”Never Let Me Go” – revisited
written by Kazuo Ishiguro

”Never Let Me Go” is my big hundred, 29th of April, 2016 revisit because it is such a subtle and moving masterpiece. It is the only novel of Kazuo Ishiguro that I have read and I´m not in the least disappointed. In the very begining you might think that it´s a coming of age story between a group of kids in a prestigious English boarding school. Those kinds of stories generally don´t interest me and this tale is far more than that. Keep in mind that it takes place in the parallel world of today, or close enough in the 80s or 90s. This story defies the simple clasification of just sci-fi or even fiction while meriting the title of ”classic”. It´s all those things.

Here is a webpage to find the novel online:   http://theburiedgiant.co.uk/

I have to say that I pay particular attention to the stories of injustice towards a group of people unfairly chosen to bear society´s burdens. This novel has the themes of slavery and a cannibalistic society that has shunned justice, based on ethnicity, gender, religious preference (or lack thereof), genetics, social class, system cast or any other feature that shouldn´t matter but does. That really is what this story is about.

The children in this story are clones who are raised in the very pleasant environment of Hailsham boarding school. During their whole childhood they are groomed to accept the fact that they are clones and will be harvested for their organs when they grow older. Stories like the one about the boy who went beyond the fence and was found malled help to instill fear and obedience.

The world of this story is one that boasts of medical advances that cure some of their more serious diseases. But it is a world with a filthy secret. That medical technology is based on human harvesting and murder. It´s a cannibalistic society wearing a convincing mask. Clones are grown sterile to be harvested by the upper casts of society. If you think about it, these people outdo the nazis of WW2 in their brutality. Of course the members of this society look the other way and collect the clone organs.

I have to think that if this were an ancient classic myth the gods would lay waste to this entire society, like the cursed city of Thebes from ancient Greek history. As cruel and petty as the gods were they would not have tolerated this nonsense. You might want to go back and read Homer´s ”Iliad” after you read this. I find that a little godly wrath is a good antidote to human stupidity. If you consider that nearly all the people who took part in the Trojan War didn´t do so well later (with the exception of Helen of Troy). A good dose of the classics could give you faith in society again.

The most heart wrenching part of this story is that these clones are in no position to flee or fight against their bad situation. Their fates were decided in a company board room and a lab before they were born. This is such a good story I can´t recommend it enough.

(Commentary by www.ink2quill.com )
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