The Measure by Nikki Erlick

Amy  

speculative fiction

How would the world react if every person received a mysterious box containing a length of string which indicated the longevity of their lives?

You have to accept an audacious, far-fetched, ridiculous premise at the very beginning of The Measure. It’s a huge ask, honestly. A box arrives for everyone all over the world on the same day? I mean, come on. I hadn’t heard of Nikki Erlick so she hadn’t done anything to earn my trust. Yet, she was asking the readers to just go with her. It’s a big gulp. You have to swallow it whole right at the start to enjoy the novel.

Okay, for book club, I decided to keep reading past the first chapter and take a leap of faith. And I’m so glad I did. We had SO MUCH to talk about at book club!

This novel takes a shocking, widespread experience and imagines human reactions to it. Erlick seemingly considers every angle in terms of how human nature would handle the arrival of the boxes and the fallout from their related discoveries. Of course, there are the nay-sayers and disbelievers. But how can they keep arguing when the materials of the box and string are not even known? How can they keep arguing when scientists have proven that the strings really do indicate the length of the owner’s life? Many analogies could be drawn between the extreme situation in the book and other surprising, shocking experiences in real life like the COVID-19 pandemic or a divisive US President who champions “otherizing” groups of people and fomenting hate. These experiences cause the world to stand up, take notice, reflect, and act.

This the second book I’ve read recently about people being faced with the idea of their own imminent death. This one, while having a much less believable premise, was so much better in terms of the crafting of the storyline and the depth of the situation. Having multiple viewpoints really worked to describe the issues facing the world in light of the boxes’ arrival from multiple perspectives and personalities. Erlick wrote about their different opinions, behaviors, and personal directives. She smartly started with only two character viewpoints and then slowly added more. She then proceeded to cover all sorts of issues like acceptance and grief, re-evaluation of life, privacy, discrimination of “short stringers”, politics/regulations/protests/the need to vote, how schools approached the subject of the strings, strained friendships and romantic relationships, art, culture, and religion. If you knew your life was going to end in the not-too-distant future, how would you change your lifestyle? Would you keep your job? Would you continue to live in the same place? Would you start new adventures? Or would you strike out against enemies, become hostile and jealous, and act out violently? Or, would you not look at your string and remain as ignorant about your lifespan as you were before the strings arrived?

It was my son, when I was telling him about the book’s premise, who caught the fact that Erlick likely chose strings as the box contents due to the fact that The Fates of Greek mythology would cut a thread to determine when someone would die. And then I realized that the box itself is analogous to Pandora’s Box as well. Once you open your box, you can’t put the knowledge about your lifespan back.

Erlick created an unbelievable situation so that she could create a novel around it. But she did an amazing job of thinking about that situation from every angle and plausibly, authentically touching on all the thoughts and issues that would have arisen from different perspectives if that situation did happen. The Measure is mostly about the choices you can make that are within your control and letting things go that are not within your control. It’s thought provoking and a good read overall.

The audiobook narrator, Julia Whelan, was absolutely incredible in this one! I’ve heard her narrate about a dozen audiobooks and she always does a terrific job but I usually have some minor complaint and withhold my highest grade of A+. But this is the second book in a row she’s narrated where she truly earned the A+. For The Measure, I’m giving her a special shout out for her fantastic old man voice!