There are a lot of really spoiler-y book reviews out there for Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go. I was spoiled for this book and still thought it was incredibly powerful, but I think it would be even better to not know.

This is an incredibly powerful book. I found it to be very moving and sad, but in a very subtle way. This isn't a weepy book, where I need to carry a box of Kleenex around with me while I read. Instead, I felt like a blanket of sadness was being pulled onto me, as I gradually realized the magnitude of Kathy's story. When the book was done, I put it down and sat quietly for a while, just absorbing what I'd read, and in the days since, I've thought about it several times.

http://archthinking.blogspot.com/2009... ( )

didn't finish the book. just couldn't grasp the idea of children being raised for the sole purpose of donating thier organs. ( )

The title may seem odd at first, but as Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go unfurls its scrupulously guarded secrets, one comes to realise just how appropriate it is. Softly, subtly, the writing insinuates itself into the reader's mind, where it becomes something far greater than the sum of its quiet memories and musings. It is not until one sets Kathy's tale aside for a moment that one begins to appreciate the essence of this exquisite novel – and with this inevitable reflection comes the awareness that Never Let Me Go has indeed clung, with silent tenacity, to the innermost depths of the mind. Through every paragraph of every chapter, Ishiguro considers the input of his reader, and constructs his prose accordingly, exercising the utmost control. He considers how we will react, what we will feel, and how complete a picture of his world we will build from the information that he has given us. As though communicating on a subconscious level, he is able to plant knowledge, emotion and understanding without overtly communicating any of these things. Through subtle implication, repetition, withholding of information and a constant repression of the truth, this novel delivers a lingering and ultimately heartbreaking impact.

Though all the stages of life are dealt with in turn, it is the deconstruction of Ishiguro's characters, and therefore the deconstruction of the human mind itself, that forms the heart of this novel. The subject matter may lean towards science fiction, but the author's approach refuses to follow; the humanity of his protagonists is never called into question for a moment. They are simply too real for that. Such is the perceptiveness and complexity with which he brings them to life that all of us will find something of ourselves in them, and ultimately feel the atrocity of the wrong done to them with profound intensity.

Indeed, it is perhaps Ishiguro's refusal to examine the mechanics of his scenario – his persistent focus on its human, emotional aspects – that make the novel so universally engaging. It is a study of humanity that seems, itself, to be human; a portrait of repression that is, itself, repressed; a tale of careful avoidance that carefully avoids its own ideas. It is a novel realised through memories and feelings that is utterly memorable and heartfelt – and, as the title promises, its resonating after-effects will never quite let you go. ( )

Highly thought provoking. Our book group had a long and at times heated discussion about this one. Takes a while to warm up but once you're in you can't put it down. ( )

(#8 in the 2009 Book Challenge)

This is a book for work book club, and I didn't think I was going to especially like it and I ended up devouring it in one sitting almost. I'm usually not particularly fond of dystopian fiction because, I don't know, I feel like there's enough actual crappy stuff to think about as it is without inventing more. It was the finesse with which the story was delivered that held all the appeal for me. The narrator's description of her girlhood at a tony British boarding school was like a chum line ... little jarring bits among the classic school story format that eventually added up. And even after the grim details were all laid out (it's about organ donation), I liked that the thrust of the thing wasn't about how right or wrong these circumstances were (blessedly, Ishiguro let that be obvious), but rather how people might think and act if that was the situation they found themselves in.

Grade: A-
Recommended: Definitely to those who already like reading about dystopias, although I'm not sure this approach will work for everyone. There's a great focus on the mundane aspects of the character's experiences, which for me provides a contrast that makes the events seem even more chilling ... however, I can appreciate how it's teetering on a fine line, on the other side of which is bad imitative fallacy. Reading about teenagers acting tiresome can be ... tiresome.