Publisher’s
write-up:
‘In the near future, in Reykavik, in a world
like our own, society is divided about the controversial Empathy Test, which
measures an individual’s capacity for compassion and identifies anti-social
behaviour in citizens. Two thirds of the country, including public servants and
politicians, have undergone the test, and ‘marked’ themselves in an official
register, open to the public. One third remains ‘unmarked’ and more and more
private and public spaces are closing their doors to them. In two months’ time,
citizens face a national referendum, in which they will vote on whether the
test should be mandatory or not.
Amid the rising tension and via the voices of
four compelling characters—the sceptical teacher Vetur, the influential
psychologist Óli, the businesswoman Eyja, who fails the test, and the school
dropout Tristan, who is fighting for the right not to be tested—we are
confronted with urgent ethical dilemmas, prejudice, injustice, and private
trauma. The suspense intensifies as these four individuals try to navigate a
brave new world. The rules of the game have changed. What are the consequences?’
Cliquez ici pour lire mon avis de lecture en français
The Mark is a dystopian novel written by the
Icelandic writer Fríða Ísberg, published in 2021. The author explores a society
where people are ‘marked’ based on the results in an empathy test. Those who
choose to be unmarked have their consequences, such as discrimination and
denial of public services. This society is explored through the eyes of four
characters in different walks of life.
The book had an interesting idea and felt like
an Icelandic version of “The Big Brother is watching you”. The fact that it was
written in the present decade made it more relatable to me, given the
references used such as Covid-19 or having manipulative content generated
through AI is something that we all went through or are still living through.
There were also a lot of social commentary on the present-day made by these
four characters.
Having said that, this was a short novel and
the English translation that I read had around 230 pages; which meant that
there was not enough space for four main characters to be in the novel. It did
not even stop with just four characters, they had several other people involved
in their lives, which meant that at a point, I just felt a barrage of names
being dropped at me that I am left wondering who certain people were. The
reason why I did not mention any character names so far in my review was
because none of them were memorable, for me to be invested in them
individually.
Another issue is that while it is an
interesting idea, it is also one of the most explored ideas. Barring the
setting in Iceland and the present decade, there was nothing new from the
Orwellian settings of the previous century that I have read. There was a passing
mention of one of the characters knowing someone who had moved to Spain and did
not have to suffer through the consequences of being marked, and thus, in this
world – the author had established that the marking system was not universal.
Exploring how it was in other places and bringing up the broader debate on safety
versus personal liberty could have been a good value addition to this novel.
On the whole, this is a book that I do not
regret having read, but not something I would remember in months to come. There
are individual lines that I certainly highlighted in my book and would
definitely go back to revisit them from time to time, but I am unlikely to be
motivated to read the whole book. It is a simple read and could be enjoyable
for those who like this theme. On that note, I would award the novel a rating
of six on ten.
Rating –
6/10
Have a nice
day,
Anirudh
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