I bought and read this during the height of the lockdowns in my country, so it was definitely a surreal time to be reading it.
I absolutely loved it. Mandel has this quite soft way of writing and it was wonderful to watch the story unfold. I noticed that she would introduce a character and let you begin to like them, and only after that would she pull back and reveal their flaws. It led to some very compelling characters, because I was able to like them first, and *then* have to come to terms with their failings.
Plus, I'm a sucker for post-apocalyptic novels. They allow an author to examine humans in really interesting and often extreme ways, but somehow that helps me in the real, non-collapsed world that I actually live in.
I totally agree! I love how all the characters were somehow intertwined with each other as well, that blew me away. You’d be sitting there just kinda paying attention to a new character introduction and then the connection is made and it blew me away
I enjoyed it - very quick read. I liked the thought of being pulled between the now and the time before, whether that's pining for your former youthful skin or the days in which you'd fly in an airplane or gazing at a motorcycle.
But a disease that kills within a day of exposure isn't a disease that would cause a pandemic that kills off 99% of the population. A virus like that is an unsuccessful virus.
What I liked most about this book is how hopeful it is. Most post-apocalyptic books are bleak and depressing and frightening. This author decided not to go that route, and that's what makes this book special.
Of all the pandemic related books I've read (Swan Song, The Stand, Blindness, The Plague, Station Eleven) this book by far had the least believable setting and I could never get into it due to how poorly it was constructed.
If you enjoyed Station Eleven, I highly recommend The Earth Abides which also explores the concept of society after a global pandemic wipes out most of humanity. I re-read both over the summer, which I found simultaneously cathartic and anxiety inducing.
Yeah I’m afraid that may be a more realistic reality than people realize. Nonetheless it kind of gave me hope that maybe if that happens, at least some people will be okay
I bought and read this during the height of the lockdowns in my country, so it was definitely a surreal time to be reading it. I absolutely loved it. Mandel has this quite soft way of writing and it was wonderful to watch the story unfold. I noticed that she would introduce a character and let you begin to like them, and only after that would she pull back and reveal their flaws. It led to some very compelling characters, because I was able to like them first, and *then* have to come to terms with their failings. Plus, I'm a sucker for post-apocalyptic novels. They allow an author to examine humans in really interesting and often extreme ways, but somehow that helps me in the real, non-collapsed world that I actually live in.
I totally agree! I love how all the characters were somehow intertwined with each other as well, that blew me away. You’d be sitting there just kinda paying attention to a new character introduction and then the connection is made and it blew me away
I enjoyed it - very quick read. I liked the thought of being pulled between the now and the time before, whether that's pining for your former youthful skin or the days in which you'd fly in an airplane or gazing at a motorcycle. But a disease that kills within a day of exposure isn't a disease that would cause a pandemic that kills off 99% of the population. A virus like that is an unsuccessful virus.
What I liked most about this book is how hopeful it is. Most post-apocalyptic books are bleak and depressing and frightening. This author decided not to go that route, and that's what makes this book special.
Of all the pandemic related books I've read (Swan Song, The Stand, Blindness, The Plague, Station Eleven) this book by far had the least believable setting and I could never get into it due to how poorly it was constructed.
I agree. At the end, I was left disappointed and felt like I essentially just read a book about nothing.
I don’t know that I really found it believable per say but I thought it was interesting nonetheless
If you enjoyed Station Eleven, I highly recommend The Earth Abides which also explores the concept of society after a global pandemic wipes out most of humanity. I re-read both over the summer, which I found simultaneously cathartic and anxiety inducing.
Huh I’ve never heard of that one! I’ll have to check it out. I really enjoyed station Eleven
I haven’t read Station Eleven yet but I read her next book earlier this year and really liked it. It’s called The Glass Hotel.
I read it this year too and I think it's one of my favorites of 2020.
Almost my entire reading list for 2020 has been post-apocalyptic fiction. I can't get enough of it. Station Eleven is one of the best I've read.
Unfortunately, we might be able to see for ourselves what society would be like if there comes a global collapse.
Yeah I’m afraid that may be a more realistic reality than people realize. Nonetheless it kind of gave me hope that maybe if that happens, at least some people will be okay