The Maple Old Fashioned
Plus, seven reasons why Station Eleven is absolutely worth reading
7 Reasons why Station Eleven is Absolutely Worth Reading
We’ve now crossed over into the heart of the holiday season. November’s selection is none other than Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel.
I tend to gravitate towards older books, but Mandel’s an author I stumbled onto earlier this year, and have thoroughly enjoyed.
Plus, this book is just wild.
Suffice it to say, it’s about a global pandemic that results in a societal collapse. I got thirty pages in and had to check the publishing date—2014.
Just plain eerie. But so, so good.
Here are seven reasons why it’s worth a read this November.
It’s a chance to read a great work by one who’s your own contemporary -
I’m all for reading great books that have “stood the test of time.” But have you ever wondered what would’ve it have been like to read Hemingway or Dickens during their actual careers? The only way to really approximate a guess is by reading great authors from your own time. Mandel is just that.
It has one of the best “stacked hooks” I’ve ever read -
Now, to be clear, a “stacked hook” is not a technical term. I just invented it myself. But here’s my point—if you read the first page, you’ll be hooked for the first few chapters. Once you get there, you’ll be hooked for the rest of the book.
It pairs artistic writing with solid pacing -
Now, hear me—I’m not saying this thing reads like a Dan Brown novel. It’s not that kind of pacing. The writing has an artistic and intellectual bent to it. But it does utilize tools like hooks and pacing. I find most books have one or the other, but not both. The only other work I can compare it to is Hemingway’s For Whom the Bell Tolls.
It’s a great opportunity to explore the relationship between text and screen. There is a fantastic tv adaptation of this novel—an HBO Max miniseries bearing the same title, Station Eleven.
Honestly, it was eerie watching it, because it’s set in Chicago—where I lived during the pandemic. One scene was even at an L stop I took daily for my commute. When I checked the recording schedule, I realized they recorded all of the Chicago scenes (which deal with the societal collapse due to the pandemic) in January of 2020… Just wild, in my opinion.
Anyways, I loved this show. The first episode is free on HBO Max. Check it out, and see if it hooks you.
It provides an opportunity to further process the pandemic -
There were certain aspects of the pandemic that were experienced differently if you lived in the midst of a larger city. Restrictions were often much more severe, and there was an air of tension that lasted much longer. You could say it left a greater mark.
This book is about a pandemic, but one far more severe than ours. The novel was cathartic in that regard. (I’ll add, the tv adaptation was too).
It’ll give you a chance to reflect on your life, and the fullness of it -
“Survival is insufficient.” This is a constant refrain throughout the book. Lifted from a Star Trek episode, it’s a belief they cling to after the collapse of society. Yet it begs the question, if a life oriented around survival is insufficient, then what makes up the difference?
survival = insufficient
survival + x = sufficient
The novel asks you to “solve for x” in the context of your own life.
It’s an opportunity for gratitude -
Now, I promise I won’t harp endlessly about the significance of gratitude for a person’s quality of life. BUT, the novel records characters, on the other side of societal collapse, longing and wishing to experience certain things again—seeing planes in flight, eating an orange, flipping on a switch and seeing light flood a room. Their wistful longing presents us with an opportunity to practice gratitude for that which surrounds now. In doing so, we only add the quality of our lives.
So, for all that, jump on in! And read something this November that stirs gratitude, fosters reflection, and will do your life good.
The Maple Old Fashioned
The question is, what do drink while reading Station Eleven?
My recommendation is the original cocktail itself, with a slight, sugary twist—the Maple Old Fashioned.
Not because the characters drink them in the story, but because many of the characters who remember life from before the collapse look back longingly on the things they wish they could see, smell, taste, and experience again.
The Old Fashioned has an old feel to it. For that reason, it’s the perfect drink for sipping and reflecting on all that you might miss, should you ever experience such a collapse yourself.
In the novel, they reminisce with unmet longing. You, however, have the opportunity to practice gratitude for all those things today, while they’re still within reach.
So, grab yourself the fixings! Mix yourself the world’s classic cocktail. And settle down into the warm glow of a great read in November.
Recipe for a Maple Old Fashioned
1 tsp. maple syrup
3 dashes of Angostura bitters (I actually used orange bitters)
2 oz. bourbon (Buffalo Trace is my personal favorite)
Optional Garnish - orange twist
Steps
Add maple syrup and bitters into a mixing glass, and stir.
Fill mixing glass with ice.
Add bourbon, and stir until chilled.
Strain into a rocks glass over one large cube.
Add an orange twist garnish.
Enjoy!
Very intrigued by this book and show. Crazy that it’s set here in Chicago in 2020! The cocktail pairing sounds perfect to me.