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Never Let Me Go
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BotM 2016 - [June] Never Let Me Go, by Kazuo Ishiguro - Part 1
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1. What do you think the tone of the book has been so far?
2. Who do you think Kathy is talking to and/or why is she telling the story?
3. Why do you think smoking is so important to the guardians at Hailsham?
4. Where do you think the artwork is going?
5. Answer the question posed by the person above you!
Great choice. I actually read it earlier this year for the first time, so hopefully I remember enough so I can still participate.
Bought it today, full price. Better be pretty good.
I can't wait to read this!
I'm not sure how I can add this to my challenge, and I don't feel highly motivated to read it, so I'm waiting to see what you think of it ;)
I LOVED this book! I hope you do too :)
Sophie, we usually have pretty similar tastes and this one was a dud for me.
Me too! My tastes are similar as well... I got a lot on my list so I might sit this one out. Although it was a lot of fun last time... decisions, decisions!
Yep, I think you're my other book twin, Marta. :) I've seen so many people mention how emotionally affected they were by this book, and I was like "... wait, what?". I feel like we read two completely different books.
New here and adding this to my list! Looks like I've only got a week left before discussions begin. Time to get reading *rolls up sleeve*
Xinlin wrote: "New here and adding this to my list! Looks like I've only got a week left before discussions begin. Time to get reading *rolls up sleeve*"They will have sections with questions for each 25% of the book, so why don't you wait until they have the questions ready, so you can read and answer as soon as you finish with each part?
The goal is to read the book during the month of June, no need to stress you out, you can join them later in the month ;)
I got it from the library. I am in!
OK, it was available at the library as an ebook so I grabbed it. I'll start on it as soon as I finish Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and Fairest. 14 days for all three....I can do this!
^Sounds like my plan. I'm reading Maya Angelou and then need to rock out The Human Division, since it is the 16th on my TBR. Since Never Let Me Go is #7 on my TBR and reading it would bump a different book to 16.
Xinlin wrote: "New here and adding this to my list! Looks like I've only got a week left before discussions begin. Time to get reading *rolls up sleeve*"Xinlin, we run our book of the month reads over the course of two months to give everyone wishing to participate adequate time to acquire and read the book selection. You've got plenty of time to read - no rush. The discussions are broken down into quarters of the book so that you can discuss as you read and so everyone can participate at their own pace.
We're glad to have you with us. Welcome! :D
I missed that this was the book of the month! I've just put it on hold at the library!
Mod
1. What do you think the tone of the book has been so far?The tone seems nostalgic to me.
2. Who do you think Kathy is talking to and/or why is she telling the story?
She's telling the donors she cares for and also telling herself the story about her days before she became a carer. She mentioned about how some of her donors enjoyed hearing about Hailsham. She's also reminiscing about the old days.
3. Why do you think smoking is so important to the guardians at Hailsham?
Because the students need to be in great health and smoking is detrimental to that.
4. Where do you think the artwork is going?
That's what I want to know!
5. Why do you think the students are different from the guardians?
1. What do you think the tone of the book has been so far?I would say ominous. There are all these hints of something sinister behind this idyllic picture of kids playing. I am not a big fan of the tangential story telling. Also, I am annoyed at Ruth and her punishing other kids who don't want to cater to her make-believe stories.
2. Who do you think Kathy is talking to and/or why is she telling the story?
To tell others about the awful things to come?
3. Why do you think smoking is so important to the guardians at Hailsham?
Well, they are donors. Me thinks they are bred for being organ donors. That's why people are shrinking from them.
4. Where do you think the artwork is going?
I have no idea. Some center that evaluates who are the best donors for what?
5. Why do you think the students are different from the guardians?
The whole donor thing. They are maybe genetic experiments? Bred for organs? Or modified? Clearly, they have no parents.
Question: What do you think Miss Lucy wants the kids to know?
Part 1 Questions 1. What do you think the tone of the book has been so far?
I find the writing very beautiful. I agree with both Michelle and Marta that Kathy's tone reads as nostalgic yet ominous. As I read each childhood event, I can relate the basic circumstances to my childhood. The interactions between the children and the guardians remind me of the way children were treated and spoken to when I was a kid. But in Kathy's "world" there is something about the behavior that seems just a little too odd. Like there is something mysterious going on underneath it all but the people involved are doing a very good job concealing whatever could be the truth.
2. Who do you think Kathy is talking to and/or why is she telling the story?
She might be talking to a donor. I think she is telling "us" the reader but as if we are a part of the world she lives in.
3. Why do you think smoking is so important to the guardians at Hailsham?
Some of these children become donors so I would imagine it is very important for a donor to be in the best of health.
4. Where do you think the artwork is going?
I think the artwork selected must have some special ability to inspire others who are from beyond Hailsham.
