Sunday, July 11, 2010

Never Let Me Go

So the other day I found out that Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro is becoming a movie. And it is coming out Septmeber 15th. The book is amazing. It is one of those books I talked about last time- that I found out through a person who found it through a person and I couldn’t understand why I had never heard of it before.

Here is a synopsis of the book:
The novel describes the life of Kathy H., a young woman of 31, focusing at first on her childhood at an unusual boarding school and eventually her adult life. The story takes place in a dystopian Britain, in which human beings are cloned to provide donor organs for transplants. Kathy and her classmates have been created to be donors, though the adult Kathy is temporarily working as a "carer," someone who supports and comforts donors as they are made to give up their organs and, eventually, submit to death.

For full summary go here.


Originally published in 2005 what I love about this book is that it is horrifying and enthralling at the same time. The theme- that some children are raised solely to become organ donors for the rest of the population seems completely against nature. It is simply horrifying to me that you could be born into a life you are forced to live. I was surprised there wasn’t more suicide rates in the school.

At the same time, it is a science fiction where the horror comes from the fact we realize this could possibly happen.

What makes this book readable for the non-sci fi reader is the fact that the novel focuses on the relationships. Kathy’s friends fall in love and prove themselves to be more than clones-they’re human.

But the reason I am telling you about this book is not just because I think you should put it on your to read list before the movie comes out. I am also really unsure whether or not this movie is going to be successful. Yes, it starts Kiera Knightley, Carey Mulligan and Sally Hawkins. Yes, they have moved up the release date to be a fall blockbuster. But I am really not sure that the mass movie going public is going to be ready for this topic. The book is moving, it is gritty, it is scary and fascinating. If the trailer is any indication, the movie has the potential to be all of these things as well. This topic may be to dark for the general public. I know I can’t get most of my friends to read the book- even those who generally trust my opinion with books.

I guess we will wait to see, but I’m calling it now. Minor hit, at best. Not because it won’t be a good movie but because its dark.
Here’s a preview for the trailer:

No comments:

Post a Comment