Skip to main content

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

Image
By on



“Don’t you wonder sometimes, what might have happened if you tried?”

“She always wanted to believe in things.”

“All children have to be deceived if they are to grow up without trauma.”

“You say you’re sure? Sure that you’re in love? How can you know it? You think love is so simple? ”

“The problem, as I see it, is that you've been told and not told. You've been told, but none of you really understand, and I dare say, some people are quite happy to leave it that way.”

“I saw a new world coming rapidly. More scientific, efficient, yes. More cures for the old sicknesses. Very good. But a harsh, cruel, world. And I saw a little girl, her eyes tightly closed, holding to her breast the old kind world, one that she knew in her heart could not remain, and she was holding it and pleading, never to let her go.”

"I could make out in the mid-distance, near where the field began to fall away, Tommy's figure, raging, shouting, flinging his fists and kicking out. I caught a glimpse of his face in the moonlight, caked in mud and distorted with fury, then I reached for his failing arms and held on tight. He tried to shake me off, but I kept holding on, until he stopped shouting and I felt the fight go out of him. Then I realised he too had his arms around me. And so we stood together like that, at the top of the field, for what seemed like ages, not saying anything, just holding each other, while the wind kept blowing and blowing at us, tugging our clothes, and for a moment, it seemed like we were holding onto each other because that was the only way to stop us being swept away into the night.”

“Even the solitude, I've actually grown to quite like... I do like the feeling of getting into my little car, knowing for the next couple of hours I'll have only the roads, the big gray sky and my daydreams for company.”

“We took away your art because we thought it would reveal your souls. Or to put it more finely, we did it to prove you had souls at all.”

Some lines from Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro, one of my favorite books.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Books I Read in June 2025— Arundhati Roy, BR Ambedkar and More

By on
 Today is the last day of June, and I feel compelled to jot down the books I read this month to reflect on my experience and learnings. These are the books: ~The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen ~My Seditious Heart by Arundhati Roy ~Annihilation of Caste by Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar ~History of Modern Manipur by Lal Dena Just four. It's okay, really. There is no compulsion to read 6,7 books every month. Reading fewer books doesn't mean I'm learning less. In fact, I learned more deeply. The books this month have been impactful in different ways. Clearly, there is a shift in my choices. I'm leaning more into nonfiction now. I guess I've always been angry and frustrated deep inside. About the climate crisis, social injustice, war, etc. Living in the comforting world of fiction was an escape from all these thoughts. As I read more nonfiction, I get angrier, but I know I should keep myself informed of reality. Then perhaps I'd be able to do something about it. I'm not ...
2 comments
Read more

March 2026 Reads—Doris Lessing, Han Kang, Silvia Federici And More

By on
I'm back home after a month's holiday. Well, almost a month. Apparently, a single woman on vacation for a month, who is not a social media influencer, is a red flag with the immigration officer.😄 What did I read during my vacation? These: 1. Witches, Witch-Hunting, and Women by Silvia Federici I was looking for Caliban and the Witch and found this instead. Gave it a go. It is on similar themes anyway. "..because 'globalization' is a process of political recolonization intended to give capital uncontested control over the world's natural wealth and human labor, and this cannot be achieved without attacking women, who are directly responsible for the reproduction of their communities. The book serves as a reminder that reconstructing the memory of the past is crucial to the struggles of the present. 2. When I Hit You: Or, A Portrait of the Writer as a Young Wife by Meena Kandasamy A semi-autobiographical novel. Involves domestic violence and sexual abuse. Ugh! I...
Post a Comment
Read more

Upstream: Selected Essays by Mary Oliver

By on
It was a joy reading Upstream by Mary Oliver. H ere are a few quotes and phrases from the book that I want to keep remembering. "you must not, ever, give anyone else the responsibility for your life" "I quickly found for myself two such blessings- the natural world, and the world of writing: literature. These were the gates through which I vanished from a difficult place." "Reading, then writing, then desiring to write well, shaped in me that most joyful of circumstances- a passion for work." "..having chosen to claim my life, I have made for myself, out of work and love, a handsome life" "And that I did not give to anyone the responsibility for my life. It is mine. I made it. And can do what I want to with it. Live it. Give it back, someday, without bitterness, to the wild and weedy dunes." "Creative work needs solitude. It needs concentration, without interruptions. It needs the whole sky to fly in, and no eye watching until it c...
Post a Comment
Read more