What feelings did it leave you with? *spoilers*

Discuss the March 2017 Book of the Month, Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel.
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What feelings did it leave you with? *spoilers*

Post by Gravy »

Though I will do my best not to spoil anything, there is a chance for spoilers.

I had a strange feeling of hope when I finished this book, and I wondered if anyone else had the same thing, or perhaps other feelings about it?
So what feeling did it leave you with?
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Post by ashley_claire »

Definitely a feeling of hope. What I read into it was that one group of survivors were able to work together to get things up and running at least enough to have electricity. It gives hope that they will be able to get some modern inventions back online to make life easier.
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Post by Lulubelle »

An awareness that I have no survival skills and would be useless in such a situation.
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Post by Shelle »

Lulubelle wrote:An awareness that I have no survival skills and would be useless in such a situation.
I was thinking about that too. What skills and experiences do I have that would be helpful? How would I contribute? How could I be used in such a situation?

I also had a feeling of hope at the end. From the distant city with lights, to Javeen's contentment in his new life, it was all very hopeful.
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Post by Jennifer Allsbrook »

I was glad to see that at the end of the story some aspects of "civilization" were starting to resurface. Others have commented about survival skills or the lack there of. It is interesting to think how as modern society and technology has arisen, the skills that our forefathers depended on for their survival have ultimately been lost by many people of modern society. Whether it be growing food, making clothes, hunting and gathering, building shelters, making soap, preserving meat, etc - these abilities allowed the pioneers and early settlers to be able to survive. Many of us probably would not have made it. Doomsday preppers may have a point. I was also hopeful that things were going to get better. Overall, this was an intriguing read that made you think.
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Post by Scerakor »

Much of the book's premise was on technology and how everything as they know it has been lost. Yes, hope is a good way of putting it. Much post-apocalyptic literature has no issues with leaving the reader lost and depressed on the state of the world but this book, with respect to the ending, tries to show us that human beings as a race will persevere and try to re-build no matter what; they may even succeed!
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Post by CarrieMe »

Yes, I had that same hopeful feeling at the end. I really appreciated that about this book, because feeling hopeless the whole book is one reason I end up disliking a lot of post-apocalyptic novels.
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Post by Kitkat3 »

I felt some hope as well with the city that appeared to have electricity again and Jeevan's new life. It was hopeful in general that some people were just able to survive and there was still a lot of good left in the world. A common theme that I noticed was that the end was not the end. Death was "waking up from a dream" and the "end of the world" actually was not the end of the world.
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Post by Heidi M Simone »

Shelle wrote:
Lulubelle wrote:An awareness that I have no survival skills and would be useless in such a situation.
I was thinking about that too. What skills and experiences do I have that would be helpful? How would I contribute? How could I be used in such a situation?

I also had a feeling of hope at the end. From the distant city with lights, to Javeen's contentment in his new life, it was all very hopeful.
I agree on both accounts. Honestly, I don't know what skills I have that would be helpful in a situation like this. Who knows, perhaps natural instinct would take over.

A feeling a hope was also with me at the end.
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Post by jhollan2 »

The ending was definitely hopeful all around. I wanted more, which is always an indication for me that the book well and truly sucked me in.
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Post by The Researcher »

Yes, definitely hope was the feeling that was felt in the end of the book. I was reminded of the saying "Where there is hope, there is life". I also believe since human beings once achieved so much through research and development, they can do it again.
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Post by matildajay »

I agree, the last few pages left me with a feeling of hope. Really uplifting with the book finishing in a tangible and metaphorical sense of lights coming back on. At the same time I felt a little empty, I guess I was expecting more of a climactic finish regarding the cult. Although at the end of the day, I don't believe a more drastic finish was necessary and the feeling of hope was a well placed end.
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Post by Momlovesbooks »

I felt hopeful that society had a chance to survive. The ending actually left me wishing for more.
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Post by KAV »

Jennifer Allsbrook wrote:I was glad to see that at the end of the story some aspects of "civilization" were starting to resurface. Others have commented about survival skills or the lack there of. It is interesting to think how as modern society and technology has arisen, the skills that our forefathers depended on for their survival have ultimately been lost by many people of modern society. Whether it be growing food, making clothes, hunting and gathering, building shelters, making soap, preserving meat, etc - these abilities allowed the pioneers and early settlers to be able to survive. Many of us probably would not have made it. Doomsday preppers may have a point. I was also hopeful that things were going to get better. Overall, this was an intriguing read that made you think.
Like everyone else, I felt hopeful at the end of the book, even though most of the book was depressing. It really made me think about all the things that would be lost. Think about all the information on the Internet. Almost everything can be looked up to make sure we are doing it correctly.
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Post by Anjum »

I felt hopeful. I think the book gives us a message that hope never dies.
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