Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro

Judging this book totally by its cover, 

it progressed on to be something beyond my imagination.

What started off as a narrative of a girl in a warped, institutionalized-like boarding school where art was the utmost importance, grew into something much more substantial and out-of-the-world.

Throughout the early part of the book, i kept questioning why art seemed to be the priority in this school known as Hailsham and why subjects like Math and Science were never brought up once. Something else also piqued my curiosity, the fact that Hailsham was very particular about the health of its students. And by particular, i mean, completely and obscenely particular.

It soon became clear, that the reason was because Hailsham was a school that sheltered clones. These clones were meant to grow up and donate their organs for the benefit of humans. 

It took me a while to get the insinuation that they were putting forward, because the characters were shaped with emotions and thoughts and curiosity, something that doesnt go hand-in-hand with our traditional impression of clones.

I wouldnt want to spoil the ending for you (even though this book was not particularly written for its climax or its shocking ending), but I have to tell you that towards its last pages, it made me realize how selfish human beings really are.

Of course, our selfishness is a known fact. But reading this book that is supposedly written from the perspective of a clone, it made me see that us being selfish might have originated from fear. Or possibly from wanting too much of everything.

'Never Let Me Go' was separated into three parts. The first revolved around Hailsham itself and how the main character observed other students as well as the behaviour of the guardians in the school. The second part was when they entered adulthood and went out into the real world before they went on to become donors. The last part focuses mainly on experiences of these clones as they donate their organs compliantly and how their lives progress from then on.

For me, it wasnt really a brilliant masterpiece, though it did provide me more than a few things to ponder on. Try it out! You might discover something new about yourself from this piece of literature. :)

p/s : this book was shortlisted for THE Man BOOKER PRIZE 2005