Why AP?

Despite really enjoying this novel, I have often found myself questioning whether or not this story is of literary merit, or AP worthy. The rest of the books that I have read in this class have been rather challenging with several references, and deeper meanings that I would not have been able to understand without help. To me, a story of literary merit is something that has an important meaning that is not totally obvious to the reader and requires deep analysis and thinking. I have also found that there is usually some big event that somewhat ambiguously ties the whole story together and I have yet to encounter that in Never Let Me Go, nor am I anticipating one.

It is clear that my definition of a book that is of literary merit is rather narrow and specific. It can most definitely be argued that books that fit this type of category more often than not do fit this mold. That does not mean that they all must. There are plenty of books out there that use strong and confusing language with mysterious and odd content that aren't AP worthy. As was discussed in the previous post, the style and language of Ishiguro is not that of Margaret Atwood or Toni Morrison, but it does convey a deeper, darker message in a simpler, more reader-friendly way.

Obviously I am rather conflicted as to whether or not this is AP worthy based on the other works we have read for the class. I think I also may be conflicted because this is a more contemporary novel as it was published in 2005, which is obviously much more recent than the other books we have read in AP Lit. All of this being said, even though a lot of the books that are considered to be "AP worthy" are older and more "difficult" to read, that does not necessarily mean that they have to fit this criteria. So, perhaps, my view is just flawed? I truly think that I could see it go either way.

If we were to consider Never Let Me Go to be AP worthy I think it would be because of it's commentary on innocence and knowledge. The students of Hailsham are sheltered from their inevitable futures by their teachers. They know that they're different, but they don't know exactly why and they have questions that they know they can't ask. They know they can never reproduce and that they were put on Earth for a specific reason and that they have to maintain good health and be isolated from the "real world" in order to fulfill their duties. By the end of the book we find out that certain teachers really wanted to tell them and found it to be extremely unethical to not tell these children that they were going to become organ donors whether they liked it or not. Since it was their futures they had a right to know and sheltering them from the truth would only cause harm. Perhaps if they had had this knowledge earlier they would have lived their lives differently. While they may have been trying to keep them innocent, they were denying them their right to know their future. In this case innocence was ignorance, and it is clear that knowledge is very powerful and can be upsetting but it is better to be knowledgeable than to be ignorant.

Author's Style

Welcome back! I have hardly been able to put this book down and have enjoyed it very much, despite the slight confusion I am feeling in terms of the meaning of the work as a whole, (which I will talk about in a later post), that I think could mainly be attributed to one key characteristic: style. The style of this novel is so incredibly different from that of the other novels I have read so far in AP Lit, like Brave New World, Handmaid's Tale, and Song of Solomon, and quite frankly it's refreshing. To be able to read a book and not have to stop every few minutes and try to figure out what the heck just happened, whether or not something is actually a motif or constantly looking up vocab, is nice for a change. Ishiguro's lax, laid-back, and easy to comprehend writing style allows for more time to contemplate what is really going on and to draw connections between different parts of the novel. I have also found that this style makes the story weirdly relatable. Despite the fact that there are few things I can genuinely relate to in this book, (I don't go to boarding school, I don't live in England, and I'm not destined to donate all of my organs as an adult), as I read I feel strangely connected to Kath and her friends. There is the obvious connection that I am an adolescent and am in the midst of my own coming-of-age experience, but it's more than that. You can read so much of this book in one sitting because it reads in your head so smoothly as though you were experiencing it yourself.

This casual, easy-to-read style almost tricks the reader into thinking that this is all normal. You find out that Ruth, Kathy, Tommy, and all of the other students at Hailsham are clones of people who are leading real, normal lives, that will not go on to donate all of their organs. The novel makes this situation almost fun when at one point the three of them accompany a few other students from The Cottages (a sort of transition period between Hailsham and donating), to investigate a "possible" of Ruth's. "Possibles" are the people that they may have been cloned from. While this adventure starts as fun, they later come to the realization that it can't be Ruth's possible and the people they are cloned from are likely to be less respectable. Ruth says, "We are modeled from trash. Junkies, prostitutes, winos and tramps," (166). The casual language used when discussing their unfortunate fates such as "completing" (dying, which usually occurs around the 4th donation) adds to the normalization of the content. 

The order in which the story is being told also makes the book easier to read. Instead of staying chronological, which can get rather boring, it incorporates flashbacks and stories from when Kath attended Hailsham. These flashbacks connect the past with the present and allow for the reader to make these connections on their own, which makes things interesting. It has kept me intrigued and eager to read more to finally have everything come together. This also permits Kath to have insight and commentary on things that occurred in the past, which is fun to read, especially when it comes to her relationships with Ruth and Tommy.

