ARTS / BOOKS
The unique flavor of book 'Never Let Me Go'
Sweet but bitter
Editor's Note:
"Read ten thousand books, and your pen will be guided as if by the gods" is an ancient Chinese idiom that can be seen in students' textbooks. China's Ministry of Education has published an action plan to further promote reading among students across the nation. With new and diverse book recommendations, the reading scene is expected to be revived not only at schools, but also across society. To contribute to this endeavor, the Global Times launched "My Reading Life" essay contest for middle school students.
Please pick up a pen and share your stories with us at reading@globaltimes.com.cn
Participants will be rewarded once the article has been selected.
Coming from a family of book lovers, it is our custom to make a cup of tea while we read.
One day, as I rummaged through my father's collection, he sensed what I was up to and recommended me a book.
Underneath a bunch of tea bags, the cover revealed a glimpse of an ink-blue sky and an isolated trestle bathed in dim light. Above the picture, the title shimmered in golden font - Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. I was automatically attracted by a sense of mystery. My dad told me that the story is mainly based on the life of a group of students who grow up supporting each other at a special school. He also mentioned that the author had recently been awarded the Nobel Prize.
With great anticipation, I opened the book and read page after page. At first, the book revealed a school called Hailsham, an idyllic unity flanked by soccer fields and filled with students and kind "guardians." My experience was melodic, filled with the sound of children playing on a small scale, and exchanging valuable gifts and poems during various activities. Everything seemed to go on with an eerie balance. The protagonist Kathy, and her peers Ruth and Tommy grew up before my eyes, making me feel no different from my classmates around me. It was a magical feeling - I revered the author for his title of Nobel Prize winner, but the book was a little bland, like unprocessed plain water that dilutes the flavor of the tea.
Hailsham seemed to serve as a microcosm of my childhood and school life, and I saw pieces of myself and my friends in the main characters' personalities from time to time. Unbeknownst to me, that kind of childlike fun and innocence was masked by greater intrigue and a huge sadness that crept up on everyone and eventually took my breath away.
Soon the cruelest fate of these innocent children is revealed to the reader: The students are clones and as "donors" they will eventually give their precious organs and short lives to someone else. Reading until this point, I suddenly understood that the flat strokes in the story were not boring, but intentional. It was a bland bitterness, dense and intense, weighing me down.
This made a huge impression on me. Thinking about the books that haunt me, I realized that reading is also like tasting tea, where the flavor that never faded is hidden behind a certain understanding of the text, where there are strong feelings, where there is bitterness, and sometimes sweetness. As a sentence in the book states, "Memories, even your most precious ones, fade surprisingly quickly. But I don't go along with that. The memories I value most, I don't ever see them fading."
My emotions were completely pulled by the power of the writing in the book, surrounded by a faint sadness and powerlessness. I was deeply moved by the author's humanistic concern, while his Japanese writing background, combined with his English upbringing, made the story a multicultural collision. Just like when English black tea and traditional Japanese green tea merge together, the book gave me a melding of multiple tastes. I'm very grateful for encountering such an amazing book with such a splendid taste and style.
The author is a student at the Beijing National Day School
"Read ten thousand books, and your pen will be guided as if by the gods" is an ancient Chinese idiom that can be seen in students' textbooks. China's Ministry of Education has published an action plan to further promote reading among students across the nation. With new and diverse book recommendations, the reading scene is expected to be revived not only at schools, but also across society. To contribute to this endeavor, the Global Times launched "My Reading Life" essay contest for middle school students.
Please pick up a pen and share your stories with us at reading@globaltimes.com.cn
Participants will be rewarded once the article has been selected.
Photo:VCG
Have you ever heard the soothing sound of brewing tea? The melodious sound of liquid pouring into a delicate porcelain teapot? Such a unique scene is a major memory from my reading life.Coming from a family of book lovers, it is our custom to make a cup of tea while we read.
One day, as I rummaged through my father's collection, he sensed what I was up to and recommended me a book.
Underneath a bunch of tea bags, the cover revealed a glimpse of an ink-blue sky and an isolated trestle bathed in dim light. Above the picture, the title shimmered in golden font - Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. I was automatically attracted by a sense of mystery. My dad told me that the story is mainly based on the life of a group of students who grow up supporting each other at a special school. He also mentioned that the author had recently been awarded the Nobel Prize.
With great anticipation, I opened the book and read page after page. At first, the book revealed a school called Hailsham, an idyllic unity flanked by soccer fields and filled with students and kind "guardians." My experience was melodic, filled with the sound of children playing on a small scale, and exchanging valuable gifts and poems during various activities. Everything seemed to go on with an eerie balance. The protagonist Kathy, and her peers Ruth and Tommy grew up before my eyes, making me feel no different from my classmates around me. It was a magical feeling - I revered the author for his title of Nobel Prize winner, but the book was a little bland, like unprocessed plain water that dilutes the flavor of the tea.
Hailsham seemed to serve as a microcosm of my childhood and school life, and I saw pieces of myself and my friends in the main characters' personalities from time to time. Unbeknownst to me, that kind of childlike fun and innocence was masked by greater intrigue and a huge sadness that crept up on everyone and eventually took my breath away.
Soon the cruelest fate of these innocent children is revealed to the reader: The students are clones and as "donors" they will eventually give their precious organs and short lives to someone else. Reading until this point, I suddenly understood that the flat strokes in the story were not boring, but intentional. It was a bland bitterness, dense and intense, weighing me down.
This made a huge impression on me. Thinking about the books that haunt me, I realized that reading is also like tasting tea, where the flavor that never faded is hidden behind a certain understanding of the text, where there are strong feelings, where there is bitterness, and sometimes sweetness. As a sentence in the book states, "Memories, even your most precious ones, fade surprisingly quickly. But I don't go along with that. The memories I value most, I don't ever see them fading."
My emotions were completely pulled by the power of the writing in the book, surrounded by a faint sadness and powerlessness. I was deeply moved by the author's humanistic concern, while his Japanese writing background, combined with his English upbringing, made the story a multicultural collision. Just like when English black tea and traditional Japanese green tea merge together, the book gave me a melding of multiple tastes. I'm very grateful for encountering such an amazing book with such a splendid taste and style.
The author is a student at the Beijing National Day School
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