Special Double Review
by Victoria Silverwolf & László Szegedi
Mysterion, March 2023
“MARY and Martha” by T. R. Frazier
Reviewed by Victoria Silverwolf
The narrator of “Mary and Martha” by T. R. Frazier works as a nursing assistant at an extended care facility. A robot arrives to assist her in her duties. When an elderly patient has a heart attack, the robot performs an unexpected action that changes the narrator’s attitude.
The author creates a detailed, convincing portrait of medical care in the near future. The narrator is named Martha and the robot is called MARY. Combined with the fact that the elderly patient is named Mrs. Lazarus, the religious allusions may seem too obvious. Other than that quibble, this is a well-written and emotionally powerful tale.
Victoria Silverwolf recently paid a visit to the Appalachian Center for Craft in Smithville, Tennessee, to view the art in its gallery and to take a hike through the woods surrounding it.
♦ ♦ ♦
Mysterion, March 2023
“MARY and Martha” by Taryn Rose Frazier
Reviewed by László Szegedi
In the midst of recent conversations about how to use publicly available AI, there’s not much talk about the real change automation could provide in the near future: replacing hard and underpaid jobs. This short story introduces such a case, and invites us into a nursing home in which nurse Martha has to get accustomed to working together with the new nurse robot MARY. It deals with a very important aspect of our everyday life: what to do with our elders, and what our fate will be when we get old.
What we can read is real conversation with real people. Real fear and real lethargy, real thoughts about family, and real solitude. Although we never get to know what the abbreviation MARY stands for (if anything), even this robot shows enough care and attention one seriously considers whether he should accept one in his own nursing home when he will get there, so it could serve as a perfect starting point for any debate about automation. Plus, Martha’s opinion and attitude towards automation changes through her half of the working day just like the public starts to accept this technological change through the years.
A well-written story with a frightening grip in the stomach. Gonna tell my wife about it.
László is an SF enthusiast living in middle Europe, also writing songs in the attic.