2 Book Lovers Reviews
The Marriage Act
By John Marrs
It’s funny how in every dystopian book the establishment believes that they have created a utopia. I love a good dystopian story, the closer to possible, the better.
Imagine if you will that your good old GOP or Tory party (let’s be honest, it would be them) decided that married couples are more productive, heathier, and the solutions to all that is wrong in Western Civilization. In order to “encourage” marriage, they hand out tax breaks, preferred mortgage rates, better housing and job prospects to married couples. Sounds great to any married couple, right?
I think it was Cesar Millan who said, “Nothing comes for free.” You know damn well it wouldn’t be good enough to be married, they would have to make sure you are “happily” married; so why not have an artificial intelligence monitor your every conversation. What’s the problem if you have nothing to hide? I’m sure that the AI would completely get all of the intricacies of a human couple’s conversations. The “you jerk” to a practical joke played; the “stop that!” to a little playful tickling. I’ll let you continue with other things that go on between a married couple that could “never” be misinterpreted by a robot. Your trustworthy member of Congress and Parliament would of course be exempt due to the sensitive nature of their jobs.
This was a brilliant idea from Marrs, something unimaginable, yet quite possible. I already think that my devices are listening to me, pushing me adds for Kleenex every time I sneeze; Uber Eats when I ask my wife what she wants for supper. He took this idea and really went sinister. He also made it tangible, the way it was presented, I could see this happening. The couples involved were going through some real-life issues that couples face. He made me feel like I was part of their lives.
On one hand, The Marriage Act was a captivating story with a great cast of characters. On the other hand, it was an eerie warning of what could go wrong if we sit back and blindly allow our governments to decide what is best for us. To make decisions regarding our relationships and bodies. In recent decades we have come far regarding rights for all people to make decisions about our bodies, and completely redefined what a healthy relationship is. It would be sad to see it all disappear because someone else thinks they know best.
*5 Stars