When did this become a book blog?

I guess that's what happens when you try to break away from the "Mommy Blog" mode without a clear cut purpose....terrible things can happen. Like, suddenly you're writing a "Book Blog".

From one cliche to another is my unspoken motto.

My sister Jenny asked me to read the book Never Let Me Go by, Kazuo Ishiguro. She didn't understand the book at all so naturally she thought of me. I'm good with the un-understandable.

Uhhhh....Well, ummm...so yeah!


I guess I'll start with, did I like it?

Yes.

It was hard to get through though. I would go back and re-read things thinking I'd missed something important only to end up, after the re-read, sure I'd missed something important...and, still missing it.

I think the reason it was hard to get through is that it was written from a first person point of view and was about the main character remembering her childhood and young adulthood. Having lived in my head and spent, heh, hem...several decades trying to figure out what my memories of experiences, choices, and relationships are teaching me about myself, I know how one memory ties into another, but to understand that one I have to tell you this one... and yeah. I was impressed that the author could weave it all into a beautiful story that had me remembering my past and drawing comparisons and gaining realizations about my life I'd never thought of.

Our past experiences and environment matter, they define what we know of ourselves. I think the title, Never Let Me Go, is to be taken literally, we need to find the, "Me", that defines us to ourselves, the, "Me" that is our soul, the essence of our being, the timeless, limitless voice that guides us through each phase of life motivating us to accept our fate or change it. And once we find that "Me", we never let it go.

I picked up a strong theme woven throughout the novel, accepting our fate is choosing it and in choosing our fate we change our fate. On some level all of the characters knew their destiny, yet each one resisted the inevitability of their future in different ways.

Ruth pretended to be wise and in control of everything even, at times, acting as if her childhood memories were so trivial she had simply forgotten them. She was always trying to gain the upper hand in every situation to cover up the tender dreamer that was closer to her nature.

Laura mimicked and mocked always going for the laugh and ended up humorless.

Tommy questioned everything, with tantrums past an acceptable age, complacency about his inadequacies, then developing his talent but still seeking the praise and external acceptance for it denied in his childhood.

Kathy's character resisted by caring about others, losing herself in their struggles became a fight against her own fate.

In the end as each character is faced with their own mortality they either choose to embrace the hopes and dreams of their childhood, recognizing and accepting their realization or loss and finding in their existence a deeper meaning that changes their day to day moments; or to slip into a meaningless trance wondered why they ever existed at all.

I liked the authors description that the themes he was exploring were made more interesting by the relatively short time span of their lives. We all play out the idea of "Transcending our fate" we accept that we will have seventy plus years to sort through it all, we're shocked and horrified when we here of someone who died young, before they really had a chance to live. Yet oddly we put off that internal exploration of our past, our choices, experiences and relationships, planning to sort through it tomorrow or next year.

At some point we have to get into our past, really look at the dreams and hopes the questions and choices that teach us our soul. It's possible to become so lost in the past that we miss out on the present, but ignoring our memories or pretending our past doesn't matter or even inventing a past leaves us unprepared to accept and relish the moment and embrace the future.

My favorite character was Tommy, everyone treated him like he was slow and unaware but in his way he was the most intuitive with his questions, and theories and tantrums. I loved that his deliberate choice after visiting with Madame and Miss Emily was to revisit the tantrums of his childhood and that tantrum somehow gave Kathy the courage to embrace her past and find her purpose.

I didn't think too much about the, "squeamish inducing sex" as Jenny put it in her review. But after having talked to her this afternoon and since I lost half the post and had to rewrite it I will mention it. I really liked how sex was presented to the students as biological experience with emotional ramifications and no heinous moral complications. It was interesting to think of sex as an experience that you could and should choose at a time you felt was appropriate and with someone you felt comfortable with. I enjoyed the simple acceptance of the urge to connect sexually with someone and the realization that sex changes the nature of those relationships. I was amused by the little references to people who thought sex was bad and how those individuals and the adults reacted to sexuality. It was fascinating to watch the most controlling character use denial of her own sexuality in an attempt to control her environment and relationships.

Even with the known quantity of their life expectancy most characters were reluctant or unable to find their "Me" and as a result struggled with the pain of lost opportunities. A pain, that was greater and more difficult to endure then the terrible physical pain they were experiencing. It really made me think.

I enjoyed the author and would like to read more of his stuff.

So, there you have it Jenny.

Really deep? Doubtful.

Over thought? Probably.

Un-understandable? Certainly.