Never Let Me Go
I started reading Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go way back in
college. Or possibly just after college. I remember hearing that Joss
Whedon has used it as partial inspiration for Dollhouse, which
didn't premiere until 2009, and I think that's why my mom bought it. But
things are hazy. The point is that, for one reason or another, I got
2/3 of the way through the book and then stopped reading it. It's
haunted me vaguely ever since, so when I found a cheap copy at McKay's I
had to buy it.
This book is something of a mystery with some mild science-fiction elements. Really mild. I'd hardly classify it as sci-fi at all, really. Sure it's about advanced technology and its ramifications on humanity and society. But it's much more personal than that. More intimate than the books I typically classify as science-fiction.
The narrator, Kathy, is a carer and has been for many years when the novel opens. She's approaching the end of her career and is reminiscing about her childhood at Hailsham and young adulthood on a farm. She has two close friends, Ruth and Tommy, who were with her at both of these places, who dated each other for a long time, and who she ends up caring for later in life.
Her relationship with Tommy always seems like it could be more than it is, like they connect on a deeper level than either is really willing to admit. Meanwhile her relationship with Ruth basically defines the term frenemy. They're close, but Ruth is also manipulative and very sensitive. Kathy recognizes this, and she mostly just puts up with it in the name of friendship. The three of them are so very close in their childhood, but unfortunate circumstances (and Ruth's manipulations) drive these insurmountable obstacles between them. Then again, when they meet later in life, none of it seems quite as impossible anymore.
There's a lot of pull between the past and the present. Between the surety that something happened a certain way and the fallibility of memory, and how this comes to define us. There's an added layer here because these characters are all clones (the sci-fi element). They wonder to what extent they are defined by their original selves, and if meeting those people will answer any questions. For all that, though, the book seems to come down on the side of nurture over nature.
The book meanders in a really pleasant way, connecting memories thematically rather than chronologically. I had a lot of fun disappearing into it when I was reading. I'm almost glad I didn't finish it all those years ago, because I was able to experience it all over again.
This book is something of a mystery with some mild science-fiction elements. Really mild. I'd hardly classify it as sci-fi at all, really. Sure it's about advanced technology and its ramifications on humanity and society. But it's much more personal than that. More intimate than the books I typically classify as science-fiction.
The narrator, Kathy, is a carer and has been for many years when the novel opens. She's approaching the end of her career and is reminiscing about her childhood at Hailsham and young adulthood on a farm. She has two close friends, Ruth and Tommy, who were with her at both of these places, who dated each other for a long time, and who she ends up caring for later in life.
Her relationship with Tommy always seems like it could be more than it is, like they connect on a deeper level than either is really willing to admit. Meanwhile her relationship with Ruth basically defines the term frenemy. They're close, but Ruth is also manipulative and very sensitive. Kathy recognizes this, and she mostly just puts up with it in the name of friendship. The three of them are so very close in their childhood, but unfortunate circumstances (and Ruth's manipulations) drive these insurmountable obstacles between them. Then again, when they meet later in life, none of it seems quite as impossible anymore.
There's a lot of pull between the past and the present. Between the surety that something happened a certain way and the fallibility of memory, and how this comes to define us. There's an added layer here because these characters are all clones (the sci-fi element). They wonder to what extent they are defined by their original selves, and if meeting those people will answer any questions. For all that, though, the book seems to come down on the side of nurture over nature.
The book meanders in a really pleasant way, connecting memories thematically rather than chronologically. I had a lot of fun disappearing into it when I was reading. I'm almost glad I didn't finish it all those years ago, because I was able to experience it all over again.
Comments
Post a Comment