Never Let Me Go (2005)

This ultimately is a story about relationships. The way you see yourself in relation to others and how others in the group see you. It shows how experiences change those relationships. ( )

Ishiguro keeps the progress of the story tightly wound and moving like clockwork; the formula he uses began to wear on me, but then became a pleasant rhythm that rocked the story forward and back between time lines. His use of the macabre "scifi" element, which is what drew me to the book in the first place, was very light; he didn't lean on it, but instead used it as the background for his character's struggles. The main character, Kathy, understands human emotion and reaction and reason so well, that it makes the point that clones are humans too without stuffing the lesson down your throat. Simply told, beautifully imagined, and just slightly disturbing. Looking forward to his other novels. ( )

From her mid-life position as a carer, Kathy reflects on her life and upbringing at an elite school that groomed her and her peers to have all their organs harvested in their 20s and 30s.

Lots of great themes here, foremost that of duty. Definitely a literary novel in which every character choice and reflection has a larger thematic purpose. Readers seems to be either awestruck by the thematic depth ("such an adult novel") or frustrated by the way that depth manifests ("why don't they rebel"). For me, I felt like the story was extremely well-executed but the themes were pretty pedestrian -- I had the sense this was a book that would have engaged me best in high school. Would recommend widely regardless. ( )

Never Let Me Go (Vintage International) by Kazuo Ishiguro (2006)

One of my favourite books of all time. “Here is what will happen, and there is nothing you can do about it”. The mythos that forms around offsetting and the measurement of love’s “truthfulness” upset me perhaps more than they should. But the humanity in hope and clinging on to any shred of possibility is… well… human. It’s us. It is to see and imagine and play out in one’s head who you are and what you would be, should shoes be reversed. It is contemplative and as I’ve said of Ishiguro’s works in general; this is where his writing shines.

It is contentious amongst my friends, but I don’t believe Tommy intelligent. Not stupid, not emotionally stunted, but unexceptional in all but his enthusiasm and optimism. He is to blame, I believe, as much so as Ruth, and yet I feel we are to forgive him more so than she. Perhaps she knew better, perhaps he went along, and perhaps everyone, Kathy included, was just so traumatized and scared by what was to come that we cannot make reasonable judgements exterior to the situation. But I feel Ruth got off harder than Tommy, and honestly, I think that’s the point.

To not spoil the ending, which often are the most profound parts of Ishiguro’s works, I will just say that Kathy’s final words have always stuck with me. There is an inherent space between, one we may spend our whole lives attempting to overcome, and yet we inevitably cannot — and in that way, our lives are not so different. We all want more than we will have. It is depressing, but it inspires as well that one live in such a way as they shuffle off having dome all we could have. It is not a novel idea, but this story has never left my mind, in at least some small way, since I first read it. ( )