You feel the tension as boxes are open and the emotions they elici For some who received a short string, it was a chance to talk about, and contemplate death with their loved ones, a chance to say their goodbyes. Other ‘short stringers’ decided to just end it all, whilst some even chose not to open their box, quite happy to get on with their lives without that knowledge, to be free to be themselves. Knowing you’ll die sooner rather than later tends to make a person live life differently. The Measure has an interesting high concept pitch... What if everyone could find out how long they had left to live? It does feel like this idea MUST have been done already (?) but if not credit to the author for a nice hook.

This Novelist Spun an Existential Question Into a Best Seller

This author so mimics our lives and our world that the book touches us in a way that others do not. It enjoins us to practice human emotions like empathy, joy, and happiness and eliminate those who try to place us in states of anxiety and fear. Next, if you do look, are you obligated to inform anyone, including loved ones? Let’s go further, what rights do the government have over your knowledge of your length of life. Can potential employers ask to see your sting to determine whether they want to hire you? Dating apps, need you provide your length of life information? Should you morally have children if you know you’ll be dead at age 40? She added, "I know it sounds like a book about death but really it’s a book about how we choose to live." These questions have been tailored to this book’s specific reading experience, but if you want more ideas, we also have an article with 101 generic book club questions.I like my reading and listening to be free of anything political. I avoid it completely and, I believe, I'm a much better person because of it. It's completely a 'Me' thing. I did take away a star because I feel strongly about a trigger that's so important to my mental well-being. Imagine waking up one day in a world where everyone age 22 and up has received a small wooden box, that inside, holds a string measuring the length of their life.

Nikki Erlick - Wikipedia Nikki Erlick - Wikipedia

Inevitably, some people deal with their new knowledge honorably, while others go off the deep end. Discrimination rears it’s ugly head. Relationships change. How do you manage life’s risks if you know your string status? In the world of The Measure, people receive their boxes upon turning 22. Do you think that’s too young to be facing such a choice? Or should the choice be offered to people even younger? Would you marry a short stringer? Date one? Have children? Do you open your box or would you rather not know? If you open your box do you tell your loved ones?In one of Amie’s early letters to Ben, she writes, “Since the strings arrived, so many of our conversations are about such big, heavy ideas, literally life and death. And I miss talking about the little things.” Today, every person around the world over the age of 22 awoke to find a box at their doorstep. Inside each box is a string. The length of that string represents your life span. ( no anxiety here!) This book literally blew my mind! It’s absolutely thought provoking, intriguing, mind numbing! My emotions are everywhere! I think I didn’t care about the mystery centered on boxes that include strings which predict the measure of a person! I cared more about the characters, their suffer, their adaptation to the new normal and their new life stories! I loved this rumination of how we would change if we could have that information. Would you open your box? Would it change your life? Would it change your opinion of others? That the beginning and the end may have been chosen for us, the string already spun, but the middle had always been left undetermined, to be woven and shaped by us.”

Nikki Erlick - NYT-Bestselling Author of The Measure

When the boxes arrive, many people believe they are a hoax. Would you have believed in the boxes’ supernatural powers immediately? Why or why not? brand new reads for our 7 day count down to Halloween! BooknBrunch #Besties @danish_mustardreads shares her latest book haul with the help of her furry friends! 🎃 If the box from The Measure arrived on your doorstep, would you open it? Is there perhaps a particular age or moment in your life when you would be most inclined to view your string? Except the characterization and dialogue are really not very good, flat and one dimensional. There are straw man caricatures and thinly developed conflicts. I never really liked any of the protagonists and honestly never even got to know them. First of all, if this sounds too grim for you after all we’ve been through in the last couple of years and the people of Ukraine are going through right now and that’s understandable. However, the book looks at the impact over several years and its ultimate message is actually very positive and hopeful as it forces an examination of your priorities and what is the most important thing to you in spite of the length of your life. In places it is very philosophical and it does make you reflect on yourself and your hopes and dreams. It’s extremely good at looking at the impact on the recipients and we get a whole range of reactions from scepticism to grief, from sadness and impotence to despair and joy.You wake-up to begin your day like any other, but today you find a mysterious box outside your door. Inside is either a short string or a long string that measures the remainder of years in your life. Would you open your box?

The Measure (A Read with Jenna Pick) by Nikki Erlick The Measure (A Read with Jenna Pick) by Nikki Erlick

What decisions and changes would you make in your life knowing (or not knowing) the length of your string. Remarkably, one day everyone aged 22 or over receives a small box on their doorstep. Inside the box is a string. What does this mean? Why do some people have shorter strings and others have longer strings? And where did the strings come from? Suddenly, everyone on earth is faced with the same choice: Do they wish to know how long they’ll live? And, if so, what will they do with that knowledge? With prejudice comes political strategy. Running for office? Show the length of your string or we won’t vote for you. Should those politicians run on platforms regarding society’s treatment of “short-stringers”? The sociopolitical issues are rampant.I loved the author’s perspective to the boxes’ traumatic reflections to people’s regular lives but I mostly enjoyed the powerful POVs !