Ironically, I'm coming to like the story more as I discuss it with folks here -- I think much of my initial reaction may have been that I hadn't quite followed all the way to the end of what Ishiguro was getting at.

However it worked for me because the narrator has imperfect information, because she wouldn't necessarily know that those things are happening, and on the level of a parable or a fairy tale, where all the parts that would be there in real life but are not the core story have been rubbed away.

Ahhhhhhh! Yes, I hadn't thought of it that way, and that really shifts my perspective. Thank you. Now I find myself wanting to reread it, looking at it as a parable.

I thought the genius of it was the complicity, the way they got the clones involved as carers, doing it to themselves/each other, so much harder to lash out at another clone than at Them, and by the time it's you you're acclimated.

Yeah. Eeeew. Creepy, but it certainly would make a huge difference in the clones' responses, wouldn't it? Being a carer sounds so... loving. Who'd want to say no to that? And yet, it seems like most of the clones, unlike Kathy, don't have the stomach to do it for long -- I think that brings me right back around to your take on her as a narrator; she may actually be more okay with what's going on than the other clones, based on their behavior -- they can't seem to escape their ultimate fate, but they can't stomach walking others through it, either.

Thanks so much for your thoughts, and I'm sorry it's taken so long to respond; life has been incredibly busy lately! :)