Never Let Me Go Covers

Never Let Me Go is a book of ever-changing perspectives and generalities of the confusing world in which Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy live. Ishiguro might have wanted to take this concept to the next level by introducing several differentiated book covers to his audience. These different book covers could be argued to resemble the varied perspectives and outlooks one might have on life living in Hailsham.

The first book cover I have picked is no doubt the most eerie and depressing one of them all. It presents a picture of a human’s internal corpse, presenting the vital organs that would be taken from these kids in Hailsham when their time has come. Only, the way the organs are presented makes them seem unhealthy, weak, and fragile. I say this because of the blatant lack of detail in the portrayal of the organs, as well as the fact that there are stitches around the corpse – giving the intention that this body had to be ‘fixed up’ and is not at its primal state. In addition, the dark-grayish background helps aid the depressing mood the author is trying to convey. Overall, I think this cover is specifically designed to give the reader the impression that this ‘Never Let Me Go’ story won’t revolve around a love story, but will rather be more focused hardships one endures on their difficult life journey in Hailsham.

The second book cover I have picked is an interesting one, and one that I have never seen before. It displays a small boat tied up to a tree on the shore of a vast ocean or lake. The boat is used to symbolize the people of Hailsham as they are literally tied/locked into this depressing society and limited the exploration of the vast world around them (the ocean). Like the first cover interpreted, this cover is fairly depressing as well. Though, I can say that it is not immediately as effective, and it took me a little bit longer to understand what the picture was actually conveying. I think the purpose of this cover specifically is to intrigue the reader, almost mysteriously without giving a lot of information. The audience sees this tied up boat and the title of the book, and may be interested in what the title is referring to. Is this a story about what’s presented, or is there something more to it with the same concept?

When analyzing the first cover individually, the first word that comes into my mind is death. Yeah, that’s a pretty drastic and negative thought, but that’s what this cover is all about: depression and loss of hope. Just looking at the cover – as an unfamiliar bystander – would give me the impression that this book would be about losing someone and having a hard time ‘letting them go’. Yet, knowing what most of the novel is about, helps me understand there is much bigger meaning to the corpse/organs displayed. The donation of organs by the clones is a vital piece to the story that is fairly touched on with the presentation of this cover. The body portrayed is that of the clones, and the image shows their lack of life and meaning to those of who their organs are donated to. I think the type of person that would create this kind of book would be someone who values the life they live and want to present this dystopia in which we are thankful to be exceptionally distant from. Similarly, the reader would be one who is interested in the cloning topic and the idea of this world becoming a reality in the near future.

When solely analyzing the second cover, the first word that comes to mind is isolation. The tied up boat is completely isolated and distant from the open ocean surrounding it. It’s limited to stay in the same exact spot, rather than venturing out into the open and seeing new things – much like Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy are isolated in Hailsham and distant from the surrounding world. If I was unfamiliar with the book and saw this cover, I would probably interpret it pretty literally and think it was something about a man/women who wants to leave somewhere, but is stuck deciding of whether or not to leave someone. Now that I have read part of the book, I was able to notice the metaphor between the boat and the children in Hailsham, in relation to their lack of individualism and adventure in their lives. Essentially, children such as Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy are the boat locked up on shore and blocked off from the vast world that surrounds them. Overall, I think someone interested in reading this book (based on the cover) would be concerned with the concept of moving on and going out and exploring things in life. This is because the picture presented gives the impression that things are indented to stay permanent, and I think the reader would be interested in finding exploitations to that notion so that they could even compare it to their personal lives if applicable.