WHAT I LEARNED FROM STATION 11 BY EMILY ST. JOHN MANDEL

Emily St. John Mandel imagined a world destroyed by a terrible flu, with few people remaining on Earth. The collapse is so well put into scenery that you will not think the same about the world after you have read it.

You will enjoy everything that civilization brings, yet at the same time, you will feel that, no matter how good or bad the world would be or the situation in the world would be, there are still things that perpetuate, that never actually die, no matter what apocalypse would come. The infinity of people’s hopes for the better, the fears, the lives, the stereotypes of people who lead or want to lead and enslave others through their dogmas.

And still, in all that, there is beauty. The life, the light, you, me, every single one of us.

Here are some of my favourite things read or put into a different perspective throughout the book:

THE BRIGHT SIDE OF THE PLANET MOVES TOWARDS DARKNESS

AND THE CITIES ARE FALLING ASLEEP, EACH IN ITS HOUR,

AND FOR ME, NOW AS THEN, IT IS TOO MUCH.

THERE IS TOO MUCH WORLD.

-Czeslaw Milosz

SO, THIS IS HOW IT ENDS, SHE THOUGHT, WHEN THE CALL WAS OVER, AND SHE WAS SOOTHED BY THE BANALITY OF IT. YOU GET A PHONE CALL IN A FOREIGN COUNTRY, AND JUST LIKE THAT THE MAN WITH WHOM YOU ONCE THOUGHT YOU’D GROW OLD HAS DEPARTED FROM THIS EARTH.

PEOPLE WANT WAS THE BEST ABOUT THE WORLD.

I STOOD LOOKING OVER MY DAMAGED HOME AND TRIED TO FORGET THE SWEETNESS OF LIFE ON EARTH.

THE BEST ADVICE HER MOTHER EVER GAVE HER: WALK IN LIKE YOU OWN THE PLACE.

HELL IS THE ABSENCE OF PEOPLE YOU LONG FOR.

ON SILENT AFTERNOONS IN HIS BROTHER’S APARTMENT, JEEVAN FOUND HIMSELF THINKING ABOUT HOW HUMAN THE CITY IS, HOW HUMAN EVERYTHING IS. WE BEMOANED THE IMPERSONALITY OF THE MODERN WORLD, BUT THAT WAS A LIE, IT SEEMED TO HIM; IT HAD NEVER BEEN IMPERSONAL AT ALL. THERE HAD ALWAYS BEEN A MASSIVE DELICATE INFRASTRUCTURE OF PEOPLE, ALL OF THEM WORKING UNNOTICED AROUND US, AND WHEN PEOPLE STOP GOING TO WORK, THE ENTIRE OPERATION GRINDS TO A HALT. NO ONE DELIVERS FUEL TO THE GAS STATIONS OR THE AIRPORTS. CARS ARE STRANDED. AIRPLANES CANNOT FLY. TRUCKS REMAIN AT THEIR POINTS OF ORIGIN. FOOD NEVER REACHES THE CITIES; GROCERY STORES CLOSE. BUSINESSES ARE LOCKED AND THEN LOOTED. NO ONE COMES TO WORK AT THE POWER PLANTS OR THE SUBSTATIONS, NO ONE REMOVES FALLEN TREES FROM ELECTRICAL LINES.

I HAVE BEEN THINKING ABOUT IMMORTALITY LATELY. WHAT IT MEANS TO BE REMEMBERED, WHAT I WANT TO BE REMEMBERED FOR, CERTAIN QUESTIONS CONCERNING MEMORY AND FAME. I LOVE WATCHING OLD MOVIES. I WATCH THE FACES OF LONG-DEAD ACTORS ON THE SCREEN, AND I THINK ABOUT HOW THEY’LL NEVER TRULY DIE. I KNOW THAT’S A CLICHE, BUT IT HAPPENS TO BE TRUE. NOT JUST THE FAMOUS ONES WHO EVERYONE KNOWS, THE CLARK GABLES, THE AVA GARDENS, BUT THE BIT PLAYERS, THE MAID CARRYING THE TRAY, THE BUTLER, THE COWBOYS IN THE BAR, THE THIRD GIRL FROM THE LEFT IN THE NIGHT CLUB. THEY’RE ALL IMMORTAL TO ME. FIRST WE ONLY WANT TO BE SEEN, BUT ONCE WE’RE SEEN, THAT’S NOT ENOUGH ANYMORE. AFTER THAT, WE WANT TO BE REMEMBERED.

DOESN’T IT SEEM TO YOU THAT THE PEOPLE WHO HAVE THE HARDEST TIME IN THIS – IN THIS CURRENT ERA, WHATEVER YOU MAY WANT TO CALL IT, DOESN’T IT SEEM LIKE THE PEOPLE WHO STRUGGLE THE MOST WITH IT ARE THE PEOPLE WHO REMEMBER THE OLD WORLD CLEARLY ?

HE HAD A WAY OF MOVING SO QUIETLY THAT HE SEEMED TO MATERIALIZE OUT OF NOWHERE.

Station 11 will take you to a personal exploration of how you would feel if there were no more TV’s, no more internet, no more electricity or hot water. And it brings you back to reality, which we should all appreciate more and be grateful for each day. As we have the privilege of all that civilization is now. We are free.

Just step out of your mind into the world…