It's between Never Let Me Go and Remains of the Day for me, but all his works have that haunting staying power. Reading him always feels like a master class in writing.
I read this book several years ago and the part that always stuck with me was the emphasis on the student's artwork. It's revealed later in the novel that their art was so important because it "proved" the students had souls. Having been exposed to the theology of the body now, I find this aspect of the book much more haunting. Because of their utilitarian purpose and the technology involved in their cloning, there remains the question of what exactly Kathy and her friends are - and if they do have souls what does this say about their dignity and the morality of confining them to such a bleak, inhumane existence?
Thank you for sharing your thoughts! You shed a lot of light on a book I've never been able to quite get out of my mind!
I also found the theme of art in the novel intriguing and is something I hoped to discuss but just couldn't cover in the scope of this essay.
I read an interview with Ishiguro about NLMG a while back where he said the clones were a metaphor with which he could contend with mortality and the questions it poses, one being what is the point of all this art and culture if we just die in the end.
The line about hoping to prove that they had souls with their art has always stuck out to me too, especially since 'the body expresses the soul' is an idea that is present in TOB. The scene where the guardians are trying to explain what they were doing with the art and the conditions they raised them in always speaks to me of their tragic lack of an adequate philosophical anthropology that can really account for and defend the lives of the children in their charge. You can see them grasping their way towards the truth but not quite getting there.
This is so insightful. I read the book so long ago that it's barely coming back to me, but your points are ones that really make it mean so much more. Did you read Klara and the Sun as well? Because I see him trying to make similar points there as well, but also less effectively than this novel in a lot of ways.
Yes, I completely agree about Klara and the Sun exploring similar topics but less effectively. I had such high hopes for that one and was underwhelmed.
He's one of the few authors from whom I've actually read everything because I think he can be so good on having a finger to the pulse of modern discontentment.
Also, Christy! I'm a bit star-struck that you commented on here. I used to be regular listener of the Fountains of Carrots podcast!
Beautifully written, Dominika! You have such a knack for putting two things in conversation with each, and I always feel a widening in my soul when I read your words. Thank you! It seems like there is a lot of conversation in church culture today about developing a theology of the body. I’ve never read John Paul II’s Theology of the Body but it sounds profound in a way I haven’t encountered before.
Thank you so much for your kind words, Elizabeth! I didn't set out to write reflections that were basically pairings of books but I guess this is just how my mind works haha
TOB is well worth exploring and also a massive tome 😅 I've only read sections of it plus others' commentary over it. His book Love and Responsibility is a lot shorter and treats many of the same topics if you want to get your feet wet.
I love love loved this reflection. JPII’s Theology of the Body has been so important to me. My husband and I read it as a self-chosen “pre-Cana.” And Never Let Me Go absolutely devastated me this year. You put into words, better than I ever could, the tragedy I was sensing about these characters and the way it connects to their disordered bodily nature. Thank you!
Self-chosen pre-Cana is amazing! My husband and I did something similar in reading selections from Love and Responsibility when we were dating. And 'absolutely devastated' is exactly how I felt reading NMLG too. Ishiguro is incredible at relating the tragedy of a situation with a restraint and subtlety that somehow makes you feel the characters' suffering all the more acutely. Thanks for your kind note, Elise! I hope you and your family are having a blessed Advent!
I'd love to hear your thoughts! It's not everybody's favorite. I know people who've loved Remains of Day, but find this one too meandering and opaque. But it gobsmacked me when I read it. I found it just a beautiful work of fiction and a profound meditation on the human condition.
Came here from Haley Beaumeister (I think that's how you spell her name!). Thank you for this beautiful reflection Dominika, not only did it get to the heart of the book but is also a very heartfelt and beautiful read in its own right. Never Let Me Go is one of the saddest books I ever read, yet there's a great restraint to Ishiguro's writing.
There are there moments in the novel that really stand out to me; young Kathy listening to "Never Let Me Go" while holding a doll, empathising with a mother whose lost a child, and her teacher watching her in tears; the porn magazine scene you've already mentioned, and the scene where Kathy and Tommy meet their teachers as adults only to be told that the closest people they had to parental figures were unsure if they had souls. All of these scenes are visceral and brutal, yet the prose is so lyrical and restrained - I think serves to highlight both the coldness of that world while allowing reflection on the reader's behalf.
I read Never Let Me Go last year and it’s now my favorite Ishiguro novel.
I love the way you’re reading it alongside the theology of the body here.
