Station Eleven

1. General Impressions

Gather initial thoughts and broad opinions about the book.

• How would you categorize this novel? Is this science fiction? Ecological fiction? Dystopian fiction? How does it compare to other books you’ve read set in a speculative future?
• Who were your favorite characters? 
• What was your favorite time frame to read about: pre-flu, the early days of the pandemic, or the society that is knitted together years later? Why?

2. Personal Reflection and Connection

Encourage readers to connect the book’s themes and characters with their personal experiences.

• This novel was published six years before the Covid-19 pandemic. What are the differences between the fictional responses to the flu pandemic and the world’s real reaction to Covid? Did the subject matter hit too close to home?
• There is a debate within the new society that forms about how and whether to preserve memories of the past. What are the best reasons to hold on to and pass down events that came before? How do we strike this balance in our own lives?
• The graphic novel at the heart of the book becomes a kind of talisman for Kirsten and Tyler/the prophet. Have you ever felt this kind of deep connection to a piece of art or literature? How did it affect you?
• In the novel, there are several groups of people working to create some kind of functioning system. Have you ever been part of an intentional or makeshift community-building group? How do the novel’s examples of this effort compare to your experiences?

3. Societal and Cultural Context

Examine the book’s relevance to societal issues, historical events, or cultural themes.

• Does the novel have a positive or negative view of people’s reliance on technology? 
• The Traveling Symphony is committed to the idea that “survival is insufficient”—that art is what makes us people. Does their focus on the plays of Shakespeare limit this idea? Is Shakespeare a universal enough of a playwright to encompass the whole human experience? 
• Miranda works in logistics, managing the flow of goods around the world via container ship; increasingly, the oversaturation of the world with cheaply produced goods has contributed to ecological devastation. How does the novel address the human-made climate crisis? What is the post-pandemic relationship between people and nature?

4. Literary Analysis

Dive into the book’s structure, characters, themes, and symbolism.

• What kind of descriptive language does Mandel use, and to what effect?
• Tyler and Kirsten are similarly-aged children at the start of the novel. How do their experiences mirror each other? Why do they become such different adults? 
• Several characters find doubles or foils in works of art: Arthur has an epiphany about his own life while playing King Lear; Miranda creates Dr. Eleven as a kind of alter-ego; Kirsten and Sayid reenact the end of their relationship as Titania and Oberon. Why does Mandel include these allusions to both fictional and real literary works? 
• Objects are incredibly important in the novel: some are seen a relics of an unrecoverable past, like the items in the museum; a paperweight passes through the hands of key characters. What significance do these new relationships with physical things have? 
• Does this novel offer a hopeful or pessimistic view of human nature? In what ways?

5. Creative Engagement

Encourage imaginative and creative connections to the book.

• Watch the miniseries adaptation of the novel, starring Mackenzie Davis and Himesh Patel. Its creators make several changes to the original, most notably in the resolution of the storyline of the prophet. Which version do you prefer and why?
• If the Traveling Symphony decided to abandon Shakespeare, what other playwright do you think they should take up? Or what genre of performance should they switch to? Why?
• How do you imagine the Dr. Eleven graphic novel looking? What is its art style? Consider what artists or graphic novelists would be ideal to make a version of this fictional work.

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