Never Let Me Go
I've been meaning to read 'Never Let Me Go' for the longest time. Ever since I saw it in a Borders in Melbourne. Books in Melbourne are expensive. I kept looking for it in a second hand book store, and never found it. Sometime last year, I saw the trailer for the movie and that made me want to read the book again. So this time, in the Borders in Singapore, I thought I'd go ahead and pick up the book.
The first 100 pages of the book was a little slow. After that, though, I read and finished the book like I was possessed. I even downloaded the movie and watched it soon after I read the book.
Now, everybody who reads a book and then watches it's subsequent movie recognises the disconnect. Especially when the book is really fresh in our minds. We're really upset about minor things that seemed important in the book and were not mentioned at all in the movie.
The really short version of the story is:
After Word War II, scientists start cloning human beings for their organs. These children are brought up in special centres and schools and are told from the beginning what the purpose of their life is. They keep donating vital organs till they finally die. Most of them before they turn 30. You only start donating after you've finished school. You can stay in a nice transition home for two years after school and meet people from different schools. You can also travel to different places close by. You start you career by being a carer to patients who have donated, and then you get a letter asking you for your first donation. The book follows the lives of three 'donor' children living in a privileged boarding school called Hailsham. It follows their lives as two of them donate and 'complete.' That's what they call someone who's died. This person completed.
When I was reading the book, I kept thinking of how they would explain certain scenes in the movie. I kept thinking of the screenplay all the time. To be fair, they didn't do such a bad job with the movie. I was just expecting a bit more. This movie really troubled me. Some questions were answered in the movie though.
For example, I kept thinking about why these people couldn't just run away. I mean, they're allowed to go out for three, four days. What's stopping them from just disappearing into the countryside? I mean, yeah sure, they don't have any paperwork or anything, but it shouldn't be all that difficult to disappear, right? The movie explained that by having them wear these id tags that recorded their movements. They had to sign out whenever they left their residence and sign in when they came in. Makes sense.
Another question that plagued me was how these kids got selected to go to Hailsham. Neither mediums explained this. Hailsham was seen as a privileged place, and the people who went there were supposed to be special. If all the clones were made in laboratories, how did these children get selected to go to Hailsham? What about the rest of them?
Why was Kathy a carer for so long? Almost 10 years. In the book, it didn't even mention that she got her letter for the first donation. The movie did though.
That's it. About three glaring questions that I had. The others were more philosophical and existential. Why didn't the clones ever protest? They seemed smart and creative and everything. Wasn't there something at the back of their minds just making them protest about the this whole process? Because it just seems so ridiculously unfair. I suppose that if they're told from the beginning of their lives that this is what they were made for and there's no other life for them, they've probably resigned themselves to their fate. But, something makes me think that there must've been a rebel, right? More than one, in fact. History and science fiction movies have shown us that when one group of people subjugates another, there is always a rebel alliance. It just bothered me that there wasn't. That this entire 'clone race' was content to sit with their lot.
I guess it was just a book and shouldn't be taken seriously. Yes, I will keep repeating this to myself when I'm troubled.
The first 100 pages of the book was a little slow. After that, though, I read and finished the book like I was possessed. I even downloaded the movie and watched it soon after I read the book.
Now, everybody who reads a book and then watches it's subsequent movie recognises the disconnect. Especially when the book is really fresh in our minds. We're really upset about minor things that seemed important in the book and were not mentioned at all in the movie.
The really short version of the story is:
After Word War II, scientists start cloning human beings for their organs. These children are brought up in special centres and schools and are told from the beginning what the purpose of their life is. They keep donating vital organs till they finally die. Most of them before they turn 30. You only start donating after you've finished school. You can stay in a nice transition home for two years after school and meet people from different schools. You can also travel to different places close by. You start you career by being a carer to patients who have donated, and then you get a letter asking you for your first donation. The book follows the lives of three 'donor' children living in a privileged boarding school called Hailsham. It follows their lives as two of them donate and 'complete.' That's what they call someone who's died. This person completed.
When I was reading the book, I kept thinking of how they would explain certain scenes in the movie. I kept thinking of the screenplay all the time. To be fair, they didn't do such a bad job with the movie. I was just expecting a bit more. This movie really troubled me. Some questions were answered in the movie though.
For example, I kept thinking about why these people couldn't just run away. I mean, they're allowed to go out for three, four days. What's stopping them from just disappearing into the countryside? I mean, yeah sure, they don't have any paperwork or anything, but it shouldn't be all that difficult to disappear, right? The movie explained that by having them wear these id tags that recorded their movements. They had to sign out whenever they left their residence and sign in when they came in. Makes sense.
Another question that plagued me was how these kids got selected to go to Hailsham. Neither mediums explained this. Hailsham was seen as a privileged place, and the people who went there were supposed to be special. If all the clones were made in laboratories, how did these children get selected to go to Hailsham? What about the rest of them?
Why was Kathy a carer for so long? Almost 10 years. In the book, it didn't even mention that she got her letter for the first donation. The movie did though.
That's it. About three glaring questions that I had. The others were more philosophical and existential. Why didn't the clones ever protest? They seemed smart and creative and everything. Wasn't there something at the back of their minds just making them protest about the this whole process? Because it just seems so ridiculously unfair. I suppose that if they're told from the beginning of their lives that this is what they were made for and there's no other life for them, they've probably resigned themselves to their fate. But, something makes me think that there must've been a rebel, right? More than one, in fact. History and science fiction movies have shown us that when one group of people subjugates another, there is always a rebel alliance. It just bothered me that there wasn't. That this entire 'clone race' was content to sit with their lot.
I guess it was just a book and shouldn't be taken seriously. Yes, I will keep repeating this to myself when I'm troubled.
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