Quote:
Originally Posted by issybird
[...] But the discussion has caused me to appreciate more the language and the indirection used by Ishiguro to tell his story, so I need to step back a bit and not get so caught up in the minutiae. However, I still don't think his "point," if it can be called that, is all that interesting nor is the means he's using to tell it compelling enough for me. It needed to be one or the other - a fresh concept or a story that was more than a schooldays romantic triangle at base.
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Your comment made me wonder whether the reader needs to be almost as passive and accepting as the clones themselves to become involved in the story that's there - which then made me wonder whether an author can create that sort of effect deliberately (I couldn't), or if it came out that way indirectly.
While I can see why you identify the romantic triangle, the romance aspect seemed so understated - to me - as to be mostly just another emphasis on their passive nature. It certainly didn't occupy the same sort of significant, up front, role that such a triangle would play in a more typical romance.
I don't know that Ishiguro had a particular point, or wanted to make a statement. It felt to me more like a question: "I saw this, what do you think?" He's not trying to compel, he's querying. (
At least, I like to think of it that way, because that's the impact the book had on me.)