May 2016: Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel

Hello Ladies!
This Thursday is our book club meeting to discuss 'Station Eleven'. If you could arrive anytime after 7:30 to begin our discussion at 8:00.

You are welcome to bring what you would like...
I will provide the beverages and some kind of snack. 

Our Discussion Questions:

1) Did you like the book why/why not?

2) Did the story seem realistic to you? Realistic enough to frighten you?  Why or why    aren't you afraid of the possibility of something like a virus wiping out most of humanity and the world reverting to the dark ages?

3) Does the novel have a main character?  Who would you consider it to be?

4) Who was your favourite character and why?  Who was your least favourite character? (not including the prophet)

5) Did you have any ideas about why the symphony members, and then the entire symphony itself, disappeared from the road?

6) Certain items turn up again and again, for instance the comic books and the paperweight-things Arthur gave away before he died, because he didn't want anymore possessions. Clark's Museum of Civilization turns what we think as mundane belongings into totems worthy of study. What is the point Mandel is making?

7) Some characters (like Clark) believe in preserving and teaching about the time before the flu. But in Kirsten's interview with Francois Diallo, we learn that there are entire towns that prefer not to: "We went to a place once where the children didn't know the world had ever been different..." (Page 115). What are the benefits of remembering, and not remembering?

8) What do you think happened during the year Kirsten can't remember? 

9) What do you think the Travelling Symphony finds when they come to the place where Kirsten saw the electric lights through the telescope at the airport?  Do you think there could be a large communities or even countries that have either been untouched by the collapse or have begun to rebuild?

10) Arthur was never interested in Miranda's Dr. Eleven comics. Why do you think the author chose to name her novel after the comic?

11) What does the 'Star Trek' quote on the side of the symphony's van mean "Because survival is insufficient"?

12) Did you like the novel flashed back and forth between pre and post apocalypse?  What was your overall opinion of the style?

13) Would you recommend 'Station Eleven' to others?

Menu Suggestion -

The Travelling Symphony spends a lot of time around the campfire, so how about campfire snacks?  Anything that you might typically roast around the campfire (no freshly caught squirrel please!!)

Ideas:
chowhound campfire treats

campfire desserts

camp snacks (both sweet and spicy)