NEVER LET ME GO – Kazuo Ishiguro

Recently, I had the opportunity to read the Man-Booker nominated novel by Kazuo
Ishiguro aptly title “Never let me go.” To describe the setting of the novel the opening
lines of Charles Dickens A Tale of Two Cities strikes my mind- “It was the best of times,
it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness… it was
the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness…”

The book is a Narrative of Kathy H. a “student”/ Donor (Clones created to become

Organ Donors) from Hailsham currently working as a carer (someone who takes care of
the donors during donations.). The book explores Kathy’s life from her pre teens to the
present by way of the memories she has of her childhood and youth. The writer weaves
the main theme of the book slowly like a spider’s web and just like that it gets you
hooked in its simple yet profound plot.

The book is divided into three parts: the first part deals with Kathy’s life at Hailsham,
second part revolves around her life at the Cottages and finally her life as a carer makes
up the third part of the book.

Part One: Hailsham

Hailsham is a boarding school Kathy attends till she turns 18 where she is educated and
brought up by teachers known as “Guardians”. It is here that Kathy and the other children
around are encouraged to produce various forms of Art which are then traded between
them but the best of these are taken by the elusive Madame for “her collection” as it was
called by the children. The children secretly think that the purpose of the collection was
beyond just colleting these arts. It is here that she meets and befriends Ruth who becomes
one of her closest friends and confidant; it is also during this time that she meets Tommy
who later becomes something more than a friend. The part concludes when Kathy along
with 8 other Hailsham students leave for the Cottages.

Part Two: The Cottages

The Cottages are a stop over between Hailsham and becoming a carer. By this time
Tommy and Ruth are a couple but continue to be close friends of Kathy. But, once they
arrive at the Cottages things begin to change. As Kathy, Tommy and Ruth interact with
the older inhabitants there (the Veterans) the story takes a different turn. Upon hearing
about a discovery made by one of the veterans of the Cottages, the characters travel to
Norfolk where they are told by two veterans of the Cottages that Hailsham students could
be allowed to "defer" the time at which they could start their donations by proving they
had truly fallen in love. After this the equations between Kathy, Ruth and Tommy slowly
begin change for the worse. Tension between Tommy, Ruth, and Kathy rises as they all
struggle to find acceptance and understanding outside Hailsham, inevitably leading to
Kathy's departure from the cottages to become a carer.

Part Three: Life as a carer

In the third part we are shown glimpses of Kathy’s life as a carer. She becomes a carer of
Ruth after her encounter with another Hailsham friend Laura who tells her how Ruth had
a bad first donation. It is then that the relationship between Kathy and Ruth that had
soured over Kathy’s last few days at the Cottages is revived and they again become close
friends. On Ruth’s insistence Kathy and Ruth meet Tommy again who is at a near by
centre. When they meet again Ruth expresses her guilt over keeping Kathy and Tommy
apart and says that they still have a chance of becoming a couple and insists that they
meet Madame again who may be able to get the deferral they had heard of at Norfolk.
Later after Ruth completes (read dies) after her second donation Kathy becomes a carer
for Tommy where they fall in love and become lovers.

To know more about whether Tommy and Kathy get that deferral or not… Read the book
:P