Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro.

                     Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro.

"Robots will take over Earth, says royal astronomer." Daily Mail. April 2017.


He follows Professor Stephen Hawking who has said that artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race. (Victoria Allen. Science Correspondent)

And on this premise, this is where I begin. Perhaps the author's name seems familiar? One of his well-known books is "Remains of the Day." The book under review was published in 2005, a sad and haunting book presenting a dystopian society. Deeply disturbing and frightening.
"We demonstrated to the world that if students were reared in humane, cultivated environments, it was possible for them to grow to be as sensitive and intelligent as any ordinary human being."

Organ donations, cloning, artificial intelligence, gene editing and robotics interested Ishiguro who believed that they could transform the way we live and interact with each other over the next thirty years and he presents to us very simple, unambitious and uncomplicated people interested in discovering their "possibles" and fulfilling their destinies: being carers, donors and ultimately reaching completion. Were they meant to be just "shadowy objects in test tubes" so repulsive and disgusting to the human race as indicated by their Guardians? Pawns in a game? "There are people who shudder at the very thought of you-how you were brought into this world and why-and who dread the idea of your hand brushing against theirs." Take, for example Madame who visits the school to collect work for her Gallery and distances herself from the students as if they are inhuman.

Kathy reflects on her childhood at Hailsham, a special institution where the clones were reared and allowed some privileges whereas others were "reared in deplorable conditions." We learn about her fragile relationship with Ruth and Tommy and their love triangle, following them from the Hailsham days through to the Cottages where they developed study skills prior to begin training to be carers to the hospitals where it all ended. Kathy survives for a time, at least.

She has been a carer for more than eleven years and soon she will be a donor like all of her Hailsham friends. As children growing up they seemed to behave just like normal children with their petty jealousies and anxieties, bullying Tommy for being a bit of a misfit and exploding with temper tantrums. But perhaps he was more human than we gave him credit for?

Ruth, rather a prickly character, suffers with insecurities which closely reveals human emotions and concludes that she, just like all the other clones are modelled from trash. Perhaps a junkie or a prostitute, a tramp or a convict? “If you want to look for possibles, then you look in the gutter. You look in rubbish bins. Look down the toilet, that’s where you’ll find where we came from.” Who tampered with nature and created people with souls who were capable of experiencing love but not grief? Their pain and suffering was real to save the lives of others as their bodies shut down for good. Clones??
It will leave a lasting impression.


REVIEW it by Carol Naylor.
Publisher: Faber & Faber Ltd. ISBN: 9-780571-258093.

 Copyright 2017. Permission must be obtained from the author before any of this article review is reproduced.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Stranger From Lagos by Cyprian Ekwensi

Image
  image courtesy of Google images   Ekwensi was born in Nigeria in 1921. He wrote about the country and people of Nigeria-city life and life in the rural areas. Loko Towns and Other Stories was published in 1966. A Stranger From Lagos was one of the nine stories in that collection.   The writer explores the place of women in society. Lilian is trapped by social conventions. Her fiance treats her like a possession as if he owns her. It is written in third person to allow the writer's thoughts to merge with Lilian's. The protagonist is unable to speak to the stranger in public although it is obvious that there is a strong physical attraction between the two. If Lilian asserts herself she will go against social conventions (for females) and her reputation will be damaged through rife and unhealthy gossip. She will therefore be stigmatised as a loose woman. The story explores her inner conflicts in accepting these "conventions" or flaunting them as well ...
Read more

A Stranger From Lagos by Cyprian Ekwensi Final Part

Image
                                                                    courtesy of Google images Lilian uses her sexuality to liberate as well as attract the opposite sex. Ekwensi uses "wiggled." Lilian had just had her hair done and was wearing very large, loop earrings. This had been done for her lover's benefit. She was conscious of all the eyes watching the two of them. The writer uses the simile: she felt like something projected on a 3D screen for all Onitsha to view. We are told very little about the stranger other than that he was tall and good-looking. We are told he didn't feel embarrassed by all of the attention. He would ruin her reputation...
Read more

A Bit of Singing and Dancing by Susan Hill

Image
Here you'll find 11 varied but intense stories about emotional struggles of ordinary people trying to get to grips with life. For some unfortunates, the adjustment is too great and tragedy is inevitable, something very characteristic of Hill's writing as many of you will already know. A Bit of Singing and Dancing is less dramatic and not quite so tragic. I can stay out here just as long as I like, I can do anything I choose, anything at all, for now I am answerable only to myself. Esme is still coming to terms with her mother's death and her new-found freedom. She is over 50 years of age and has reluctantly been forced into caring for her forthright and domineering bedridden mother for 11 years prior to her death. She had been half-alive satisfying her mother's needs and repressing her own needs and desires. Her mother's death had given her a new lease of life, an unexpected freedom which also attracted fear and bewilderment to someone who had been so sheltered...
Read more