Hey guys, welcome to my first blog, and my first bit of the real college experience: FYSR. Basically, FSU generously gave a paperback copy of a novel to each student at Orientation, which is to be read prior to the first week of classes. The title of the book is by Kazuo Ishiguro, and I know only a couple things about it:
-It is considered “science fiction”.
-It has something to do with cloning.

Now, at Orientation I overheard a whole bunch of Freshman lamenting the idea of Summer reading, and joking with their friends that they were not planning to read the book. That’s great, but I feel compelled to read the book for two reasons:
1. This is our first assignment in college, and I’d rather step off on the right foot. What’s the point of wasting all that money to get into a huge University to blow off assignments before you have even sat in a single class? That is seriously lazy. I don’t know about all of you, but I know my major is extremely competitive and I have no time to be lazy this early in the game.
2. If you have even been in any AP English course with Mr. Hammy-Hammond, this isn’t something new. Staring year one (AP English Language, Junior), the summer assignment was huge. We had to choose a novel of serious literary merit (mine was by Stephen Jay Gould), read it, write a page of journal entry for every few pages (ended up being 40-some-odd pages), and write an essay about whether ignorance is really bliss or not. That was before even stepping into his presence. Then second year (AP English Literature, Senior), we had to do a summer reading project (I believe it was Truman Capote’s ), and pick a controversial topic (In Vitro Meat, FTW) to organize both sides of a debate. So not only did we read a book each summer, we completed extensive assignments as well.

So with all of this in mind, I began my reading, and using the 34 question guide, I decided to begin writing blogs about the book (the answers are opinionated and aren’t required to be written down, so there is really no point of stealing my opinions). The purpose of this is to keep me on track (who wants to let the people of the internets see you fail at reading and completing questions), organize my thoughts, and perhaps help and receive ideas from other students who are in the same garnet and gold boat. I will post a new blog every 4-5 questions and try to keep a steady pace.

Let’s go ahead and dive in:

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

Pages Read: 1-37 (through Chapter 3).

Unfamiliar terms: No. The language is not overly advanced (coughmismeasureofmancough), so I don’t see defining words as a pressing issue.

Questions:

1. How did the words “gallery,” “donation,” and “carer” come into play when you read the first part of the book and what do you think they mean?
The first word mentioned of these three was “carer”, and I got the shallow meaning as someone who cares for others. Obvious, I know. There lies more significance in who Kathy is caring for, which has not arose so early in the novel. With my rationalizations about the other words in this question, I have made a somewhat educated guess that they are the people from which the genes for cloning come from. If they are to be an origin of life for someone else, they would need great amounts of care to stay healthy.
The “gallery” hasn’t really been dwelled into all that much; it is a place for creative works of high esteem to be gathered. The reason behind this has not been explained, but a hypothesis would be that children who produce beautiful art are more desirable candidates to be cloned.
Most obvious to me seemed to be “donation”, which would be the matter from the children which would be cloned (the DNA prior to the multiplication process). Just another theory, but I can’t be that far off, can I?

2. Between Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy, which one do you think you would get along with the most and why?
I hate this kind of question, because I hate attempting to form personal relationships with a person on paper. They each have very different characteristics which people can identify with, which I suppose is the whole point of this question.
Ruth is strong, a leader who is constantly being looked up to. She doesn’t really use her power for good or bad, which I would have a problem with if we were friends. What is the point of having that strength, knowing you can help the people being teased (i.e. Tommy at this point), yet making no effort to help?
I always find it hard to identify with a narrator, but I see she attempts to change the world around her and is a caring individual. I would probably get along with her pretty well, because she is not overly assertive but doesn’t let people walk all over her.
I would have issues with Tommy because of his preceding anger issues. He obviously doesn’t cope well with his peers and lets them effect him when what they say and do doesn’t matter. He’s started getting better at it, but we’ll see where he ends up.

3. At Hailsham, the importance of creativity is stressed. How do you think creativity will be important in your college career?
For me, personally, it will be a matter of standing out among 400 of my peers. I’ve always used my creativity to get noticed, and that should continue through my college career.

4. Why do you think that Madame is “scared” of the kids at Hailsham? She was afraid of them like spiders, yet she still wanted their work.Why do you think she keeps coming back if she was afraid? Have you ever felt like a “spider”; how did it affect you? (p. 35)
For the first part, my reasoning fails to link to my theory here. If they are the clones themselves, maybe the aspect of them not being normal is threatening. Matching with my theory, if they are the “clonees”, so to speak, then perhaps she doesn’t want to infect them with any sort of germs, or again it could be the unfamiliar part of them, that they are to become multiple people, that is scary to her.
She keeps coming back because she wants the art. Maybe she wants the creative bit detached from the physical human bit which she seems to not like.
As for feeling like a “spider”, it’s kind of an odd concept. No one is really afraid of me for who I am; I don’t see this being a huge issue for 90% of the people reading this book.

That is all I have so far. It is an interesting book; kind of slow with all of the flashbacks through the first chapters, but for some reason I find myself compelled to find where the cloning bit comes into play. Please feel free to comment, particularly if you are reading or have read the story. Please, don’t post any spoilers.

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