Never Let Me Go

It took me a bit to get into this book, but I'm really glad I gave it some time, because I'm really enjoying it. There is a slight, slight, slight creepy sci-fi back story, which I won't go into, that was surprising, but mostly this is an interesting personal fictional account of looking back at one's younger and adolescent years, and what growing up sometimes means: Seeing things more clearly. Thirty pages in I wasn't sure I'd finish it. Now, with 50 to go, I don't want it to end!
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Lived up to my expectations, though the so-called “twist” ending...wasn't twisty to me. It was still a satisfying ending, and I think I'll go read some more of this guy's books...

This is one of those books that, while being excellently constructed and written, never really impacted on me, never gave me that “wow” moment of revelation. That's not to say it's a bad book, far from it. Ishiguro is a great writer and the book is never dull.

Set in an alternative timeline where cloning was developed in the 1950s, it focuses on three students from a British boarding school called Hailsham. But these are no ordinary students since each is a clone designed for one purpose - organ donation. Once they reach adulthood and leave the students become “donors” and “carers” before “completing”. There's no way to review this novel without spoilers so there you go.

Told in the voice of one student, Kathy, we learn of her friendship with Tommy and Ruth as they grow from teenagers into adulthood. The complex relationship is well told, with their eventual fate hovering in the background like a black cloud. Ruth is manipulative, selfish and yet capable of being Kathy's confidante when it suits her. Tommy is a ball of anger and naivety, while Kathy is the sensible, down to earth one. Ruth and Tommy become a couple, but this does not end well.

Hailsham seems to be some kind of experiment to show that the clones are “human” rather than just walking organ donation banks. Eventually such places are closed and things become harder for the clones.

But this novel centres on Kathy's relationships with both Tommy and Ruth, for both of whom she eventually becomes carer.

It's a bleak novel, since we know that all three characters will eventually “complete”. But, as I said, it's not a tale that really hit me. Good read, maybe others will get more from it.

The pacing is glacial and I don't like Ishiguro enough to struggle thru.