Global Cool’s resident book worm Emma brings you her favourite reads, inspiring you to ditch the car and the stress of the morning commute and bury your head in a great book on the bus or train instead…
This weekend two big films are hitting the cinemas. Graham Greene’s Brighton Rock and Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go are the first of this year’s tributes to great stories by great novelists from two very different times.
Both stories have all the mystery and drama an audience could ever want, but from the opening sentence alone (“Hale knew, before he had been in Brighton three hours, that they meant to murder him”) Brighton Rock really won’t encourage you to hop on the train and visit the seaside city or help you get loved up pre-Valentine’s. On the other hand, Never Let Me Go has a softer, but equally dark, touch and a pier that could give Brighton a run for its money. That’s why it’s my pick of the week.
What’s all the fuss?
The novel is split into three distinct periods over the lives of three friends. The first describes Kathy, Ruth and Tommy’s time at Hailsham, an overly protective school where the children are encouraged to express themselves through art. Trying to find their place in the world, we see them become best friends until two become lovers and the third is left isolated. The final (and most shocking) section of the book sees the characters all living separate lives until Kathy is forced to bring them back together.
On the surface it seems like a fairly obvious love triangle, but Ishiguro keeps a lot hidden. It’s this that makes it such a great read. The characters have a very specific, pre-determined role that adds a sci-fi edge to the whole story. Words like ‘donor’ and ‘carer’ thrown about everywhere leave a lot to your imagination, and you’re never quite sure who and what the characters really are.
Naturally you assume the worst from the start – that Kathy (played by Carey Mulligan), Ruth (Keira Knightly) and Tommy (Andrew Garfield) have some part to play in the donation of organs – and you’re right. At first this side to the story seemed forced in an otherwise relatable situation, but their existence carries much more weight and intrigue than the sometimes cringeworthy battles between all things human and science in films like A.I. and Surrogates. Although we get to know the three characters’ feelings inside out – particularly Kathy’s, the narrator – the most disturbing idea at the heart of the book is that their role in the world is to keep others alive while they themselves fade away.
Pick this up if: you want an unconventional love story that makes you question your relationship a bit more than usual in the build up to V-Day. It was the second part of Never Let Me Go that made this one of the best pieces of modern fiction I’ve read. Ruth and Tommy’s belief that their love can save them from their fate set up a story that couldn’t quite end how I wanted – but in a good way.
What are you reading on the bus or train? Tell us in the comments below…
