A Hollywood actor on the wane dies of a heart attack on stage during a performance of King Lear in Toronto; that very night, patient zero of a devastating flu virus lands at the airport. How these events intersect, and reverberate for decades to come, is the crux of Emily St John Mandel's Station Eleven.
This is a tremendous read with toes dipped in both the pulp and literary pools. On the one hand, we have the life of the fading Hollywood actor, surrounded by a constellation of ex-wives, estranged kids, and fallen friendships; meanwhile, twenty-five years distant, the ragged survivors of the deadly flu criss-cross a devastated landscape bringing culture to small outposts with performances of Shakespeare and music. When this band of artists cross a sociopathic cult leader they have to rely on more than monologues, with tragic results.
It seems as if every year I find a book I would recommend to anyone who enjoys reading, and so far for 2015 it is Station Eleven. A very strong outing and recommended.
I checked this out from the Morrisson-Reeves Public Library in Richmond, Indiana and read it quickly.
This is a tremendous read with toes dipped in both the pulp and literary pools. On the one hand, we have the life of the fading Hollywood actor, surrounded by a constellation of ex-wives, estranged kids, and fallen friendships; meanwhile, twenty-five years distant, the ragged survivors of the deadly flu criss-cross a devastated landscape bringing culture to small outposts with performances of Shakespeare and music. When this band of artists cross a sociopathic cult leader they have to rely on more than monologues, with tragic results.
It seems as if every year I find a book I would recommend to anyone who enjoys reading, and so far for 2015 it is Station Eleven. A very strong outing and recommended.
I checked this out from the Morrisson-Reeves Public Library in Richmond, Indiana and read it quickly.
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