Discussion of the Book for April 2011
Posted by bangkokbookclub on July 8, 2011
“Never Let Me Go” by Kazuo Ishiguro
Most of the group had mixed feelings about this sinister alternate world novel. One person thought it was particularly disturbing because she could see similar “ideas” evolving in the future, justified by the rationalisation that these were acceptable ethical lines to cross in the effort to eradicate physical illness and disease.
Several others felt strongly that the fatal flaw in the story was that none of the clones, at any point (and the novel spans many years) rebel in any form, and simply accept their fate of becoming carers and then donors, until they are used up and “complete”. The contradiction occurs as the story is also about proving a belief that even though these clones are genetically engineered, they have human souls. This belief is shown to be true (within the context of the novel), but then this falls apart as they don’t behave in a human way by fighting for different lives or even questioning the purpose of their existence.
Despite these dissatisfactions, almost everyone thought it was beautifully written – with one member saying that he felt the whole novel was a vehicle for Ishiguro to present his command of the English language and writing ability. There was one member who thought it was tedious book.
The book for our meeting on May 25th will be “The Lacuna” by Barbara Kingsolver.
Advertisement
