station eleven. emily st. john mandel. (266)

i read about station eleven when it first came out but the title didn't attract me. however, when it started to show up on best of 2014 list, i decided to check it out.  i have to admit that i was pleasantly surprised how much i enjoyed it and it might end up in my top 10 books of 2015.

the title station eleven came from a comic book within the book that links three characters together though the last link isn't revealed until the end though there is enough foreshadowing to let you know it will happen.  i think the publisher should turn station eleven into an actual comic book.  it would have been a cool promotion for the book!  station eleven, the comic book centered around dr. eleven, who is on an artificial planet after aliens took over earth.  however, the people of the station are torn between returning to earth and continuing on as they are.  the comic book paralleled events in some of the character lives of the novel while also acting as a foil to the events that took place.

station eleven, the novel was set in a post-apocalyptic world.  though to call it the apocalypse frames it as a religious cleansing of the earth but only crazy characters, the prophet for example believed it.  a flu that was highly contagious and resulted in death within weeks, killed off most of earth's population.  due to the world as a whole fell.  it was interesting to read how the world would fall apart because we are currently the society that these individuals thought of as pre-apocalypse.  and from what i learned i probably would just kill myself like one of the characters, frank, did. i have no real survival skills, i can't hunt or cook, though i guess i could gather berries, but seriously i would take the easy road out.  

there are several characters that the reader follows, but they all center around one, an actor, arthur leader.  though the novel does center around his death.  the novel covered his life and his last show, king lear, where we were introduced to two other characters, jeevan, another main one kirsten.  it was through jeevan that we learned of the apocalypse.  kirsten, who became part of a traveling symphony after the collapse, was how we learned of the post-apocalyptic world.  she also possessed the comic books which were written by miranda, arthur's first wife.  i liked miranda, a odd art student turned comic book artist turned business exec. but my favorite character, was clark, arthur's best friend and who was a punk that shaved his head after the collapse to feel more like himself.  his flight to new york was redirected and he ended up at an airport.  that turned out to be a good situation and i hope to have luck like he did.  he also started a museum to persevere items from the past ie phones, credit card, etc.  he was a wise and caring person and as a result had the best situation after the collapse.

the novel jumps in sequences, presenting the reader with events and items then giving them the back story.  and maybe it's just the type of person that i am but i loved seeing how everyone was collected and how it all came together in the end.

my only critique was the death of the prophet.  it is scary to think how cult start and how willing people are to label themselves as chosen after a disaster instead of being glad that they survived.  the prophet thankfully ended up being shot by one of his whole followers but i would have liked to have seen a showdown at the airport and clark having to kill him.

i will have to say i also enjoyed how the arts became a means of helping the human spirit survive.  the traveling symphony that kirsten was a part of, went around and performed music and shakespeare plays.  the link between the black plague and the flu plague of the novel.  the arts are a healing and motivating tool and it was nice to see this novel highlight that characteristic.

i was truly surprised by how much i enjoyed this novel and regret not reading it last year.  i also have to share that carrie brownstein instagramed it the week before i got my copy from the library!  i love her so was excited to see i was reading the same thing as her!

the butter battle book. dr. seuss. (189)

i picked up the butter battle book in honor of dr. seuss' birthday.  i know, i know, his birthday was back in march, but i am barely getting around to blogging about this book.  what can i say i lagged.  but an accidental book fee (i thought i renewed it online but i hadn't) was the push i needed to finish this blog.

so prior to rereading this as an adult, i remembered the cartoon based on this book versus me reading the actual book. i am not sure where i saw it or how old was, but i do remember that i was really impressed how it was a children's story but also had this deeper meaning (i was unaware of what a metaphor was at the time.)

rereading it as an adult, i recognized the butter battle book as a metaphor for the arms race during the  cold war.  one does not need to dig deep to see that but for a child, it would be something that went over his/her head.  children probably see the lesson of the book as war or fighting being silly, which is correct read as well, and ultimately the message dr. seuss wanted to get across.

the battle of the butter battle book is between the zooks that butter their bread down and the yooks that butter their bread up.  in terms of the cold war, it is a great example of how capitalism and communism are two views that appear to be different but at the heart of the matter simply are a means of economic prosperity.  though i like to see the zook and yooks' buttering as a metaphor for religious ideologies.  at the end of the day, we all believe in god, or eat our bread and butter, we just use different ways of serving him or it.   

there is a wall (see:  berlin wall, iron curtain) that separates the zooks and the yooks.  there is a border patrol that guards both sides of the wall in an attempt to keep the enemy out.  to protect their walls and ideology on bread buttering, both sides build bigger and better weapons, (see:  cold war arms race) though they always ended up creating the same weapons. in the end, they both create a bomb to annihilate the enemy.  the book ends with the guard of the zooks and the guard yooks facing off, allowing the reader to reach their own conclusion about how the battle will end.  i imagine as a child, i was certain that they would not drop their bombs and make peace.  and though the cold war ended up being resolved, the skeptical adult me believes that they will both throw their bombs and end the world out of selfishness.  (i should add i am ready for the apocalypse, not so much because i have lost faith in humanity but because it would be kind of cool to life through the end of the world.)

the butter battle book is an excellent book not only for children but adults as well due to its anti-war message.  it demonstrates how silly (for lack of a better word) war is and how in the end we only end up harming ourselves.