Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro was first published by Faber & Faber Limited in 2005 is 282-page long novel. The novel, which is science-fiction based, has been so popular that it has been made into a movie last year. A renowned book that one shouldn’t miss, it tracks a love-triangle and cloning of humans. We all know about the cloning of the sheep, Dolly, however, is the cloning of humans practical? Will it happen in the future?
Why is this book so successful? Look at the cover and title carefully and you’ll know why. There’s a blurred image of a girl with her hands stretched out, with a relation to the title. Separation and death is one of the other themes in this book. Never ever let your loved one go, neither do you want him to leave you. However, that is only one of the interpretations. The cover page grabs your attention and conveys a message – What will lie ahead of us but except a fantastic reading experience? A theme that one will experience in his/her life, emotions will be running in your blood during this grandeur experience.
Three major themes – Friendship, Romance, Separation & Death, how has Ishiguro managed to convey these messages through a science-fiction based book? Brilliant and Wonderful are the sole words that can be used to describe his craft and plot. These three themes will revolve around our lives, affecting our lives. Joy, happiness and anxiety are experienced in all three different situations.
The plot revolves around 3 major characters – Kathy, Tommy and Ruth, whom are involved in a love-triangle. The plot is split into 3 major parts – Childhood, Adult and Donor. So, how did Ishiguro managed to fit the three themes into this plot? Let’s explore it together.
In Halimshan, England, the three children grow up together, having a close-knitted relationship and reveal their dreams. As they grow up and become adults, they experience the love-triangle with either Kathy or Ruth backing out during this relationship. There is a teacher at the school, named “Madame Marie-Claude”. During their childhood years, one of the teachers, Miss Lucy reveals to them that they are clones. This news takes a major impact on the children, shattering the dreams but they have to accept their ill fate.
They are expected to make donations towards the end of their adulthood. Both Kathy and Tommy becomes donors, however, Ruth becomes a carer. A series of heart-thumping events occur.
There is a significant scene which also highlights the cover page of the book. When Madame saw Kathy singing, with bursts of life, she reflects on that particular day and says, “…a little girl facing the new world that was emerging, an efficient but cruel world, and asking the old world not to let her go…” How does this represent the story or cover page?
That question is for you to find out, what are the heart-thumping events that occur when they are donors? Think carefully, will this ever happen in the future?
“Ishiguro's imagining of the children's misshapen little world is profoundly thoughtful, and their hesitant progression into knowledge of their plight is an extreme and heartbreaking version of the exodus of all children from the innocence in which the benevolent but fraudulent adult world conspires to place them.”
-Taken from Joseph O’Neill, the author of the Atlantic
“A clear frontrunner to be the year’s most extraordinary novel”
-Taken from The Sunday Times
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment