The Measure
by Nikki Erlick
Harper Collins
On an otherwise ordinary day, people all around the world woke up to find boxes inscribed with their names – millions of small brown boxes in every town, in every country. Inside each box was a piece of string which varied in length for each recipient, and written on the box was the cryptic message “The measure of your life lies within”.
Apart from being totally surreal, there was something both comforting and unsettling about the fact that every adult over the age of 22 years would now know how long they were going to live, if they opened the box to find out. Not that younger people were exempt from dying, they just wouldn’t know about it beforehand.
Following a handful of characters in New York, whose lives eventually intertwine, Nikki Erlick explores the impact the strings have as these people revaluate their lives and the deaths of people close to them in different ways.
For Nikki and her partner Maura, discovering that one of them had a long string and one had a short string cast a cloud on their plans for their future together. But Nikki’s sister Amie had decided not to open her box and live her life as if her string was somehow infinite.
Then those with short strings found that they were being discriminated against and were forced to fight for equality. People with short strings were being outed and, having to admit to having a short string, had echoes of gay people being pushed out of closets.
Support groups for those with short strings sprang up, and restaurants and shops closed with signs stating – “Gone to Live My Life”, “Off to Make Some Memories” and “Spending Time With Family”.
The Pope declared that the boxes were a gift from god and many people took the opportunity to quit their jobs, travel the world, stop dieting and take risks. People in North Korea had to hand over their unopened boxes to government officials while China mandated that people open their boxes and register their string length.
Would you like to know how long your life is going to be and would it change what you would do with your one wild and precious life? Would you live like your string is short anyway?
The Measure is an incredible moving parable that triggers reflections of life, death and the big picture. If there is one book you are going to read this year, make sure it is The Measure by Nikki Erlick.
Lezly Herbert
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