The underlying scientific theme in Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel Never Let Me Go seems far removed from his historical genteel novel The Remains of the Day – life through the lens of an English butler in the second world war. In the former we see the world through the eyes of a young girl Kath growing up at an English co-ed boarding school in the seventies. It’s a boarding school that she and the other pupils are never allowed to leave for holidays. There are terrible rumours about what life is like outside the school gates. Scientific research has had a dramatic impact on how they live.
We are drawn into the dramas between Kathy, her school frenemy Ruth and the slightly unusual boy Tommy who Kathy feels unrequited love for. The relationships between the three are at the centre of this story. After completing school and embarking on their adult lives, the dynamics change between the three but other factors get in the way.
All of this was recently translated into a movie directed by Mark Romanek. Carey Mulligan plays Kathy, Keira Knightley is Ruth and Andrew Garfield is Tommy. For the most part they are successful at translating the novel’s characters to the big screen. I was also amazed at how like their adult counterparts the children playing the Kathy and Ruth were.
It’s not a movie to see if you’re looking for joyful entertainment as it works towards a sense of hopelessness for the characters but there are some ideas to ruminate on. Which is better? The book or the film? Well both succeed in different aspects. There were times that I found the book too subtle and the film compensated by being more overt. Then at the same time, you inevitably and irritatingly have some details from the book changed for the movie. In all, both book and file have much to recommend them.
Cherrydial 
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