April 2018 BOTM: "Never Let Me Go" by Kazuo Ishiguro

[StarMan]

With 61.2% of the votes, our April 2018 group read will be Never Let Me Go, by Kazuo Ishiguro.

It has been called a novel "... that subtly reimagines our world and time in a haunting story of friendship and love."

If you've read it, or plan to read it soon, feel free to comment in this thread (no BIG spoilers please, or hide 'em with spoiler tags).

[Erin]

If I can finish the handful of ebooks I have from the library (when it rains it pours with these wait lists...) I’ll tackle this one. It currently doesn’t have a wait list at my mom’s library.

[Allison, Mod Nerd]

Yay! Thanks for rescuing me again StarMan and putting the discussion up!

[Erin]

The month is almost half over... Is anyone else reading this one?
I started it last night and found myself feeling very confused during the first couple chapters. I likely would have given up but so many of my Goodreads friends gave it good reviews, so I’m persisting.

[Erin]

I’ve made it to 34% now and the language is driving me crazy... It’s so awkward! I mean, “sick-making?” Why “sick-making?” Why not “sickening?” And starting a sentence, “What happened was that a few days later...” It should just be “A few days later...” There are so many little things like that adding up to really annoy me. Right now I’m baffled by the 4&5 star reviews I’m seeing.

[StarMan]

That's interesting, Erin. Writing style and language are so subjective, right?

The book is certainly a slow-paced one. I remember when reading it that the prose felt occasionally drawn out or a bit unusual, but I didn't find it off-putting. I chalked it up to the fact the characters (and narrator) were supposed to be coming from a very sheltered existence/education.

And also, possibly, that author Ishiguro was born in Japan and moved to England at a young age, which may account for some of his phrasings.

Or maybe he purposely used such phrasings to convey the fact that Kathy was still basically a child -- somewhat educated, but not a fully-functioning adult in some aspects.

I did find the narrator and many of the other characters a bit annoyingly slow on the uptake (for above mentioned reasons, possibly). A common question -- and possible plot hole -- is (view spoiler)[ why Kathy or others didn't just run away (the author is asked that often, but I won't reveal his reasoning yet). (hide spoiler)]

There's an interview with Ishiguro that gives a bit of insight into the book and his writing style, if anyone is interested:
https://www.theguardian.com/books/200...

[Erin]

Thanks for the link to the article, StarMan. It was interesting to learn about his approach to writing, though I still can’t appreciate his style. I actually found myself getting angry last night while reading because “did a laugh” came up multiple times. One does not do a laugh! One just laughs (or perhaps lets out a laugh).

I did find something of interest to me though. Once it was confirmed that they were (view spoiler)[clones created specifically for organ donation, it immediately called to mind the movie The Island. Of course, in NLMG they know they are clones and they know what their purpose is, whereas they do not in The Island. This made me wonder if one was a reimagining of the other. What might it be like if the clones knew/didn’t know who they were and why they were created? But I soon discovered that this wasn’t the case. NLMG was published in March 2015 and The Island was released in July 2015, so it appears it’s just a weird coincidence. (hide spoiler)]

[StarMan]

Erin wrote: "... I actually found myself getting angry last night while reading because “did a laugh” came up multiple times. One does not do a laugh! ..."

I hadn't thought about that about the laughter. I was waiting for some big sci-fi event to happen when I was reading (view spoiler)[ (nope, didnt' happen) (hide spoiler)], so I probably wasn't paying as much attention to the wording as I could have been.

I once did a book a low rating because the characters "laughed" during nearly all the converstaions, yet there was not one funny thing occurring.

The whole (view spoiler)[ surprise, you're a clone/robot/whatever! (hide spoiler)] is a fairly common sci-fi plot. Ishiguro's twist seems to be that it all happens as a normal thing (in some alternate reality where things took a different turn back in the 1950s or so), and it's so ingrained that (view spoiler)[ no one blinks an eye about the quiet horror of it all... not even the clones who are being sacrificed. (view spoiler)[

I agree that the movie you mentioned was a good parallel or maybe a good contrast! Strange that it came out around the same time. (hide spoiler)] (hide spoiler)]

[StarMan]

Some discussion questions for NEVER LET ME GO...

Please feel free to answer one or more if you wish, or ask your own questions!

1. Did you identify with the narrator (Kathy), or did another character appeal to you more?

2. Would you call NLMG a memorable tale?

3. What did you dislike most about the story?

4. Why do you think the characters didn't (view spoiler)[rebel or run away? (hide spoiler)]

5. This book is:
a) a tale about some tragic characters
b) a metaphor for society and its ills
c) a weird sort-of sci-fi alternate history/future book
d) a cautionary tale about science/technology
e) 2 or more of the above
f) something else (specify if you wish)

6. Did you think about any other books or movies while reading NLMG?

7. Would you recommend this book to a friend?

8 What was your favorite part of the book, if any?

9. What did you think of the ending?

10. If forced to give a Goodreads rating for NLMG, how many stars would assign it?