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Here you may post your thoughts about the book during/after reading the second section of the book as well as the quotes you liked. Part Two is consisted of eight chapters, starting from the 10th.

My take for the second part of the book will be I believe much shorter than for the first. In the first I was still absorbing the environment, characters and the story itself, so much I was engulfed with every aspect of it � now I just want to move on to the next part, not because I didn't like it, on contrary, I did, but because so deep into the story, I wish to know what happens next as soon as possible.

The second part of the book confused me mainly for the Cottages, what was it? If it was school, what kind of school? To me it looked like a sabbatical, prep school for pondering about what would the future bring to them, because it seems the only things they were doing were wandering around and preparing the essay they might not even finish.

It was sad to learn how Ruth adapted to the new environment � based on Kath's point of view, she was totally convinced they must copy and please their older counterparts, the veterans, even if that meant to lose yourself completely. Worse than that was that she tried so hard to involve Tommy and Ruth into the whole scheme, like their lives depended on it. Maybe they did. We'll see in the next part.

All the characters were described in so much detail and yet without many „descriptive� words � I could feel the compassion for all of them and yet remain objective (is that really possible?), while constantly anticipating with dread the further unfurling of the story. Early in the story I figured out the Ruth's jealousy of the gentle and caring relationship between Kath and Tommy. Well, she really had a reason to be jealous. Kath's own words showed that Tommy cared for her more than she allowed him to, more because of loyalty to her friend, than to the pretense Tommy didn't mean to her much. He did, it was obvious by the way she reacted when she was told Tommy was available again at the end of the first part of the book.

Their search for the possibles is obvious adolescent search for themselves through the people they were made from, that's why we are always so protective and vulnerable when contemplating our parents and relatives... Well, Ishiguro's words can express that much better:

We all of us, to varying degrees, believed that when you saw the person you were copied from, you'd get some insight into who you were deep down, and maybe too, you'd see something of what your life held in store.

No need to say much more.

They were kids like all of us, with the exception that their future was a dream one. How dreadful. Even while contemplating it, they didn't dare to push the boundaries too far. The deferrals seemed also like a way to escape it. That itself was a dream, because nobody really knew how to achieve that. And with what purpose � as we readers do not really know what kind of future they were exactly facing so they desperately needed so much more time off and together. Why they were being separated anyway? So dreadful to read...

The whole setting of the book is depressing one. They all seem in a kind of despair. Ruth desperately wants to belong with the veterans � why bother if she might never see them again? And she was so mean, oh so awfully mean, I wasn't as much understanding as Kath � she was desperate in another way, to keep the only real friend she thinks she has, totally ignoring the firm fact Tommy was that one, not Ruth. And Kath was sometimes hard to figure out, why she did things the way she did, hurting the only person who really cared for. I felt so sorry for Tommy and wanted to scream to both of them to wake up, to give up pretense, to say what they really feel for each other. But, I admit I understood perfectly well how she felt, at least in this one segment:

I remember a huge tiredness coming over me, a kind of lethargy in the face of the tangled mess before me. It was like being given a maths problem when your brain's exhausted, and you know there's some far-off solution, but you can't work up the energy even to give it a go. Something in me just gave up.

Some important puzzles from the first part were solved in this... I can't write anymore, I am so nervous, I must keep reading :-)

This section is...interesting. I wish I had a better word, but I don't. It's depressing, brings up more questions, and makes you feel more and more how the world is trying to separate these kids from those who actually get to live full, happy lives. I've been wondering why it is that they all end up being caregivers for those who are going to be harvested (because that IS the right word) and it's becoming clear to me that Madame's reaction in the first part is the key to this. They don't WANT to get to know these kids because to become attached is to long for them to have a future of their own and to recognize them as people. By their own "kind" becoming caregivers, no "normal" person has to become close to them and feel a moral prick at what they are doing to them. I know this is mostly a bizarre coming of age story in a very twisted way, but the social commentary is subtle and strong. They ache to have a normal life, just working in an office, but where they get to dictate their own future. They cling to the idea of a deferral so they can pretend to have a future with even just one person. They aren't allowed a basic right of children: that of having a dream to look forward to. God help us if we ever are able to have such technology and have to face such a moral question! Frighteningly, it's not all that far off.