black and tan eyes

Thursday, December 29, 2005

Kazuo Ishiguro Never Let Me Go

Never Let Me Go, published earlier this year, is Japanese-born English novelist Kazuo Ishiguro’s sixth novel, arriving two years after the Booker-shortlisted When We Were Orphans. Never Let Me Go itself was one of the six novels shortlisted for the (now Man) Booker Prize, which this year went to John Banville’s turgid mess The Sea (more about that in due course). But no matter - Ishiguro is, of course, the author of The Remains of the Day, arguably the greatest novel to take the Booker Prize and one of the most perfect pieces of literature anyone could hope to write. So how does his most recent novel stack up to that earlier success? Some spoilers ahead.

Never Let Me Go is narrated by Kathy, a “carer” who has decided, as her term nears its end “sometime” in late 1990s England, to put to paper the story of herself and friends Tommy and Ruth: former students at Hailsham, a seemingly exclusive boarding school in the English countryside. Yet Hailsham is no ordinary school, and its students are no ordinary children. As the students devote their creative energies to painting and poetry, they are gradually informed (“told and not told”) that they will someday be called up to donate their vital organs. Kathy and her schoolmates have in fact been engineered for this exact purpose. The chronicle is divided to cover the three major stages of Kathy’s life: childhood at Hailsham, time spent at the Cottages (a kind of half-way house in which the clones live before they become donors or carers of donors) and carer Kathy’s reunion with Ruth and Tom.

Much of the novel is excellent, especially the section focused on life at Hailsham: Kathy’s narrative here fluctuates from happy reminiscence to uneasy questioning. From the beginning the reader is sure of something unusual afoot in this seemingly pleasant and orderly environment as the heroine and her friends slowly become conscious of their “special” condition. As the novel progresses and the characters grow, they start truly experiencing and appreciating the joys of life – friendship, love and sex. Indeed, Kathy focuses mostly on the mundane aspects of childhood and young adulthood: quarrels between friends, schoolyard rumours, interactions with teachers (or “guardians” as they are known at Hailsham) and adolescent crushes. There is a poignancy at moments when we realise the “donors” are not all that different from us – moments which bring to mind the film Blade Runner, also about genetically-engineered humans, though Never Let Me Go does not engage as explicitly with issues of science or morality. This is largely because of Kathy’s narration.
The prose of the novel seems stripped bare of artifice, which is fitting given that Ishiguro’s tale is not narrated by an articulate author such as himself. As in The Remains of the Day, he succeeds in creating a narrator who, though intelligent, is spiritually detached from the world surrounding her and programmed to behave in a certain way. Kathy, like Stevens the butler, is not fully able to grasp the full importance of her situation, yet we as readers can – and this is what makes the book all the more disturbing. Kathy is also no science-whiz, so there is no discourse on the actual cloning process – nor does there necessarily have to be, because Never Let Me Go is less a work of science fiction than a highly subjective narrative of life in an unusual space and time.

Less forgivable, perhaps, is the author’s sketchiness on the world his characters inhabit. It is only at the end of the novel, when a character delivers a lengthy monologue on the state of Britain since the end of the Second World War, that the reader discovers anything about society’s practice of cloning and the breeding of donors in special institutions. Such information does put into perspective what had occurred previously in Kathy’s narrative, yet it feels rather tacked-on, as if it is as much for the reader’s benefit as for Kathy and Tommy who listen to it.
In addition, we get to know very little about the world outside Hailsham or Kathy’s circle. This is semi-justified given that Kathy would only describe what she knows, yet by the commencement of her memoir, she should surely have had at least some experiences with “normal” people, who, apart from the “guardians” at Hailsham and several very minor characters, are almost completely absent.
Several reviewers have commented on the characters’ passive acceptance of their fate and their failure to rebel or escape even given their desire to postpone their “completions”. Yet again, this is understandable given the way Kathy and friends have been brought up: they really know nothing else, and hence accept submissively their role in society. Other critics have complained that that there are no references to resistance to the cloning programme itself, something that would be inevitable in the post-World War II world, where memories of Nazi eugenics should still be fresh in many peoples’ minds. So, in the end, one gets the sense that Ishiguro may have bitten off more than he could chew in terms of his subject matter. Then again, Never Let Me Go’s focus is on individual memory, and the lives of peripheral members of a society rather than an exploration of the society at large.

