And though we just kept on walking, we all felt it; it was like we’d walked from the sun right into chilly shade. Ruth had been right: Madame was afraid of us. But she was afraid of us in the same way someone might be afraid of spiders. We hadn’t been ready for that. It had never occurred to us to wonder how we would feel, being seen like that, being the spiders.
Kathy, Never Let Me Go
Title: Never Let Me Go
Author: Kazuo Ishiguro
Publisher/Publisher Date: Vintage/2006
Library/Bookstore: Borders
Date Borrowed/Bought/Read: February 2011
Rating: ***
What It's About: Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy grew up together at a British boarding school called Hailsham where children are taught at an early age that they are special. It is extremely important that they take good care of themselves and stay healthy. They are also asked to create artwork that may be submitted to a mysterious gallery run by a woman known only as Madame. Now an adult, Kathy reminiscences about her life at Hailsham as she comes to terms about what she was brought up to do.
Why I Chose to Read It: I chose to read this book because it's about the ethics of cloning and organ transplants.
Notes About the Book:
- Maybe knowing ahead of time why the students were so special kind of ruined the impact of the book for me.
- It's weird how submissive Kathy, Tommy, and Ruth were in this story. They never complained about their fate or really went out of their way to change it (except for the gallery thing, which I won't spoil for you). It also surprised me how they were allowed to roam around freely but they never tried to conduct their own research about why things were the way they were.
- I think what was allowed to occur isn't that far-fetched. We've all turned a blind eye to the treatment of humans in other countries regarding how our clothes and electronics are made all in the name of money. Are their lives any better than Kathy's? In some ways, their lives are actually a lot worse.
Do I Recommend It? Yes. This is another book that I couldn't put down.
Links:
Never Let Me Go (Official Film Site)
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