5. What do you think Miss Lucy wants the kids to know?
I think Miss Lucy wants the children to know what their true purpose is in this life, or at least what the children are being groomed to become.
Question: Why does this world need donors, and what could they be donating of themselves? Ruth seems to become a donor and dies at, what has to be, a very young age since Kathy tells us she is only in her thirties if I remember correctly.
I read this book toward the beginning of the year, so I'm going to answer with what I thought (as best as I can remember) at the time that I read it. I had to skim an online summary to refresh my memory of the story a little.1. What do you think the tone of the book has been so far?
I definitely agree that the tone so far has seemed pretty nostalgic, and at times a bit haunting/creepy. Although it seems almost like a typical school story, there also seemed to be something more going on in the background. Unfortunately, even before reading the book I knew what the main "twist" was, so I wasn't very surprised.
2. Who do you think Kathy is talking to and/or why is she telling the story?
Honestly, I don't remember putting too much thought into who Kathy was talking to, but maybe she was talking to some of the people she was caring for.
3. Why do you think smoking is so important to the guardians at Hailsham?
I won't say too much because I already knew the spoiler going into the book, but it is very important for the students to stay healthy.
4. Where do you think the artwork is going?
I thought it was going to some kind of private collection, maybe as a way to remember past Hailsham students who have left the school.
5. Why does this world need donors, and what could they be donating of themselves?
I would assume the world needed donors to overcome severe shortage in their society. My guess is that people were donating blood or some part of their body, given that some (like Ruth) die so young, and the amount of care the donors need. I can't see people needing caregivers, who seem to be like nurses, if they were just donating items or money.
My question: Why do you think Madame seemed to be afraid of the students?
1. What do you think the tone of the book has been so far?I agree with the consensus: nostalgic and ominous.
2. Who do you think Kathy is talking to and/or why is she telling the story?
There are a couple passages early on that make it quite clear that she is writing this for other donors/carers as she references that the reader either attended the same or a similar school to Hailsham.
3. Why do you think smoking is so important to the guardians at Hailsham?
This is the question that threw me. I was going to post in here earlier today, when I was only at 22%, but I had read nothing about smoking. So I waited. But on the commute home I blew past the reference, past 25%, and then past the explanation of why (at 26 or 27%).
So, I was never able to answer this. :)
4. Where do you think the artwork is going?
To the recipients. I think that they consider the donors to be a part of themselves. Not really a parent/child relationship but perhaps more of a yourself/your younger self relationship (perhaps due to cloning?)
5. Why do you think Madame seemed to be afraid of the students?
I think that she is afraid to get close to people with whom she might sympathize when she really doesn't want to. The same way that a person does not want to get close to, and treat a farm animal which will be eaten later, as a pet. In order to do what must be done, one must stay away from sympathy.
Also perhaps: (spoiler for 25%) (view spoiler)
My question: What year do you think the book takes place in (e.g. when is the narrator)?
1. What do you think the tone of the book has been so far?I agree with the consensus... The tone is very nostalgic with a hint of something rotten underneath.
2. Who do you think Kathy is talking to and/or why is she telling the story?
Maybe to someone she is caring for? Maybe it is time for her to start making donations and she wants to tell her story?
3. Why do you think smoking is so important to the guardians at Hailsham?
We don't know exactly what the children at Hailsham will be required to donate, but it seems pretty clear that it is something medical. So, I suppose it is imperative that they be healthy.
4. Where do you think the artwork is going?
I honestly have no idea.
5. What year do you think the book takes place in (e.g. when is the narrator)?
I think the time frame is modern-ish. When Kathy talks about the tape, she mentions than Walkmans hadn't started to be available in the Sales at that time. If the things in the Sales are just regular consumer goods available in the outside world that would make it the early 80s. And if Kathy is supposed to be in her 30s then the time frame of the book would be the 2000s. Of course, in dystopia world who really knows ;)
My question: Where did the kids at Hailsham (and places like it) come from? Do they have parents? Where they created in a lab?
Part 1 Questions 1. What do you think the tone of the book has been so far?
It's not as ominous as I thought it would be. Something in Kathy's narrative seems almost hopeful to me. Dystopian novels often don't set well with me, but I'm enjoying this one so far.
2. Who do you think Kathy is talking to and/or why is she telling the story?
I'm not sure. Maybe she's telling it to some future carer? She wants whoever she is telling this to to know how things were for her and her friends.
3. Why do you think smoking is so important to the guardians at Hailsham?
I think the kids at Hailsham will be donating organs to other people or their organs will be used in cloning. So anything unhealthy would be frowned upon. Smoking would be the worst unhealthy habit a person could have.
4. Where do you think the artwork is going?
This is a mystery to me, but I like this part of the story.
