hours later, the world is thrown into chaos as the realization of a catastrophic virus called the Georgia Flu spreads mercilessly across the globe, wiping out most of the world’s population.
Different from other post-apocalyptic novels, this book centers on the lives of the characters and follows the strange twists of fate that connect five people: the actor, the man who tried to save him, the actor’s first wife, his oldest friend, and a young actress who is part of a theater troupe known as The Traveling Symphony—a band of survivors that roam the wasteland of the United States performing Shakespeare in an effort to preserve art, culture, and kindness.
At times haunting and often moving, Station Eleven tells a story about the relationships and memories that sustain us, and the struggle to retain our humanity when the beauty of the world as we know it disappears.
Check out Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel and other book club favorites at the Sioux City Public Library.
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Support for Check It Out comes from Avery Brothers.
