Never Let Me Go

While this novel may not be the first to occur to mind when thinking about campus novels, it is included here because of the treatment of ‘education’.

This deeply disturbing novel tells the story of a group of young people with shorted life expectation. Without wishing to ruin the tale by reveling too much of the plot, suffice it to say that they novel deals with issues of the purpose of Education when the utility of the process as a preparation for a long life is called into question. What is the point of Education, what should it cover and how does an educational system create the impression of inferiority in a separate group.

While the premise of ‘Never Let Me Go’ might be fanciful the issues that are uncovered in the telling of the tale are far from fantasy. They cut to the heart of what it is to be human, what is the purpose of education, what is talent and what is valued or dismissed.

My only criticism of this astonishing book is that I cannot bring myself to read it for a second time because I cannot bear to put myself through the pain again.