Never Let Me Go is an interesting, enjoyable yet slightly flawed work. This being Ishiguro, one can expect a work of quality literature, and it is well worth reading. [4/5]

Tuesday, December 27, 2005

The Face Behind the Blog

Monday, December 26, 2005

MoC DVD of the Year 2005

End of year lists are popping up quite quickly now. As with each year, Masters of Cinema has compiled a list of the best DVDs of 2005 as voted by its readers (me included). And yes, at the top of the pile is Kenji Mizoguchi's Ugetsu, which was given a lavish treatment by the best DVD distribution company in the free world, Criterion.
To be absolutely fair, I have not viewed the other discs on the list, so I cannot vouch for their quality. It all looks pretty good, I guess - I must really get around to watching Au Hazard Balthazar...

Sunday, December 25, 2005

Chanukah Same'ach!


Eight days of candles, dreidls and doughnuts!
As a special treat, here is a Sephardic Chanukah song from The Jewish National & University library (thanks habib for linking this amazing website), sung in Ladino - the Judeo-Spanish dialect traditionally spoken by Sephardim: Dak il tas (Strike the tray)

Now Christmas Day and the first of the eight days of Chanukah do not regularly coincide, but as they have done so this year, I also wish those celebrating it a very Merry Christmas.

Tuesday, December 20, 2005

Disgusting

What is it about Palestinian society that its members are disposed to celebrate other people's suffering? Ariel Sharon, say what you want to about him, was very recently admitted to hospital after a minor stroke and what do the folks next door do? Why, fire a few friendly volleys and pass out the sweets, of course.


This sort of thing is known to happen after "successful" suicide attacks within Israel, with many Palestinians taking to the streets in euphoria at the deaths of Israeli civilians and the "martyrdom" of the perpetrators. And it was also party time after the World Trade Centre came crashing to the ground on September 11, 2001.

I shall leave you with a very good piece by Robert Spencer on Palestinian schadenfreude - and its acceptance by Western apologists: Sharon’s Stroke. Key passage:

Even that glorification and celebration of death, moreover, is rooted in a culture of hatred: suicide bombers are heroes not because they kill themselves but because they kill infidels as well. 9/11 and Sharon’s illness are worth celebrating because they represent more of the same: the defeat and destruction of the enemy.

The culture of death and hatred is not limited to the Palestinians: in Egypt, Sheikh Atiyyah Saqr of Al-Azhar explained in 2004 that “cowardice and love for this worldly life are undisputable traits [of the Jews].” In Lebanon, Hizballah’s Hassan Nasrallah concurred: “We have discovered how to hit the Jews where they are the most vulnerable. The Jews love life, so that is what we shall take away from them. We are going to win, because they love life and we love death.” Afghan jihadist Maulana Inyadullah declared: “The Americans lead lavish lives and they are afraid of death. We are not afraid of death. The Americans love Pepsi Cola, we love death.”

In most places on the planet and at most times throughout history one who loves death has been considered at very least unbalanced. And rather than rejoicing in the misfortunes even of their enemies, Americans rebuilt Germany and Japan after World War II. Israelis did not hand our candies when Yasir Arafat died; nor do they cheer the deaths of innocent Palestinians. Personal graciousness between public opponents has for ages been a hallmark of civilization; indeed, even aides to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas wished Sharon good health.

The latest reports indicate that Sharon has recovered and will be discharged shortly.

Sunday, December 11, 2005

RIP Richard Pryor (1960-2005)

Friday, December 09, 2005

The Saga Continues...

I have put off from posting on the hostage crisis until the outcome is known, but I thought I'd write an entry anyway, as the saga has taken a particularly vile turn.

A jailed Al-Qaeda cleric has made an appeal to the "Swords of Righteousness Brigade" for their victims to be released. Sounds nice, but this "mercy" he calls for, as we shall see, only applies to a select few.

