Never Let Me Go annotations by Jonathan Gribbins

Chapter 1 Annotations

jgribbins — 2018-10-11 13:17:37 UTC

There is a lot of writing about choosing in Hailsham and in the carer/donor society.
Memories are discussed at length, and this may be important later on in the story.
"Carers aren't machines. You try and do your best for every donor, but in the end it wears you down. You don't have unlimited patience and energy."
"What he wanted was not just to dear about Hailsham, but to remember Hailsham, just like it had been his own childhood."

Chapter 2 Annotations

jgribbins — 2018-10-11 13:29:31 UTC

I think the tone/vibe of reminiscing over the past will be prevalent through this book. In this chapter it is very obvious, and it makes me think that these memories may not be completely accurate because they are memories.
The art part of this chapter sounds like it has a deeper meaning, but I am not completely sure what that is. I'm intrigued about the actual lore of this book and it is kinda bugging me that I don't 100% understand right now.
"Then [the tantrums] all stopped, not overnight, but rapidly enough."
"This was all a long time ago so I might have some of it wrong;"

Chapter 3 Annotations

jgribbins — 2018-10-16 14:33:59 UTC

We learn that Tommy was told by Miss Lucy that the art didn’t really matter, and neither did being creative.
Miss Lucy also tells Tommy that they aren’t being taught enough at Hailsham (in regards to the donations and whatnot).
We are introduced to the “Gallery,” which is a collection of artwork from the Exhibitions that Madame takes.

jgribbins — 2018-10-29 01:24:33 UTC

Chapter 4
Kathy will not be a carer anymore by the end of the year (in present, narrator, time).
The question about what happens to the art that is taken to the Gallery is raised, and this is a big deal to Hailsham students.
Sales are introduced, which are where the students can buy stuff from the outside world and whatsoever.
Secret guard??????
Everything seems like a bunch of little pieces of a puzzle that don’t really seem to fit fully together yet.

jgribbins — 2018-10-29 01:24:59 UTC

Chapter 5
I don’t think the whole secret guard thing is important at all
This whole chapter doesn’t seem to be all that important. Just kinda building up the culture of Hailsham and it’s students and the characterizations of Kathy and the ruthe.
I suppose it does kind of build up the themes of mystery and secrecy that is inherent of the society of this world.

jgribbins — 2018-10-29 01:25:11 UTC

Chapter 6
More secret guard stuff and the Ruth-Kathy relationship development.
A bunch of stuff about the lost corner is said in this chapter, about Norfolk, UK, and the lost and found at Hailsham. I think this is symbolism/thematic stuff that pertains to the characters of the book--they might be lost, and might end up in the “lost corner.”
Wow Kathy's favorite song is the name of the book
Hailsham students can’t have kids??? Big
Ruth is “”” completed ””” :<

jgribbins — 2018-10-29 01:25:27 UTC

Chapter 7
The “donations” (which were obviously organ donations) are clarified to definitely be organ donations by Miss Lucy.
The students already knew all of this stuff (just like anyone who reads up to this point) because it was kind of implicitly stated.
There are some sexual themes that start popping up in this chapter because it is a teenage kind of story.
There are also more themes of secrecy in the whole Tommy’s arm affair and Kathy keeping the secret from him. I think the whole secrecy thing is because of the students growing up in this society where a lot of stuff is kept from them but hinted at.

jgribbins — 2018-10-29 01:25:39 UTC

Chapter 8
The Miss Lucy thing where Kathy finds her blacking out a paper adds on to this secrecy layer of the society.
Ruth and Tommy were dating for a bit, but they broke up after a while. They were having sex though, and this adds to the sexual themes of taboo (but not quite?).
This whole book gives me some eerie vibes that I can’t really explain. It just kind of hurts my stomach to read it.

jgribbins — 2018-10-29 01:25:49 UTC

Chapter 9
Miss Lucy told Tommy that the whole “art not being important” thing was not right, and tells him that art really is important. She calls it “evidence.”
The romance between Ruth and Tommy is being rebuilt with help from Kathy.
Miss Lucy leaves/gets fired and Ruth and Tommy get back together.

jgribbins — 2018-10-29 01:26:01 UTC

Chapter 10
This is the start of part 2, where Kathy reminisces about the Cottages, where she lived after her Hailsham time.
The people in the Cottages watch TV, and they all copy stuff from the people that they see on TV.
The Hailsham students are now really learning about how the outside world works, and they use TV to learn this stuff.

jgribbins — 2018-10-29 01:26:16 UTC

Chapter 12
Norfolk comes back up in this chapter, and so the theme of the “lost corner” comes back for this chapter.
In this chapter, it is revealed that all of the Hailsham students are clones, and the Cottage folk think that they found Ruth’s “possible” (original person).
The Cottage people head to Norfolk to look for this “possible,” which is keeping in line with the “lost corner”; they all think that there is some lost knowledge in the possibles, so they are looking for them.

jgribbins — 2018-10-29 01:26:29 UTC

Chapter 13
We get introduced to the idea of “deferrals” for people who are in love, and Chrissie and Rodney want to get one. These keep back the whole donation process for a while.
These aren’t really a real thing (at least they don’t seem to be)
I like the themes of the taboo that show up in this book. There’s a lot of stuff that isn’t really supposed to be talked about, and the way that it is handled is kind of interesting. It kind of parallels the real world (at least pre-Internet) where there are certain things that aren’t acceptable to talk about, and everyone has these vague understandings and rumors about certain things.