Never Let Me Go - 01 - Part One

[Zeljka]

Here you may post your thoughts as well as the quotes you like from the first section of the book. Part One is consisted of nine chapters.

[Zeljka]

As it seems I am currently the only one reading the book, nobody will mind if I put here some random thoughts about the whole part one of the book. If you haven't read the part one yet, please don't read further, this contains some spoilers.

I am glad I wasn't completely aware about what exactly book is, because the shock after reading the first part wouldn't definitely be as great as it was now.

The first thing that puzzled me was the setting of the book - late 90's? Some kind of alternate history rather than science fiction? That seemed to me even more promising though.

The beginning was ominous and scary, with the situations Kath describes as perfectly normal whereas I found them alarming, for an example, the choice of words such as donations? recovery times? and especially this one, completing, disturbed me the most - she talks about the people she cares for like they are things. Of course, it dawned on me later why does she use such expressions - you really must admire Ishiguro for the way he builds the suspense!

What made me feel sad, was that it's impossible to see these characters (Ishiguro's mastery again) - Kath, Tommy, Ruth - as things not only because they certainly aren't things, but because of some elements added to the story, such as lights-out conversations to the night, which showed the children's vulnerability and dependence on others' opinion -- in my opinion, it also represents the children's way to express the rebellion against the oppressive system they were in.

There was even one part in which Kath confesses her insecurity about the sex at the age of sixteen, that was both funny and touching, while also hints something else, about the positions they were in:

We'd evolved this system where we called for particular favourite scenes to be played again – like, for instance, the moment the American jumps over the barbed wire on his bike in The Great Escape. There'd be a chant of: "Rewind! Rewind!" until someone got the remote and we'd see the portion again, sometimes three, four times. But I could hardly, by myself, start shouting for rewinds just to see sex scenes again.

It's therefore so much sadder to read how the other, "normal", people were terrified of them, like they are spiders, and how horrible stories about the menacing woods around Hailsham were circulated on purpose.

The culture they developed was also impressive - the Exchanges, the Sales - they created a whole new world totally isolated from the rest of the world. I wonder would it be possible to recreate in our schools too, at least the Exchanges part.

The paragraph I got really attached to is following one:

So you're waiting, even if you don't quite know it, waiting for the moment when you realise that you really are different to them; that there are people out there, like Madame, who don't hate you or wish you any harm, but who nevertheless shudder at the very thought of you – of how you were brought into this world and why – and who dread the idea of your hand brushing against theirs. The first time you glimpse yourself through the eyes of a person like that, it's a cold moment. It's like walking past a mirror you've walked past every day of your life, and suddenly it shows you something else, something troubling and strange.

And finally, regarding the most touching Kath's revelation, about one particular tape, here's the link to the Judy Bridgewater's Never Let Me Go, but mind you, it does not include any clips from the movie. (I myself didn't want to spoil the later viewing of the film, but if you wish to listen to the music with the clips from the movie, there's an abundance of such clips also on YouTube.)

That would be all. Of course, if you wish to add a comment, a thought, a quote, you do not have to be silly as I am to write a whole essay about this, so don't let this put you off! I'll be glad to hear your opinions.

[Alana]

Just finished part one (I know, WAY after the fact!) and am very intrigued. From the very beginning, I was thinking "donations, huh?" and figured it had to do with organ donation, but, like Zeljika said, thought "1990s? England?" and figured it was some British expression that I didn't understand as an American. It's becoming clear that this is not the case, however. Obviously we're getting lots of foreshadowing for future events and I'm hoping it doesn't because predictable, but so far it's very intersting. I wonder how the items taken by "Madame" will play into it. I figure it's some kind of shrine to protect the history of what happens to these children later when people become appalled by it. It's like reading of psychological experiments done in the 60s that we find reprehensible now but were cutting edge science at the time.

I don't think I've seen the film but something about this story is very familiar to me. Isn't there another book or movie about people being raised to harvest their organs? (I love how they keep using the word "donation" as if the kids will have any choice in the matter!) Sounds like a sci-fi movie I remember from the late 90s or early 00s, but I can't quite put my finger on it. Or maybe that's this film and I just don't remember it. Haven't looked at the movie thread yet.

[Zeljka]

I admired this first part of the book very much - how the narration constantly kept me interested in the story and characters, piqued my curiosity with telling some bits of the story but without revealing anything at all.

Like you mentioned, those words that the author used like something quite normal, but you sense they are not, that something is totally wrong in the picture.

[Alana]

As a whole, mankind seems to be very attached to its euphemisms to describe things it accepts as a part of existence without really wanting to bring it fully into the light. We are masters of fooling ourselves.