Felt Like A Dream
4 out of 5 stars
MEM is a story for people who liked the movies The Island (with Scarlett Johannsen) and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. It tells the story of moments that have been taken from peoples lives. I don’t want to take away from the world building that is done but it really is a combination of those two movies.
The story felt a little like a dream. I think it was written this way on purpose. It took place in Montreal in the early 1900s and the things that are talked about just make it seem and feel dreamlike.
I’m not a big fan of “literary fiction” because it’s usually too flowy and full of unneeded descriptions and prose. But I did enjoy MEM. It is definitely different than the typical books I read but in a good way. It was a nice break and a world that I found fascinating.
Morrow was able to tell a story that made you feel for supposed “things” and I believe she was trying to channel some older Montreal history (that I don’t know). I think this was her first novel – which shocks me. It’s hard to write something so full of emotion and imagination on your first try but I think she nailed it.
A short book full of feeling – MEM will leave you thankful for every feeling that you get to remember.
Book Description:
MEM: A Novel by Bethany C. Morrow
Narrator: Soneela Nankani
Length: 5 hrs and 3 mins
Published by Blackstone Audio on May 22nd 2018
Genres: Dystopian, Science Fiction
Pages: 192
Format: Audiobook
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MEM is a rare novel, a small book carrying very big ideas, the kind of story that stays with you long after you've finished listening to it. Set in the glittering art deco world of a century ago, MEM makes one slight alteration to history: a scientist in Montreal discovers a method allowing people to have their memories extracted from their minds, whole and complete.
The Mems exist as mirror-images of their source-zombie-like creatures destined to experience that singular memory over and over, until they expire in the cavernous Vault where they are kept. And then there is Dolores Extract #1, the first Mem capable of creating her own memories. An ageless beauty shrouded in mystery, she is allowed to live on her own, and create her own existence, until one day she is summoned back to the Vault. What happens next is a gorgeously rendered, heart-breaking novel in the vein of Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go.
Debut novelist Bethany Morrow has created an allegory for our own time, exploring profound questions of ownership and how they relate to identity, memory, and history, all in the shadows of Montreal's now forgotten slave trade.
I received this book for free. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
okay I only heard about this recently, the world and the concept look so good
I had it on my list for audiobooks coming out in May – I ended up reading it in almost one sitting since it’s pretty short. It’s a dream-like world that is pretty interesting. I don’t normally like literary fiction but the world was fascinating to me.