Just finished "Never Let Me Go" and would like to discuss (spoiler alert)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you all liked this one, he has a more recent book (Klara and the Sun) that explores some similar themes.

Worth reading, but nowhere near as good.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Did the book inspire you to go vegan?

What? No. Why would it?

It could be argued that it’s an allegory for the idyllic vision of pasture-raised animals who live a good life and then have “one bad day”…

No. I don’t think that can be argued at all. You must not have read the book very carefully.

Interesting rebuttal. Lesser beings (the clones) raised for their organs to be harvested by the superior beings (the non clones)… raised in lovely conditions until their parts have grown sufficiently to be useful… there is no chance the superior beings would ever consider the value of the clones lives because their own health/convenience takes precedence…

Am I thinking of the wrong book?

Yes, because it's pretty clear in the book that the clones aren't lesser beings.

They are *treated* as lesser beings… no wonder you are struggling with this obvious connection to animal agriculture (regardless of what the author may or may not have intended) when you read at such a surface level.

NP. Yes they are treated as lesser beings, but I agree with the PP who said that the book shows that the clones aren’t “lesser”. Or shouldn’t be considered as lesser. They have the same complex feelings, emotions, they can do art… And yeah, I admit I didn’t see any connection to animal agriculture at all. Perhaps it was a surface level read, but I also didn’t like the book (rather slow and tedious, lots of mundane descriptions that didn’t lead anywhere) so I read it quickly to get it over with. Frankly, if the author weren’t a Nobel laureate, it would’ve been a DNF.

To be clear, the poster who was so quick to point out “but the clones AREN’T lesser beings, that’s why you’re WRONG!” was also reading the very comment to which they replied at a surface level.

With all due respect, no sh!t they weren’t actually lesser beings. (The “treated as” was implied. Or perhaps the original comment should have said “lesser beings” and “superior beings” to make it even more obvious…).

This is the same debate ethical vegans have with non-vegans, BTW. Are cows and pigs and chickens “lesser beings” than us in the first place? And if they are, does that give us the right to make them suffer for our own desires?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I thought the way sex was discussed was fascinating. And the boat allegory. It would have been good to read in book club.

What was the boat allegory? That it couldn't go anywhere?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where would they go? They have no family or friends to hide them. They are placed in jobs where they are monitored. And they are raised with the belief that this is their purpose.

I think the book speaks to how strongly your environment can condition your behavior. Loved this book when I read it a long time ago.

Fair enough. But our human instincts are to fight for our survival. So it is strange to me that out of thousands and thousands of these clones, all of them just blindly accept this horrible faith.

But that's the major subtext of the book - are they even human?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where would they go? They have no family or friends to hide them. They are placed in jobs where they are monitored. And they are raised with the belief that this is their purpose.

I think the book speaks to how strongly your environment can condition your behavior. Loved this book when I read it a long time ago.

Fair enough. But our human instincts are to fight for our survival. So it is strange to me that out of thousands and thousands of these clones, all of them just blindly accept this horrible faith.

But that's the major subtext of the book - are they even human?

Fair enough. I think we are certainly meant to see them as human going through all of the human emotions, suffering, etc.

[Anonymous]

I finally finished, Never Let Me Go. This book is a cautionary tale of what could go wrong when a serious literary author writes a dystopian science fiction.. result: a very boring Blade Runner.

The entire book is first person narrative about series of trivial incidents. The protagonist says, “it's important, but not as important as what happened later.” But nothing ever happens.

Without spoiling it, I simply cannot unbelievable that these people remain utterly oblivious to their situation and not one tries to rebel or run away.

[Anonymous]

Did you watch the movie version? 2010 film with Carey Mulligan, Andrew Garfield and Kiera Knightly.

[Anonymous]

At a Politics and Prose lecture he said the book is about duty. Sometimes duty is forced on us, sometimes it is not but we accept it like it was. That is what the clones did.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I finally finished, Never Let Me Go. This book is a cautionary tale of what could go wrong when a serious literary author writes a dystopian science fiction.. result: a very boring Blade Runner.

The entire book is first person narrative about series of trivial incidents. The protagonist says, “it's important, but not as important as what happened later.” But nothing ever happens.

Without spoiling it, I simply cannot unbelievable that these people remain utterly oblivious to their situation and not one tries to rebel or run away.

Lol, the Nobel committee made a profound mistake when it went with Ishiguro over (checks with PP) Blade Runner.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I finally finished, Never Let Me Go. This book is a cautionary tale of what could go wrong when a serious literary author writes a dystopian science fiction.. result: a very boring Blade Runner.

The entire book is first person narrative about series of trivial incidents. The protagonist says, “it's important, but not as important as what happened later.” But nothing ever happens.

Without spoiling it, I simply cannot unbelievable that these people remain utterly oblivious to their situation and not one tries to rebel or run away.

Lol, the Nobel committee made a profound mistake when it went with Ishiguro over (checks with PP) Blade Runner.

Emperor has no clothes..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I finally finished, Never Let Me Go. This book is a cautionary tale of what could go wrong when a serious literary author writes a dystopian science fiction.. result: a very boring Blade Runner.

The entire book is first person narrative about series of trivial incidents. The protagonist says, “it's important, but not as important as what happened later.” But nothing ever happens.

Without spoiling it, I simply cannot unbelievable that these people remain utterly oblivious to their situation and not one tries to rebel or run away.

Lol, the Nobel committee made a profound mistake when it went with Ishiguro over (checks with PP) Blade Runner.

I don’t understand this comment. I know scientists fiction gets no love from “serious” literature types, but Philip K. Dick’s body of work was hugely influential and thought provoking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t know. I mean why don’t any of us rebel? We are just passing time till we lose our own organs one by one. In my view it was saying something quite deep about the human condition.

We all have limited time. Why didn't we rebel? Why did we accept our roles?

I think it is a story about us, not the clones.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Really enjoyed his style of writing and couldn't put it down until I finished it.

This book can spark a discussion for hours, but one that I can't shake off is why they just didn't run away and not donate?

The book never addresses this. Sure, they tried to get permission to defer, but there is no mention of anyone ever rebelling or simply refusing to donate. Why is that?

When you believe, you believe. And they held onto hope. I just re-read it recently. It’s beautifully written too.

[Anonymous]

One more comment: They were good at creating their own stories and realities and explanations (even if they seemed to be a leap). Don’t we all.

They were childish and naive for a long time.
They were not hardened kids who witnessed pain earlier on. They were kept innocent.

The politics and prose speaker doesn’t know what they are talking about (ha).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Really enjoyed his style of writing and couldn't put it down until I finished it.

This book can spark a discussion for hours, but one that I can't shake off is why they just didn't run away and not donate?

The book never addresses this. Sure, they tried to get permission to defer, but there is no mention of anyone ever rebelling or simply refusing to donate. Why is that?

That was the whole point of the novel.

"Blind obedience to the government and accepting your fate as a cog."