NEVER LET ME GO
Just when I think that I'm actually starting to feel comfortable calling myself a writer without sounding too much like a cliche, I end up being reminded how much more I have to learn in this craft. The reminder this weekend is a brilliant book by Kenneth Ishiguro called Never Let Me Go. (I know I want to write screenplays and this is a novel, so it's different media, but still...)The book is one of the best-written books I've read in a long time. Probably since The Amazing Adventures of Kavailer and Clay.
The novel is written from the perspective of a young woman, Kathy, who is probably in her early 30s. The whole book is a memory piece of her early days at a elite prep school in England called Halisham, the friends she had there, and their lives after they leave Halisham. It sounds very idealic, simple, and non-assuming.
Oh wait! I left out the stuff about donations, the gallery, and carers didn't I? And I won't even start to get into the HUGE moral, theological, and cultural ramifcations of this story. Like Lost, there's a whole lot more going on in this story than meets the eye. However, unlike Lost, the hidden stuff almost seems beside the point. So much so that when you find out pieces of the puzzle, it's almost like you already knew those were the pieces, though there's absolutely no way you could see any of it coming.
What makes this book word is the way that it's written. The story is interesting, but in some ways it's secondary to the tone of the book, the way that it's written. The slow, gentle reveals, the clever timing, the stream of consciousness... It's all beautiful stuff. I highly recommend picking up a copy of this book.
Now if only I could figure out how to turn it into a prose...
posted by cinegod @ 1:35 PM
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