Station Eleven

I did something I rarely do this month. I streamed the ten-episode television series before I read the book, Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel. I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to the characters at the end of the series so I returned to the book which I had rented a while ago but only read to Chapter 8 before it was due.

Sooo, this also rarely happens. I like the series better than the book mostly because I think it endeared the characters more to me. There were also some monumental changes made to the chronology and actual additions to the plot in the series that brought the story to life. 

I remember when I first read the book having a difficult time getting into it. I was especially confused by the ‘story within a story’ aspect, but also by the sheer number of characters and their interconnections. The visual presentation of the series did a nice job eliminating those obstacles for me. That said, I really like the author’s writing style and the themes woven into the story, and it was interesting to compare the two versions when I picked up the book for the second time.