#68: Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

Source Material, Volume 4

Book - Published: 2014 | Pages: 352

TV Show - Released 2021 on HBO
Written by: Sarah McCarron, Patrick Somerville, Kim Steele
Starring: Mackenzie Davis, Himesh Patel, Matilda Lawler, Danielle Deadwyler, Gael Garcia Bernal

What a perfect example of an adaptation that takes the wonderfully written characters in the source material and expands them to create something new and beautiful. I don’t rave enough about the experience I had with Station Eleven partly because it feels a bit personal and special and mine. I’ll try to explain.

What’s it about?

Both book and show open at a performance of King Lear. Arthur, the lead actor, has a heart attack on stage, and an audience member named Jeevan (played brilliantly in the show by Himesh Patel) jumps up from his seat to try and help him. It is a strong introduction to Jeevan and I was immediately rooting for him.

Arthur doesn’t make it, but neither will 99% of humanity as that very night, a flu outbreak starts rapidly spreading across the world. The story jumps forward and backward in time to before and after the pandemic and entwines the lives of Jeevan, a young actress named Kirsten, Arthur, and Arthur’s best friend, ex-wives, and son.

The title Station Eleven comes from the name of a graphic novel that Miranda, Arthur’s first wife, creates. It is her passion project that brings her peace and contentment and has an impact on the other main characters.

The Book

This was a pleasure to read. I enjoyed spending time in the world with the characters. The story has depth and layers and I’m afraid I barely scratched the surface. The tension and release are really well done and unknowns unravel slowly and meticulously.

At one point Miranda confesses that she may never publish her graphic novel, explaining that “It’s the work itself that is important to me. Not whether I publish it or not.” In a similar manner, the young actress Kirsten, who was on stage when Arthur died, survived the pandemic and 20 years later is still doing what she loves by performing Shakespeare for small settlements of survivors as part of a traveling group of actors and musicians. The theme that it’s worthwhile to create art for creation’s sake resonated with me. Arthur, on the other hand, pursued and achieved fame as a movie star, yet died full of regrets.

The idea of why we make art and would we continue to do so after civilization collapses was a pleasant surprise.

The Show

The show reached emotional heights that few shows and movies ever have for me.* There were a handful of moments where dialogue, performance, emotion, score all came together to result in something truly transcendent. There are beautiful, beautiful moments in this show.

As much as I liked the book, the best parts of the show were due to a major change that elevated it and worked really well in TV format. If you haven’t seen the show and plan to watch it, skip the next section.

**Spoilers Below**

If I were to ever rewatch this I’d probably just watch the Kirsten/Jeevan/Frank storyline. It is touching and inspiring television.

In the book, Jeevan leaves the play after failing to save Arthur, wanders around a bit, then goes to his brother Frank’s apartment with several carts of groceries. In the show, he realizes Kirsten is alone and her family is dead from the flu, and somewhat reluctantly takes her with him to buy groceries and then to his brother’s apartment. The three characters stuck in the apartment together at the end of the world develop a bond that is explored and deepened throughout the episodes. Things are revealed early but you never get the full story until later. Why did they leave the apartment without Frank? How did they get separated? Will they ever be reunited? It gets its hooks in you and keeps you guessing and pressing play.

I never expected their reunion to hit me the way it did. All they had been through together and since their separation, the relief of finding each other alive, and the shared understanding that they helped each other survive was manifested in a perfect on-screen hug. Pure magic.

**End Spoilers**

Good stuff! Thanks for reading and let me know what you thought of Station Eleven.

Kyle

*Other examples that come to mind: Ted Lasso, Game of Thrones, Lord of the Rings, How to Train Your Dragon