ARTS & CULTURE
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Stories of Resilience Recommendations from
Christina McGovern Mountain Brook High School English Teacher
Who in her right mind would begin a global pandemic by reading about a pandemic? When my book club chose Station 11 at that time, little did I know how much this book would have me pondering the big questions about life. In fact, the books I continued to read for the rest of the year have taught me about surviving odds. Ultimately, my pandemic journey led me to books with resilient characters, and I am the better for having known them.
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
How do you continue living when the very world has crumbled and human beings have almost entirely disappeared? Kirsten, a young traveling nomad, has just enough memory to remember life before the Georgia Flu devastated the world. Her memory of the past leads her to continue to fight for her life and eke out an existence with a small band of fellow nomads. As they travel, they perform Shakespearean plays, and other survivors are hungry for their performances. Kirsten’s journey is also an interior one where she pieces together all the broken fragments of pre-pandemic life.
The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes How do you find the will to stand up to all the familial and societal pressures and expectations? Alice Wright, a newly married English transplant, discovers how to find her own path, ironically in an isolated town in Kentucky during the Great Depression. Alice surprises everyone when she joins a group of women who ride on horseback to deliver books to families who are thirsty for information in a dark world, and her journey to break from her world of obligation leads her to find new friendships, new love, and most importantly, strength in herself. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
How do you find the will to survive when the darkest forces of humanity are ever present? The narrator of the book—Death—ironically poses this question as he watches humanity with a mingling of fascination and sadness. His focus is drawn to Liesel, a German girl, and Max, a Jewish man, as they cling to survival amidst the Holocaust in World War II Germany. Liesel and Max form a bond of friendship because of the unselfish actions of Liesel’s foster father, Hans. Their journey is a beautiful story of humanity.
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
How do you cope with disappointments in life and find meaning without a sense of purpose? Nora Seed, like many of us, wonders, “What if I had made different choices in life?” One night she enters the Midnight Library and meets a librarian who presents her with the opportunity to answer those “what if” questions. Haig takes readers on a mystical and philosophical journey with Nora as she explores various versions of her life and selfhood. Her journey reminds us that we can find meaning in our singular, beautiful, messy lives.
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
How do you remain resilient through cultural changes? Okonkwo, of the Igbo tribe in pre-colonial Nigeria, grows up to be a strong warrior and clan leader. But when white men come to Africa and bring their religion, the tribes of Africa are swept up in the cultural change in varying ways. By contrasting Okonkwo with other men and women of the tribe, Achebe forces us to examine our cultural practices and traditions. His portrait of survival leads us to question the values we cling to and the beliefs that give our lives meaning.
26 Fall 2021
