neverletmego



Author Kazuo Ishiguro

Brett- discussion questions Josh- Bring food and Discussion leader Lina- summary of meeting
 * Week One: March 1**
 * Jobs:**

Cath- She is the main character who narrates the story. She attended Hailsham, and is now a "carer" Tommy- One of Ruth's closest friends. Tommy is energetic, and often asks questions. Ruth- Another of Cath's friends, often butts heads with Tommy.
 * Assignment:** Characters

This week's meeting started by us discussing a little bit about our weekends, and complaining to Josh for not bringing food. After that was over we started talking about the book starting by asking the great questions that Brett wrote. We all agreed that we liked the book and that it was a good choice, also that even though it was good it was not great, so we were not really in love with it. We then moved on to this week's assignment which was talking about the characters of the book, but we all agreed that there wasn't much of them that we could say because what was mostly seen in the book was them as little kids rather than adults which is when the book is actually taking place. Both me Josh and I agreed that we liked Kath and that Tommy was alright, but Brett disagreed saying he did not like Kath.
 * Summary:**

Since the book is very short we only read a few chapters in so there is not much of the book to discuss, we found out that the book is going to be made into a movie so since we were done discussing the characters of the book and the book we researched that for a little bit. When we had around 10 minutes left Cassie informed us that she wanted to join our group, we were all very happy that she wanted to join us, and we finished the meeting with a great exchange of jokes and thoughts.

1. How do you like this book so far? Lina- confused about the structure and details of the book Brett- i like it Josh- i like it 2. How would you have dealt with Tommy's temper? Follow Kath's method of talking to him and making him feel like he had a friend 3.Would you want to be a carer? Why or why not? it would be a taxing job because it is a heavy responsibility taking of so many people, so no. 4. What part of the book did you find to be the most boring/confusing, at this point? the only confusing part is the details of Kath's job. 5. How does the quality of the book compare to you original thoughts? I thought it was going to be a love story and much more boring than it turned out to be.
 * Questions:**

Lina- bring food Josh- discussion questions Brett- type summary Cassie- DISCUSSION leader
 * Week Two: March 8**
 * Jobs:**


 * Assignment:** Language

We began the meeting discussing the situation of the characters, wondering why they do not protest their "imprisonment." The children are forced to stay in a boarding school,(Hailsham) where they are harvested for organs and unable to reproduce. Lina brought in pretzel sandwiches to snack on. Mr. Morone came to engage the group in a discussion about the plot, as he further prompts us for questions about the book. We also talked about the possibility that the author is writing the book as an exposé of human nature, perhaps branching off the concepts many associate with the Holocaust (imprisonment, violence, brainwashing.) The characters possibly do not acknowledge their plight because they have no point of comparison, they have never known better. This was the most prominent topic during our discussion, not knowing better than your situation. I equated this with a Christmas episode of The Jeffersons in which Tom and George discuss their childhood Christmases and George realizes, though he lived in poverty, his situation was better than Tom's becuase he had his father. We discussed the concept of creativity as it pertains to the book. I mentioned that, even though one character does encourage this, it is still by their standars. It would be the equivalent of the Nazis dictating how people shoudl live and conduct themselves.
 * Summary:**

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
 * Questions:**

Brett- discussion leader Lina- write questions Cassie- bring food Josh- type summary
 * Week Three: March 12**
 * Jobs:**


 * Assignment:** Tone, mood


 * Summary:**

1. When Kathy is talking about the way she feels about sex, why do you think that Ruth's seems to think that it is so weird that Kathy just has impulses to do it at random moments? We think that Ruth is trying to make Kathy just make her feel bad about herself, and she doesn't really think it's weird.
 * Questions:**

2. Do you think that Kathy easily forgives Ruth even though she is completely disregarding her and all of the new students from Hailsham simply to look "cool" in front of the veterans, or do you think she is just very understanding? We think that is very easy for Kath to forgive Ruth because she can see the good in people, and she needs to hold on to something familiar to her so she just tries to understand her more, plus we also think that Kath is more human like and has stronger feelings.

