TIME ranked Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go as the number 1 book of the decade ('00-'09), which is what prompted me to seek it out. The story is one of three individuals who shared common experiences at an exclusive school in Britain, told as a memoir by one of the three. To say more about the plot would be doing a diservice to the author as he so masterfully peels layers and layers back through purposeful ordering of the narrator's recollections.
That said, in part one, there is a scene where a teacher tells the students that they are "told but not told" about their situation. The teacher may as well have been speaking to the audience as this scene ultimately describes the book as a whole. There is an M. Knight Shyamalan "Ah ha!" moment at the end of the book. However, we have been told this twist all along, indeed right from the very start. But this isn't where the true "horror" of the book arises; there are 10 - 20 more pages left to read and that is where the true "horror" and heartbreak in this book arises - as what hasn't been explicitly told to us is finally and fully laid bare.
That said, in part one, there is a scene where a teacher tells the students that they are "told but not told" about their situation. The teacher may as well have been speaking to the audience as this scene ultimately describes the book as a whole. There is an M. Knight Shyamalan "Ah ha!" moment at the end of the book. However, we have been told this twist all along, indeed right from the very start. But this isn't where the true "horror" of the book arises; there are 10 - 20 more pages left to read and that is where the true "horror" and heartbreak in this book arises - as what hasn't been explicitly told to us is finally and fully laid bare.