While I’d heard of many of John Marrs’ other books, I hadn’t yet read one. It was a recommendation from a bookshop that encouraged me to buy and read this one, and I’m really glad I did.
The story centres on the notion that out there in the world, somewhere, there is “The One” for each of us – not in the Romcom, Disney, Mills and Boon way so much – but someone who is genetically programmed to be our perfect match. The only problem is that you have to be willing to hand over your DNA and pay for the result and a little more for information on who The One is.
This is the premise underpinning the story, which not only follows a series of individuals and their experiences in finding (or failing to) their “perfect match”, but also the level of cynicism and doubt levelled at such an idea, especially by those already in relationships without having resorted to science to inform them if they’re with Mr or Ms Right.
But such an invention as “The One” is not without dire problems as an increasing divorce rate, misery of those yet to find a match or who are stuck with someone they’re not matched with, and the desire of the media to paint its recluse of a creator as some sort of Machiavellian scientist, responsible for all relationship/family woes indicates.
The short, fast-paced chapters are a roller-coaster as the reader follows the lives and loves, disasters and triumphs, emotional discord and joy of a number of different men and women who choose (or not) to be Matched and the consequences of what they do with that knowledge once they possess it.
While I felt that sometimes the scenarios stretched credibility a tad too much and the emotional heft was occasionally lagging, I also found the book hard to put down. I wanted to know the outcome of each person’s choices – would they get their “happy ever after” that finding “The One” implicitly promises, or would they be making the biggest mistake of their lives?
Marr throws in some twists and turns I didn’t see coming and which certainly kept me turning the pages.
Overall, I really enjoyed this almost satirical take on society’s long-held fascination for finding our “other half”. Stretching back as far as Socrates and The Symposium, it’s a desire that’s almost coded into us (through popular cultural representations (think of even old shows like Blind Date or Perfect Match, The Bachelor/Bachelorette and those mind of modern dating shows, Tinder, Grindr, and all the other Cyber dating services which promise so much and yet do they deliver? And fairy and folk tales, novels and films, all of which spin yarns about romance and finding the right person). You can’t help but ask, what would you do if you knew you could find out who the perfect person for you was, your other half, with little to no risk? What would you do if you were already in a stable relationship? If you shared children? If it’s relatively easy to find The One, does that mean you don’t have to work at a relationship anymore? Can one take The One for granted? What changes will the right person instigate in you if any? What will you transform about each other? The ethical/emotional/moral conundrums the book raises are certainly interesting and, towards the end, are thrown back at us in a credible way as well.
