The Measure: The Instant New York Times Bestseller

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It’s a step further from genetics where it is possible, There is a bit of everything here there is happiness and sadness, tragedy and sacrifice, it’s poignant and there’s a good message about prejudice and injustice. If a small wooden box arrives on your doorstep inscribed “the measure of your life lies within“ would you open it?

The Measure: A Read with Jenna Pick: Erlick, Nikki The Measure: A Read with Jenna Pick: Erlick, Nikki

In places it is very philosophical and it does make you reflect on yourself and your hopes and dreams. This is the scenario here as every adult over the age of 22 is confronted with small brown boxes inside, under a small piece of delicate fabric, is a length of string denoting your lifeline. Just six inches wide, and three inches deep-each contained a string which revealed the MEASURE of your life. It makes The Measurea heartfelt parable for our own unprecedented times but also its opposite: a lesson in what doesn’t change even when everything else does.I think that the themes the author touches on here have been explored in more depth and with more heart in contemporary fiction - no magical realism is needed to explain the theme of this book. Instead, the chapters are 2-4 pages long and jump from character to character so often that it’s impossible to engage deeply with anyone. This story starts out with every living adult 22 years old and over, receiving a wooden box with a string inside.

The Measure: The Instant New York Times Bestseller The Measure: The Instant New York Times Bestseller

That would have been alright if the scope of this book had been more narrow and really latched onto one or two people to explore, but I never got a deep sense of any of the characters. One can't help but reflect on whether they would open the box containing either a long or short future.

I loved the author’s perspective to the boxes’ traumatic reflections to people’s regular lives but I mostly enjoyed the powerful POVs ! As society comes together and pulls apart, The Measurecharts the dawn of this new world through an unforgettable cast of characters whose paths interweave with one another: best friends whose dreams are forever entwined, pen pals finding refuge in the unknown, a couple who thought they didn’t have to rush, a doctor who cannot save himself, and a politician whose box becomes the powder keg that changes everything. From that point on it just goes through various short string characters, or friends of short stringers all wondering when they were going to die. There are two amazing love stories in this book ( if you include Gertrude’s, it will be three) a big twist at the end made me cry so much!

Book Review: “The Measure” by Nikki Erlick - The New York Times

The novel follows several New Yorkers as they grapple with the lengths of their own strings and the larger social implications of this new knowledge. This book can be considered a good science fiction because of its unique plot line : people all around the world start finding boxes at their doors telling them how long they will live. Nikki Erlick has created an irresistible hook about a question that everyone asks but no-one ever wants to answer. In her debut novel, “The Measure”, she scrutinized, what if every person on the earth could obtain the information of when they will die.Each box is inscribed with the message, “The measure of your life lies within” (2), and inside lies a coil of string indicating the length of the recipient’s life.

The Measure by Nikki Erlick | Goodreads The Measure by Nikki Erlick | Goodreads

In today’s world, do you think the arrival of the strings would bring out the worst in people, or the best? The premise of this book was brilliant, everyone over the age of 22 receives a box with a string that presumable foretells how long before you die. Written by debut author Nikki Erlick and selected by the Today Show’s book club, Read with Jenna, The Measure confronts readers with a reality we prefer to tune out: all of our lives will end, some sooner than others. Short stringers and long stringers coming together to move forward and a new perspective about a life lived well as opposed to the number of years was the take away, but even parts of this were diminished by cheesy writing.

I did take away a star because I feel strongly about a trigger that's so important to my mental well-being. I loved the fact that it was written from so many points of view, each adding depth and perspective to the overall narrative which made it a rich and satisfying read.