Station 11 Pandemics

Words: 859
Pages: 4

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel is an award-winning novel that has many different critics. The novel is about the aftermath of a devastating pandemic that wipes out most of the human population and follows the lives of several interconnected characters as they navigate the new world. Although the overall rating of the book is relatively high, there are still some critics that would like to say otherwise. Some critics argue that the author's depiction of the pandemic lacks realism and emotional depth, undermining its potential impact, and the praise given is how interconnected the character and audience feel. While I do think there's some truth that the depiction of the pandemic could have been better, the overall novel is great at describing …show more content…
In the article, it states, “Where the book falters, I think, is in its imagination of disaster.the survivors do not think, act or speak like people struck by such a cataclysm” (Nunez). Most of the time, the pandemic isn't even a part of the novel and is more like background music. Hunger, thirst, and exhaustion are all alluded to throughout the novel, making it seem unrealistic and losing the spark it could have had when incorporating the pandemic. Another flaw in the article is the lack of emotions that were evoked. Sigrid Nunez, from the New York Times, says, “...I did not feel as if I was in the presence of that kind of suffering. The hairs never rose on the back of my neck; my eyes never filled with tears” (Nunez). Due to the ambiguity of the characters' suffering, it causes the value of the novel to diminish because of the connection lost between the audience and the novel. Besides the two flaws stated above, there were more compliments given than flaws stated. Another credible article reviewing Station Eleven praises the novel, along with the author. The article states, “Mandel displays the impressive skill of evoking both terror and empathy.”