"I, your brother Abu Qatada ... beseech my brothers in the Swords of Truth in Iraq, who are imprisoning the four Christian peace activists, to release them in accordance with the fundamental principle of mercy of our faith," he said in an appeal aired on Arab television on Wednesday.

"Our prophet said mercy should be shown unless there is a reason in Sharia (Islamic law) that prevents it," he added in a videotape supplied to Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya channels by his lawyers.


Now, this echoes a similar statement from the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, reproduced on none other than the ISM website:

From your brothers in arms, the sons of the same blood who have suffered from one enemy, to the fighters against the invaders in Iraq, at a time when we are engaged in one battle against a single unjust plan by Zionist imperialism; a plan aimed at dividing the region, the theft of its wealth and the subduing of its peoples in the name of deceitful excuses such as the spreading of democracy and freedom, we appeal to the hands that are fighting the Anglo-Saxon invasion of the lands, those who reject occupation. This occupation is the real terrorism in this world. As a result of the actions of this occupation, be it the killing of humans, or destruction of houses and trees, a group of free people in the world have moved to stand by the Iraqi and Palestinian peoples, as they continue to suffer from the evils of the occupation. Those volunteers include: Tom Fox, James Loney, Harmeet Sooden, and Norman Kember.

Those are the same friends of the martyr Rachel Corrie who was crushed under an Israeli bulldozer as she stood in the defense of our people and her friends against the Israeli Zionist occupation. We came to know them as they took a courageous stance against the new system of apartheid and the racist separation Wall. They suffered as we did, and were wounded by the bullets of the occupation, while others were exiled and imprisoned.


Hey, say the right words ("apartheid", "imperialism", etc) and anyone can be posted on the ISM website!

Of course, if any of the four hostages were, say, in cahoots with America or Israel, or if they were Jewish (no matter their allegiences) - buh-bye... In fact, a US Security consultant has just met a tragic end at the hands of the savages of the "Islamic Army". Would Al-Aqsa martyrs and Mr Abu Qatada have advocated "mercy" for this American hostage? They're probably passing the lollies around at this very moment.

On a similar note, a petition has been doing the rounds – bigwigs Arundhati Roy and Noam Chomsky head the signatories – calling on the kidnappers to release their hostages. Sounds noble enough. However:

They are not spies, nor do they work in the service of any government. They are people who have dedicated their lives to fighting against war and have clearly and publicly opposed the invasion and occupation of Iraq. They are people of faith, but they are not missionaries. They have deep respect for the Islamic faith and for the right of Iraqis to self-determination.


Would there have been as great a stir from the intellekshul elite had the hostages not been against the war? What’s most amusing is that the text of the petition amounts to “don’t hurt them, they’re on your side”:

We appeal to those holding these activists to release them unharmed so that they may continue their vital work as witnesses and peacemakers.


This attempt to play nice with bloodthirsty maniacs is vomit-inducing. Judging from some of the comments left by the signatories (I refuse to directly link the petition, sorry – try Harry's Place), they honestly seem to think of the captors as simply misguided resistors of the Occupation. This misconception is quite popular in these morally topsy-turvy times. In reality, the “insurgents” have little interest in peace, and it is doubtful whether an American withdrawal will suddenly transform them into happy campers. Their chief victims have been other Iraqis, after all.

Of course, I do hope Mr Sooden and co. are released unharmed. Perhaps they'll come out a little wiser, though I'm not holding my breath.

Monday, December 05, 2005

Hmmm...



New Zealand hostage Harmeet Sooden with a rather disturbing sign - as printed in this morning's NZ Herald. Seems to have been inspired by the work of sacked Herald cartoonist Malcolm Evans. Still, in tune with his image as an activist for the ISM.

Although I do not agree with Sooden's politics, I nevertheless wish him and his fellow detainees a safe and speedy return home. No-one deserves to be in the situation they are in, regardless of their political affiliations. My sympathies also go out to their families.

PS More on the hostage crisis soon...

Friday, December 02, 2005

RIP Pat Morita AKA "Mr Miyagi" (1932 - 2005)

Granted, I'm a little late with this, but it's never too late to mourn a legend.



He will be sorely missed.