Emergency Contact by Mary HK Choi (May 2018)
Emergency Contact does not fit very well into my usual reading pattern. Choi’s debut novel is a romance (or pseudo-romance) novel, it’s almost entirely description and observation (as opposed to introspection and reflection), and it’s about people younger than me in a present-day setting (making it technically ‘YA’, or even a ‘YA romance’). I enjoyed reading the book anyway but, as it was so far off my beaten path, I think it is highly unlikely I’ll seek out another book like it in the near future.
The important plot element to note about Emergency Contact is that the relationship between the two protagonists develops almost entirely through text messaging (1). This novel idea (!) perhaps explains why I decided to read the book in the first place – unlike in a traditional version of this story, for me the drama of Emergency Contact was not about whether the characters I was rooting for would get the outcome they (or I) wanted but whether they could overcome the destiny implied by their medium of communication (2). On balance, I think Mary HK Choi did very well to leave the interpretation open to the reader as to how the text messaging influenced the final outcome of the book.
The central idea I took away from Emergency Contact is that no matter how people communicate with each other, the same basic anxieties and insecurities will always apply. The mediums of communication from yesteryear might bear little resemblance to today’s technologies but I don’t think the underlying emotions people experience as they send and receive communications has changed very much. It’s always difficult to reach out, whether in person, by letter, or by text, and we’re always going to read way too much into the way another person responds to us.
That conclusion doesn’t mean social media and text messaging are the solutions we’ve all been waiting for in terms of perfecting communication. I think the best way forward is simple – communicate in person first, use all other methods of communication second. There is nothing inherently superior about a letter or a phone call when compared to the text message because both are technologies that solve for the problem of not always being able to share space with someone else. The issues start when the solution is applied even though the problem doesn’t exist – emails in a small office, for example, or text messages about difficult topics with the people we see regularly.
Outside of the larger commentary about how today’s technologies are changing the way young people communicate, I found a couple of other interesting nuggets from Emergency Contact. First, I liked the thought that a character that forms quickly in the mind must be reconsidered. In Emergency Contact, this came in the context of writing – the writer must think about where the inspiration is coming from, consider whether it is based on a bias or a stereotype, etc. I think the idea applies broadly – we would all do a little better in life if we considered the sources of our first impressions.
I also felt it was a good observation that most people show gratitude in far more complicated ways than merely saying ‘thank you’ (3). As I noted above, this thought underscores the point that although the forms of communication we use today are vastly different from the norms of a decade or a century ago, the challenge of self-exposure and its inherent vulnerability still remain significant motivators of human behavior.
Footnotes / endnote, really / this ‘origins’ endnote seems like a good fit for these short reviews, no?
0. Origins…
I came across the book almost by accident – for some reason, a host of one of my favorite podcasts felt compelled to recommend it. Since this guy – Michael Davies of Men In Blazers – never recommends any reading, I thought it would be a good idea to jump on the book when I had the chance (it’s usually his partner, Roger Bennett, that recommends books, though these books are mostly about fun topics like misery, destruction, and World War I poetry).
Interested readers can check out their useless recommendations here (the recommendation for this book came on 3/14/18).
1. Imagine if Romeo and Juliet had unlimited texting plans?
This, perhaps, explains why I wanted to read the book – though the story is a debut from a young writer, the topic dives so far into a widespread but entirely modern idea that I thought there was a small chance Emergency Contact could be the defining book of its genre. After reading, I might not be so sure about that, but I do want to stress that there is probably very little else out there (in novel form) that poses the question of how modern technology is going to change the way young people build relationships.
Choi’s expertise on the topic draws from this article she wrote for Wired. This is a decent enough read but I think I was expecting a little more (and thus, why I include the link here instead of in my usual ‘recommended links’ monthly newsletter feature).
2. I suppose this is what the literary types call tension?
It’s funny how situations like this can happen – the relationship wouldn’t exist without text messaging yet the relationship might also be doomed from the start thanks to the reliance on text messaging.
3. And in accordance with my New Year’s Resolution…
…this should then be followed immediately with “you’re welcome”!