Another style element that makes this book great is the perspective. This story is told in first person from Kath's point of view. Though there are times when I would like to be immersed into Ruth or Tommy's minds, I feel as though Kath is a good judge of character and gives us the next best insight. Though first person narrators can only provided a limited and unavoidably biased view, it also gives an in-depth, and detailed perspective that would not be possible with multiple narrators, which I enjoy. Kath's character also seems the most relatable, because she is rather average in most senses and does not like to cause any trouble but is also attentive.

As you can tell, I really like Ishiguro's style of writing and would love to read more work by them. Reading a novel that is written in such a simplistic and flowy style makes it so much easier and more enjoyable to analyze and to think about more deeply, which makes the reading experience all the more pleasurable.

An Introduction to Never Let Me Go - So Far

The story begins with the narrator, Kathy, introducing herself as a thirty-one year old carer. A term that begins to make more sense as the story goes on. The content so far has consisted of Kathy looking back on her experience as a student at Hailsham, a seemingly normal boarding school in England. Hailsham appears to be your typical boarding school filled with all kinds of students and "guardians" who take on the roles of teachers and caretakers, though you suspect that something is up very quickly. The students are completely isolated from the outside world, are unable to leave Hailsham, are forced to maintain impeccable health, and are not provided answers as to why any of this is. Since the story is mostly a reflection on the past, Kathy's tone provides the reader with the sense that things were not normal at all and that much was kept for them. Mostly is an important word because the book does switch between reflection and present day where Kathy is caring for another character, Ruth. This clues the reader into knowing that these students were specially kept and monitored to become organ donors. Kathy reflects on how her, Ruth, and Tommy, slowly came to realize what was to become of them.

As was mentioned earlier, Kathy is the narrator and is now a young woman in her early thirties. Early on she mentions that she has been a carer, someone who cares and looks after the donors, for an unusually long time. She appears to be the sort of moderator in the story in terms of how she interacts with others, especially Tommy and Ruth. While they are both loud and opinionated, Kathy is rather quiet and likes to avoid conflict as much as possible. She seems to be rather well-liked and stays clear from drama as much as she can. She is also very kind and caring (no pun-intended) which is exhibited through her relationships with Tommy and Ruth. Tommy was bullied very severely for a long period of time and would often through tantrums as a way to cope. One day, instead of laughing at him as everyone else did, Kathy simply talked to him and tried to be his friend, marking the beginning of their important friendship. Ruth tended to get herself in trouble a lot with other students by saying things they did not like and Kathy was always the first to defend her and rationalize her actions or words. I am eager to see where Kathy's intelligence will lead her, especially with the help of Tommy and Ruth.

Tommy is first introduced as a rather unfortunate character who is unable to control his emotions as someone his age should be able to. Kids pick on him because they know they will get a dramatic reaction from him and they like to make fun of the fact that he has no creative ability, something the students at Hailsham are encouraged to have. Every year students make and sell some sort of art piece that could be chosen to be hung in the gallery, a weird possibly non-existent place, if Madame thinks it to be worthy. Tommy and Kathy speak of odd encounters and conversations they have either had or heard with other guardians and begin to question the little world they live in.

Ruth is a very loud, outgoing, and rather intimidating girl. Everyone is sort of drawn to her and she tends to have a large crowd of friends, though it is hard to tell who really knows her. She seems to hide her emotions from most others and likes to appear tough and strong, and she knows that she is seen as a leader and perhaps feels obligated to act this way because of that. Ruth is the organizer of a secret club that protects a guardian, Miss Geraldine, that Ruth and the other members are convinced is in danger. It is clear that Ruth is Miss Geraldine's favorite, which is sort of weird and possibly hints at the fact that she is actually in danger and appreciates Ruth's protection. Ruth is the ring-leader of sorts when it comes to uncovering the weird truths about Hailsham, though at times it seems as though she is scared to find out the answers. Despite her tough appearance, Ruth breaks down and gets weird when students question where she got her cool pencil case, and shows that holding up this reputation as a strong leader is difficult. The mixture of her strength and leadership mixed with Kathy's intelligence and determinism I think will prove to be very effective in learning the truth.

This book reads very easily, almost as though it is just a normal young adult coming of age book. The casual tone of the story leads the reader to believe that all of this is normal, just as the Hailsham kids were trained to believe. I like this style of writing because it is not filled with difficult vocabulary and weird allusions, but just a story being told from the perspective of a student, who also thought that all of this was normal for at least part of her life. You start to realize things as Kathy starts to realize things and it keeps you intrigued. I am very excited to continue reading and to see Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy investigate further, together.