Never Let Me Go Kindle Edition

This book was quite interesting. I had a love/hate relationship with it due to the fact that the secrets and pivotal information was divulged slowly throughout the book. That definitely made me want to keep reading but at the same time it took me a long time to start connecting the dots about why the things were the way there were for this narrator.

Everything about this narrator's world was odd and had a obvious disturbing vibe to it. What is even more terrifying is that I can see this happening in our future with the rapid advancements in technology. If that day comes, our values and morals will be put to the test when we try to define what is ethical and what is not.

Now,

*SPOILERS*

This story reminded me of the animal agriculture industry in a lot of ways. We refuse to know what's going on when it comes to how meat and dairy products reach our plates so we put up walls and gates to hide us from the terrible truth.

In this scenario, clones have been created to harvest anything and everything from their bodies in order to save "real humans" from dying from diseases. About maybe 60% through the book, I started to understand what was happening. These 'students' were being raised for slaughter. The narrator was lucky to actually have somewhat of a "normal" upbringing while others were in far worse conditions.

It scares me to think that this could happen. These students had feelings, emotions, intelligence, etc. yet were treated like animals being ready to be killed. They were taught at a very young age that they would be donators. Everything about it was normalized in a way they didn't see it as problem. They believed that's how it has always been and nothing is wrong with it. They even have the students be the care takers for the donors because no one wants to see the suffering and pain the donors have to go through. How messed up is that?

I also found the relationships hard to swallow. What they thought of as friendships and love, were not anywhere near it. However, that's all they've known. Any difficult or deep conversation was immediately shunned so surface conversation was the only acceptable way to communicate. I thought Kath and Ruth's friendship was toxic in a lot of ways. It was almost as if they didn't know how to treat a friend. The one great example that I saw was in the Cottages. Ruth had two identities: the one that completely ignored Kath and Tommy and desired attention from the veterans and then the one that sat with Kath at night, spilling secrets and such. I think this is why Kath remained friends with her even though Ruth treated her so terribly. Her whole life she had to constantly filter herself but in those hours of sipping tea with no filter, it gave her some sort of relief. It allowed her to be a more truer form of herself.

Overall, I thought the book was incredibly mind provoking. I wish there was a happy ending but ultimately, we only receives answers rather than Kath, Tommy, and Ruth riding off into the sunset.

I would probably rate this 3.5 stars if that was an option.

I found myself pretty detached while reading this...not in my usually hurry to finish and see how the characters and story developed. Perhaps that was part of the author’s effort? I’m not sure.

Our narrator, Kathy, was detached as well. Detached from her own experiences and even somewhat detached from the losses she experiences.

Only Tommy, who would sometimes give into rages, seemed to FEEL the appropriate outrage at times. But then it would get tucked back inside and hidden.

Tommy’s art is what I found most interesting and distinctive. The fact that he quit trying for awhile because his art was ‘no good’ but then later, while his art was still different... it became so stylized and small...maybe mechanical, but precise. I think Tommy’s art and the precision of it shows that each of these people is precise. So many little parts make us into who we are...

In the end, I found this book sad. It’s another testament of man’s inhumanity towards man. If we can make ourselves believe someone is ‘less than’ we are, in any way, then we can justify our mistreatment. The fact that we do it ‘in the name of science’ doesn’t work for me. I guess I believe in the soul. I believe in the sanctity of people... of life.

Unlike some books that take pages to draw you in, this one captures your attention immediately. There is some cryptic vocabulary, but you are intrigued to discover what is being described.

The narrative is simple, conversational with not too many characters to follow. The overshadowing ideas within the story are shrouded, yet slowly become clearer. However, “the final reveal” raises many more questions that linger after the final page is turned. The author has offered much to contemplate.

There is nothing negative I can say about this book. It is simple, sweet, somehow delicate, and simultaneously brutal and relentless in its imagery. The narrator is so authentic and fully realized - so maddeningly accepting in the face of horror, and yet her responses and actions are perfectly reasonable in the context of her narrative. She gets caught up in such little, mundane things that fill all our lives.

I adored this book - a chilling 'what-if' that touches on contemporary bioethics without belaboring the subject by become didactic. More important than the 'what-if,' however - what elevates this book beyond so much speculative or dystopian fiction - is the rich, heartbreaking life found in Ishiguro's characters.