Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

I don't know how to write about this book without letting know too much. Kath, Tommy and Ruth are children brought up in Hailsham, a boarding school where nobody speaks about their families or leaves the school for holydays. The most important thing is being creative. The school tolerates sex but strictly forbids smoking. The students have to remain healthy. They have medical check-ups every week. They mention donations, possibles and deferrals and I first I didn't know what it meant. It didn't bother me not knowing. Then I learnt they are clones with the sole purpose in life to donate vital organs. This is what they are here for. 

This was my second Kazuo Ishiguro novel. The first was When We Were Orphans and I quite liked it. Did I like Never Let Me Go? The answers are both Yes and I don't know (if the latter is even possible). I like Ishiguro's writing. However I found the story disturbing. So "I don't know" part refers to this. After I finished it, no, before, when I learned what really went on, I felt kind of uncomfortable. I kept thinking why they didn't just leave, escape, go away. I remember thinking I would leave if I were one of them. Would I really? People find themselves in difficult circumstances in real life yet they don't just leave. It's not that easy. Kath, Tommy and Ruth were brought up in isolation. They know that different people exist and they know they aren't like them. They were also told that they were special.

Never Let Me Go is classified as a science fiction novel, however I'm not sure I agree. We don't get any clone background, no hospital background, no information who gets the organs and how it is done. It seems like getting an organ from a clone is a perfectly normal thing. And this is the most disturbing and scary part, the one that made me think the most.

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O tej zgodbi je težko pisati, ne da bi človek preveč povedal. Kath, Tommy in Ruth obiskujejo Hailshamsko internatsko šolo, kjer nihče ne govori o svoji družini in ne odide domov na počitnice. Najpomembnejša je kreativnost. Šola tolerira spolne odnose, medtem ko je kajenje strogo prepovedano, saj morajo učenci skrbeti za zdravje. Vsak teden imajo zdravniški pregled. V pogovorih mimo grede omenjajo donacije, možne modele in odloge, česar od začetka nisem razumela, vendar to ni vplivalo na branje in sledenje zgodbi. Nekje na polovici knjige izvemo, da so junaki zgodbe kloni, z eno samo nalogo v življenju - darovanjem organov. 

Ne zapusti me nikdar je drugi roman Kazua Ishigura, ki sem ga prebrala. Prvi je bil Ko smo bili sirote in mi je bil všeč. Pa ta? Da in ne vem hkrati. Všeč mi je Ishigurov stil pisanja, medtem, ko se mi je zdela zgodba po svoje grozljiva. Še posebej zato, ker je obravnavana na tako ležeren način, kot da je to najbolj normalna stvar. Spraševala sem se zakaj preprosto ne odidejo, ne zbežijo. Jaz bi že, če bi bila na njihovem mestu. Pa bi res? Ljudje se znajdejo v najrazličnejših težkih okoliščinah pa ne odidejo. Ni tako preprosto. Kath, Tommy in Ruth so bili vzgojeni ločeno od zunanjega sveta. No, ne čisto, vedo, da obstajajo tudi drugačni ljudje, vedo pa tudi, da so drugačni od njih. Učitelji jim nenehno ponavljajo, da so posebni.

Ne zapusti me nikdar naj bi bil znanstveno fantastični roman. Ne strinjam se čisto s to klasifikacijo. Nimamo podrobnejših informacij o klonih, ne vemo kaj se dogaja v bolnišnicah, oz. izvemo zelo zelo malo. Zgodba ne govori o prejemnikih organov, niti kako se opracije odvijajo. Videti je, da je prejemanje organov od klonov nekaj čisto normalnega. Ravno to je bil zame grozljivi del zgodbe, ki mi je dal misliti.