I watched a very strange movie last week, Never Let Me Go, based on an acclaimed sci-fi novel (I assume of the same name). It was dark, disturbing, depressing, hopeless while at the same time being wonderfully made and acted. (Warning if you want to see it: There is some nudity/sex and coarse language.) In reading the reviews, 70% seem to like it or love it or think it's brilliant. The other 30% don't like it or they hate it or they think it boring. And the take-aways varied widely.
I don't know that I could rate the movie or even say I loved or hated it. Like I said, it was disturbing and dark, and yet it continues to haunt my thoughts. And to be honest, as a writer, I always hope that my stories will stay with a reader long after the book is over. So I have to give both the author and the director credit in that regard.
While I was watching the movie, I also found myself wondering, "What sort of mind thinks up a story like this?" (Spoilers abound in various reviews on the Internet, so if you want to know what the movie is about, you can find answers easily enough. I won't do that here.)
Writers are asked all the time where they get their ideas. I'm convinced my answer fits all writers: everything is grist for the mill, everything we experience and see and hear and read is fodder for our novels. It doesn't matter if we write contemporary or historical or fantasy, we still draw our ideas from the world around us. And we all know that there is plenty of evil in the world, plenty of dark things to write about or make movies about.
But I must say, I'm glad that I write novels of hope. Even when I've tackled difficult topics such as infidelity or alcoholism, since I know Christ and since most of my major characters know Christ, the books I write cannot help but be stories of hope.
“and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” (Romans 5:5, NASB95)
~robin
Kazuo Ishiguro writes books about brutal relational losses and the disconnectedness of people. The quality of his work shows in that he has been nominated for the U.K.’s top fiction award, the Man Booker Prize, four times, with The Remains of the Day winning in 1989.
Ishiguro remains one of my favorite authors for his ability to weave dreamlike stories filled with characters that reflect modern society’s inability to see itself for what it is. His The Unconsoled is a maddening read, but it captures modern man’s relational disconnectedness better than any book I have ever read.
Another trait that proves the author’s skill is Ishiguro’s ability to float effortlessly between genres, writing biography, history, magic realism, and science fiction. Few writers can pull off those transitions successfully. That said, Never Let Me Go is probably my least favorite of his novels, as I found the pacing glacial and the payoff too predetermined (though some would call the inevitability relentless).
Dan, thanks for that long informative comment. I guess I should have done a little exploring into the novelist before I wrote my post. I love The Remains of the Day (the movie, even though it, too, leans to the depressive side). I never quite understood in Never Let Me Go if the main characters are clones or simply the naturally born children of the dispossessed (prostitutes and drug addicts, as one character says), but I thought it was a striking example of the dangers of cloning humans.
One other thing:
“Hopeless” stories serve as cautionary tales. They warn the reader. In fact, by NOT offering an answer to the caution raised, they force the reader to determine how she would have avoided that fate.
Fact is, hopeless stories can be more powerful and yield more changes in a reader’s life. They often challenge the reader to act, whereas stories that end cleanly don’t. We even train our children this way. Aesop’s fables end badly for those who are foolish. We all know about the Boy Who Cried Wolf.
Never Let Me Go depicts a world that may someday exist. Heaven help us if it does, but by warning us, the author attempts to draw us into a frightening tale of an all-too-possible future we must avoid by putting a human face on the horror.
Stories with bad endings have a needful place in our reading.
Robin,
I did not see the movie, so I’m not sure what spin it may have put on the book. Seldom does a modern film adaptation of a contemporary novel stick to the author’s ideas entirely.
I agree, Dan. It's just that I would rather write a cautionary tale that ends with an answer for a better way. I absolutely think we could live in a world like the one depicted in the movie so I think it was worth seeing for that very reason. But I would rather read this sort of book or see this sort of movie by someone else. I don't ever want to write that kind of story since I know there is a place of hope even in the very darkest of circumstances.
Robin, I recently read (and reviewed) the novel on which this movie is based. I haven’t seen the movie, but as I understand it, it’s very faithful to the book. Like you, I was haunted by it. It was fascinating and frankly unputdownable.
I totally agree with your feelings about the fact that you “write hope.” I couldn’t stand a regular diet of books and movies that are without it!
By the way, I’d love for you to check out a new bloghop I’m hosting, called Bookish Images Monday. Stop by my blog to find out more!
Cindy @ Cindy’s Book Club
Hi again Robin…just wanted to let you know that I sang your praises on my blog today…
Cindy @ Notes in the Key of Life
Thanks a bunch, Cindy. And thanks for linking on FB too.
After having lived long enough to have some life experience, I tend to shy away from too much realism or dark stories. I’ve seen enough in my own life and don’t care to borrow from someone else, not any more. I don’t put my head in the sand, we do need to keep a watchful eye and try to alleviate or stop other’s sufferings, but when it comes to my entertainment for just the joy of reading, give me a happy ending. Let there be struggle, but I want to feel better at the end of the book. I want some hope. Stories, like Schindler’s List are powerful, and important and I am glad I’ve seen it. I also own the CD, but I don’t want to watch it every day because of the horror, however, it offered hope. Schindler saved thousands of lives with his selfless acts, and we hope the world will never, ever allow the Holocaust to happen again. Great post, Robin. Sorry, I wrote a book! Couldn’t help myself.
I appreciate your "book," Cecilia. Thanks for commenting. Like you, I own Schindler's List on DVD, but it isn't a movie I reach for often. Perhaps I've watched it twice over the years.
Thanks for the review Robin.