2015 Reading Challenge [Closed] discussion

I loved the movie (though it's been a while since I've seen it) and I've always wanted to read the book, so this is the perfect fit for week 3.

Great choice, Sara. I love, love, loved this book. I have seen the movie since, but the movie had not yet been released when I read the book, so there was an element of suspense as I read. I do not think that knowing the ending will interfere with your enjoyment of the book though. Ishiguro is a beautiful writer and in the book, there is more opportunity to get to know the characters more deeply, and also to more thoroughly explore the eerie setting of the seemingly idyllic boarding school that turns out to be something quite different in this dystopian future. Talking about it makes me recall how much I enjoyed this sad novel - I hope you also enjoy!!!

Thanks Jenna! I'm anxious to see how different the book is from the movie, and I'll probably have to re-watch the movie again since it's been so long. I'm not very far in yet, but I'm really liking it already!

I've both read the book and seen the movie, and I really did enjoy them both! I saw the movie first, so I think that influenced my opinion on the movie vs. book issue. However, both are extremely interesting! And, I'm not gonna lie, messed me up some emotionally. However, Ishiguro's beautiful writing inspired me to buy two of his other books. I've yet to read them though, so I can't compare. Enjoy!

I think I kind of ruined the book and the suspense/innocence the reader is supposed to have by watching the movie first which I'm kind of sad about but I still really liked this book. Kathy wasn't the kind of narrator that I'm used to and to be honest, I wasn't that attached to her emotionally. I felt bad for her when things were going wrong and happy when things were looking up but she herself seemed to view everything with such clarity and levelheadedness that it was hard to connect with her.

Sara, I can see how seeing the movie first would have the effect you describe. I'm glad it didn't totally ruin the experience for you though! I also understand your feelings about Kathy. I felt like she was so assimilated into the dystopian culture and its ideals, and the messages the school had imparted to her and her peers in her social class, that she doesn't really have the will to resist or perhaps feels without power/agency. She's become complicit, or at least comfortable, in the horrible system that prevails - even though it victimizes her. But at the same time, it's true that she might legitimately be powerless given that she lives in a totalitarian regime and her fate, as a lower-class person, has been determined for her by those in power! In that way, her compliant actions and mindset seem more normal and sympathetic - I can relate to her as an adaptable survivor who has either given up hope for change and is trying to make the best of it, or who is trying to fulfill her assigned role in hope that she will somehow magically be rewarded or find it meaningful. I thought the butler/Anthony Hopkins character in Ishiguro's The Remains of the Day was kind of similar in this way, only he was residing in a horrific totalitarian regime from actual history instead of an imagined tragic future.

Jenna, I completely agree with you about Kathy and the fact that since she grew up in it and was so immersed in this world of donations that she didn't even bother to question it or even realize that she might be able to change it. I was thinking about this book the other night and basically thought to myself, what's the point of the book if Kathy is so unwilling/unable to change the status quo? But then I thought that for me, that was the point. Even though Kathy wasn't able to fight for herself there were still people who knew what lives they could lead if they weren't donors (Miss Emily, Madame, Miss Lucy) and fought for them, and we, the readers, should do the same for those who are unable to change the status quo themselves. This is the first book of Ishiguro's that I've read, but I think I might have to look into reading more of his. The book you mentioned, Remains of the Day, sounds interesting, and if it's grounded in actual history I think I might be able to relate more to him than with Kathy.