5. Where did the kids at Hailsham (and places like it) come from? Do they have parents? Where they created in a lab?
I'm not sure where they came from, but since they can't have children I wonder if they were cloned in a lab.
My question: What do you think happened in the world to require that children be raised to be "donators?"
reply | flag *
1. What do you think the tone of the book has been so far?I agree with what everyone else is saying for this one so far it does seem nostalgic but hinting at more to come. I am not sure that I get the ominous theme coming through that some are seeing.
2. Who do you think Kathy is talking to and/or why is she telling the story?
It seems to me that she is talking to us. Like she is writing her memoir and we are along for the ride with her.
3. Why do you think smoking is so important to the guardians at Hailsham?
The kids are definitely going to be donors for something in their lives so they need them to stay as healthy as the possibly can.
4. Where do you think the artwork is going?
I think they are using the artwork to match the kids up with potential people they will be donating to later on in life.
5.What do you think happened in the world to require that children be raised to be "donators?
It is possible that some kind of disease has affected the world. Maybe they are no longer able to cure themselves of certain things and they need donor organs to stay alive.
My Question: What do you think Madame's purpose in the story is?
1. What do you think the tone of the book has been so far? I agree with everyone on this one - definitely nostalgic.
2. Who do you think Kathy is talking to and/or why is she telling the story?
I think she is talking to a group of donors, or it could even be a new group of carers. I think she is telling the story so they have a bit of an understanding of what to expect.
3. Why do you think smoking is so important to the guardians at Hailsham? So the donors remain healthy
4. Where do you think the artwork is going? I think maybe the artwork goes to the donor's recipient - but not sure the importance of it yet.
What do you think Madame's purpose in the story is? - Not really sure but maybe she matches the donors (of what we aren't sure) to the recipients
My question - what do you think happened to Tommy and Ruth?
1. What do you think the tone of the book has been so far?Nostalgic.
2. Who do you think Kathy is talking to and/or why is she telling the story? Probably she is just remembering her childhood, maybe a friend of her just died.
3. Why do you think smoking is so important to the guardians at Hailsham? Because their bodies and minds must be very healthy and smoking could damage their and I think they are a kind of persons that have been created just to be donors.
4. Where do you think the artwork is going? To a kind of museum.
5. What do you think happened to Tommy and Ruth? I think they are dead.
My question: Why do you think are these children so especial?
1. What do you think the tone of the book has been so far?Mysterious and a bit ominous in a way, like there's something more and creepy going on. Maybe not even creepy, but it feels almost like they are always hiding a sad truth, like hinting at something sad, but not really saying what it is. I feel like in the end, the truth will really blow me away, I feel like there's just something really really huge going on.
I got the same feeling reading, We Were Liars, and I put it down before finishing it because I had already spoiled myself by watching the Booksplosion live show~ LOL
2. Who do you think Kathy is talking to and/or why is she telling the story?
When I was reading this, I always thought about it as simply Kathy reminiscing about the past. Have flashbacks, possibly because she finally learned something about why they were special, and it was something sad...I feel like it's more than just not being able to have babies. I think this is why Kathy is reminiscing about the past, those days were like the good days when they were still happy and didn't know, kind of like childhood. Gosh! This book really makes you think deeply about memories, youth, childhood, and whatever...
3. Why do you think smoking is so important to the guardians at Hailsham?
I think it's all related to the being special bit, and not being able to have babies. They are special because their bodies are different, or they are just not even human, and because their bodies are different or they are not even human, they can't have babies. And because their bodies are different, and they are to be donors, they can't start smoking.
4. Where do you think the artwork is going?
What the previous reader said kind of had me thinking, before then, I seriously do not know, but I felt like there was something more to the whole gallery deal. Maybe it is to a museum or something...something must have happen to them to make them special, maybe having them do arts and crafts and having their best work selected is part of it.
5. What do you think happened to Tommy and Ruth?
I also do really think that they are dead. Kathy said that Ruth is gone now, and that is why the cassette is so special; I feel like you don't say something like that unless someone was really dead.
6. Why do you think are these children so especial?
My first thought was that they were like test tube babies or something created to cure some kind of disease like cancer. After that, I thought clones; I seriously don't know...
My Question: What are the donations about?
Discussion of the book will begin on June 1. There will be a new topic for each quarter of the book, with all sections posted at the beginning of the month, allowing members to read at their own pace and enter the different threads as they progress.
Moderators will begin the conversation but if you post an answer to these questions then please post your own question at the end. Then the person after you answers your question and posts their own. This will create a chain of questions/answers, much like the style of "Person Below Me".
For more information about the book of the month, see the Introduction post.
Spend the remainder of May finding a copy of the book and maybe fitting it into existing challenge plans :)
Part 1: 0-25%
Part 2: 26-50%
Part 3: 51-75%
Part 4: 75-100%