It's between Never Let Me Go and Remains of the Day for me, but all his works have that haunting staying power. Reading him always feels like a master class in writing.
Thanks for your kind comment!
I read this book several years ago and the part that always stuck with me was the emphasis on the student's artwork. It's revealed later in the novel that their art was so important because it "proved" the students had souls. Having been exposed to the theology of the body now, I find this aspect of the book much more haunting. Because of their utilitarian purpose and the technology involved in their cloning, there remains the question of what exactly Kathy and her friends are - and if they do have souls what does this say about their dignity and the morality of confining them to such a bleak, inhumane existence?
Thank you for sharing your thoughts! You shed a lot of light on a book I've never been able to quite get out of my mind!
I also found the theme of art in the novel intriguing and is something I hoped to discuss but just couldn't cover in the scope of this essay.
I read an interview with Ishiguro about NLMG a while back where he said the clones were a metaphor with which he could contend with mortality and the questions it poses, one being what is the point of all this art and culture if we just die in the end.
The line about hoping to prove that they had souls with their art has always stuck out to me too, especially since 'the body expresses the soul' is an idea that is present in TOB. The scene where the guardians are trying to explain what they were doing with the art and the conditions they raised them in always speaks to me of their tragic lack of an adequate philosophical anthropology that can really account for and defend the lives of the children in their charge. You can see them grasping their way towards the truth but not quite getting there.
This is so insightful. I read the book so long ago that it's barely coming back to me, but your points are ones that really make it mean so much more. Did you read Klara and the Sun as well? Because I see him trying to make similar points there as well, but also less effectively than this novel in a lot of ways.
Yes, I completely agree about Klara and the Sun exploring similar topics but less effectively. I had such high hopes for that one and was underwhelmed.
He's one of the few authors from whom I've actually read everything because I think he can be so good on having a finger to the pulse of modern discontentment.
Also, Christy! I'm a bit star-struck that you commented on here. I used to be regular listener of the Fountains of Carrots podcast!
Beautifully written, Dominika! You have such a knack for putting two things in conversation with each, and I always feel a widening in my soul when I read your words. Thank you! It seems like there is a lot of conversation in church culture today about developing a theology of the body. I’ve never read John Paul II’s Theology of the Body but it sounds profound in a way I haven’t encountered before.
Thank you so much for your kind words, Elizabeth! I didn't set out to write reflections that were basically pairings of books but I guess this is just how my mind works haha
TOB is well worth exploring and also a massive tome 😅 I've only read sections of it plus others' commentary over it. His book Love and Responsibility is a lot shorter and treats many of the same topics if you want to get your feet wet.
I love love loved this reflection. JPII’s Theology of the Body has been so important to me. My husband and I read it as a self-chosen “pre-Cana.” And Never Let Me Go absolutely devastated me this year. You put into words, better than I ever could, the tragedy I was sensing about these characters and the way it connects to their disordered bodily nature. Thank you!
Self-chosen pre-Cana is amazing! My husband and I did something similar in reading selections from Love and Responsibility when we were dating. And 'absolutely devastated' is exactly how I felt reading NMLG too. Ishiguro is incredible at relating the tragedy of a situation with a restraint and subtlety that somehow makes you feel the characters' suffering all the more acutely. Thanks for your kind note, Elise! I hope you and your family are having a blessed Advent!
Wow, Dominika... I have seen this novel around for YEARS and never picked it up. This is making me want to give it a listen very soon.
I'd love to hear your thoughts! It's not everybody's favorite. I know people who've loved Remains of Day, but find this one too meandering and opaque. But it gobsmacked me when I read it. I found it just a beautiful work of fiction and a profound meditation on the human condition.
Came here from Haley Beaumeister (I think that's how you spell her name!). Thank you for this beautiful reflection Dominika, not only did it get to the heart of the book but is also a very heartfelt and beautiful read in its own right. Never Let Me Go is one of the saddest books I ever read, yet there's a great restraint to Ishiguro's writing.
There are there moments in the novel that really stand out to me; young Kathy listening to "Never Let Me Go" while holding a doll, empathising with a mother whose lost a child, and her teacher watching her in tears; the porn magazine scene you've already mentioned, and the scene where Kathy and Tommy meet their teachers as adults only to be told that the closest people they had to parental figures were unsure if they had souls. All of these scenes are visceral and brutal, yet the prose is so lyrical and restrained - I think serves to highlight both the coldness of that world while allowing reflection on the reader's behalf.