Pretense reviewed Mem: a novel by Bethany C. Morrow
Review of 'Mem' on 'Goodreads'
2 stars
‘What kind of people are we if we can’t traverse the landscape of our own memories? What kind of people do they become who refuse?’
This is the fundamental concern of Mem, a novella that reminds me in part of a Black Mirror episode, but also one that is firmly rooted in the past—the early 20th century in Montréal, to be precise. The major conceit of the novel, which admittedly took me a lot of getting used to, is that a ‘new’ technology permits people to extract their memories—whether painful, joyous, or neutral—and that these extracted memories become ‘Mems’, which are inexplicably robot-like replicas of their human counterparts, frozen in the time of that memory. Our protagonist is ‘Dolores Extract No. 1’, a unique figure in that she has consciousness and reaction—in other words, she is more like a person than a Mem.The focus is mainly on the character …
‘What kind of people are we if we can’t traverse the landscape of our own memories? What kind of people do they become who refuse?’
This is the fundamental concern of Mem, a novella that reminds me in part of a Black Mirror episode, but also one that is firmly rooted in the past—the early 20th century in Montréal, to be precise. The major conceit of the novel, which admittedly took me a lot of getting used to, is that a ‘new’ technology permits people to extract their memories—whether painful, joyous, or neutral—and that these extracted memories become ‘Mems’, which are inexplicably robot-like replicas of their human counterparts, frozen in the time of that memory. Our protagonist is ‘Dolores Extract No. 1’, a unique figure in that she has consciousness and reaction—in other words, she is more like a person than a Mem.The focus is mainly on the character of Elsie, as she comes to name herself, and how she navigates her world after being recalled to the Vault. Previously allowed to live somewhat freely in society, mimicking all the trappings of human life, Elsie is forced to return to the sterile, laboratory environment where many Mems are housed—doomed to stay and repeat their specific memory loops until they ‘expire’. What precipitates this move is not nearly as important to the story as Elsie’s understanding of herself, and especially how the people she interacts with view her. After all, she is an anomaly—the only kind. Sort of a person, but lacking an identity of her own, Elsie msut be content to live a kind of shadow life.I enjoyed the explorations of the consequences of this technology and especially about how the ideas regarding Elsie’s personhood are developed through the course of the novella. However, I found that the framing and technology, though not the focus of the story, nevertheless felt underdeveloped. Half the time I was scratching my head, not fully understanding what was happening in the story—this may be a mix of the unexplained backstory to Mems, or the writing style. At times the writing style seemed forced, as if the writer meant to say something truly profound, but it just felt confusing and flat. I also would have liked to see more of the conflicting actors we are told about but never see make an appearance on the page; there isn’t a great sense of what the stakes really are until later in the novella.While not quite living up to my expectations, this novella was an interesting exploration into the complex human experience that is memory, while also touching on themes of trauma, identity, and agency. It is clever in some parts and could use some work in others, so it didn’t feel exactly like a Black Mirror episode, but if you enjoy the series and like historical or retro fiction, this novella may delight you. At the very least, it will certainly give you some food for thought.