3. Why do you think that there are so many unwritten rules in the life of this students from Hailsham, even though they are not living in cottages without guardians rather than the school? We are not really sure why they still have the unwritten rules, but it seems like Tommy doesn't really seem to understand the unwritten rules.

4. Why do you think Tommy was so obsessed with finding Kath the actual tape she lost? We all think that it was because it was very important to her and because he likes her.

5. Do you think the idea they have of possibles is right, or do you think that there is not such thing as possibles? We are not really sure whether their idea is right or not, because we are not sure if there could be clonign in that time period since it is the 60's.

Cassie: Summary Lina: Discussion Leader Josh: Questions Brett: Bring Food
 * Week Four: March 19**
 * Jobs:**

The image that the book conveys is of them walking down a white hall way that is all light up, almost like a hospital. The author kind of wants to give the understanding of the book being very peaceful and almost never having dark areas bu when they do the areas are very depressive. It is very scary how the book is told in a very calm voice even though it is disturbing, and the cover remind us of a doll, one of the very disturbing dolls, even though it seems so calm and perfect.
 * Assignment:**


 * Summary:** There are many questions to ask about the entire book that are left unanswered and we wonder if they will ever be answered. Everyone contributed at least one of their theories on the system as well as the secrets of this book. While it was a bit confusing at first, everyone is enjoying the book now and eager to read on in hopes that we will discover more about the disturbing reality in which the characters of this book live. We also questioned the level of human qualities that the clones have, comparing their emotions and thoughts to ours. Concluding that although some of the characters may seem more human than others, they will always be limited because of either their guarded and censored upbringing or their genetic makeup.

1. How have the relationships between characters changed? 2. Why do think Kath was selected to be a carer over all the other kids at Hailsham? Cassie: she is good at her job. 3. What do you think the rest of the world would think if they found about Hailsham? Lina: i feel like the rest of the world wouldn't care, since it was benefitting them in the first place. Cassie: The rest of the world would be doing this too, so i don't think they would care. 4. What about this book shocks/disturbs/confuses you? Lina: How calm the novel feels while discussing such subject matter. Cassie: same Brett: Same 5. When is Kath going to reveal everything about her life? Lina: She wont reveal everything, since her life is uneventful. Cassie: She can't reveal everything.
 * Questions:**

Cassie: questions Lina: discussion leader Josh: bring food Brett: type summary
 * Week Five: March 26**
 * Jobs:**

Cassie would not recommend the book to any one, because even though it kept her reading and it was interesting she doesn't think that is worthy of recommending to someone to read. Brett Josh and I agree with her. Like if someone asked us if they should read the book then we would say yes, but to not go out of their way to read it. Nothing we have ever read compares to this book, so there is not really any other book we have read that explains what they are talking about it now than in this book. This book is not school curriculum amterial because there are way too many holes, and you are never sure of the themes of the book.
 * Assignment:**

This week marked the final time our book club would discuss Never Let Me Go. We began this week by noshing on cookies and water provided by Josh. As we ate, we asked the assignment questions, which evaluated our general opinion of the book and the questions written by Cassie, which evaluated our opinion of events specific to this weeks assigned reading.
 * Summary:**

As typical of these meetings, the general mood was how disturbingly calm this book was. It conjures up and image of a white corridor with bright lights. The narration is so nonchalant that it actually enhances the outlandish content of the book. We also discussed the ending of the book, and how it was very underwhelming. Throughout the book, hints were being dropped and Ishiguro made it seem like the ending was all-important but it played out as the definition of anti-climax.

1. Were you disappointed after Kath and Tommy went to Madame's house? What were you hoping would be the outcome of their visit? Answer: We were disappointed. We weren't quite expecting anything specific, but something more. 2. Do you think Kath is special and will never have to become a donor? Answer: Yes, she has done it longer than anyone else and she is a very good carer. 3. What did you think of "The Gallery"? Answer: We think that "The Gallery" was also disappointing and a little creepy. 4. How did you feel about Ruth when she was weak and near her death? Answer: Ruth seemed the opposite of herself and very held back. 5. Were you hoping that Tommy and Kath would end up together, and if you were, did it seem at all forced and less significant because it happened so late? Answer: We did hope that they would be together because they were the most human, but they did seem a bit forced.
 * Questions:**