Never Let Me Go

Disturbing, but powerful story. I would say that it lives up to the hype.

This book had some really interesting questions, I'm just on the fence about how it brought those questions across. The premise was very interesting, the storytelling was engaging, and I was never really bored throughout it all. The beginning started off really strong and sinister but I found it meandered somewhat as it went on. This is a 3 to 3.5 stars for me.

Now an adult with a job caring for patients, Kathy reminisces about her times in Hailsham, a prestigious boarding school that she had attended in her childhood until she was sixteen. Prominent in her memories and amongst her Hailsham friends are Ruth and Tommy, with whom Kathy grows up and subsequently leaves Hailsham. In the outside world, the three of them seek to find out the reason for Hailsham's existence.

While there are some sci-fi elements to this story, it's extremely subtle and really only serves as a backdrop. A lot of good questions are raised (all of them too spoilery to list here), and you can't help thinking about the whole premise of it even after the book is done. The climax and reveal of the story never hit that hard though, and I'm not sure if this was intentional since Ishiguro freely gives out pretty large hints from the very beginning. It was easy to have a good idea what premise of the story was from the first few chapters if you paid enough attention. I also felt that Kathy's perspective felt oddly sterile and detached at some points, even during moments that we as readers have been looking forward to for several chapters before. It makes climactic moments feel a bit like a let-down, but again I'm not sure if this is deliberate on Ishiguro's part, considering the context of the whole plot.

About the themes, plot, and ending:

I liked the premise of questioning medical ethics, especially when it comes to entities created by science for the sole purpose of serving "real" human beings. It's just come to a blur in this book because the clones being manufactured for their organs to be havested seem to be every bit as real as regular people. Cloning has been a hot topic in medical science for ages now, so the premise of this book honestly doesn't sound absurdly far-fetched. The idea that a more "superior" version of yourself is being essentially groomed and then farmed is terrifying and sounds inhumane, but at the same time what happens if these clones are let loose upon the world?A particular interesting thought that struck me was how the clones are not able to have children. As clones, they would have an identical DNA to someone else who was their "model", but being manufactured they had had no say in where their DNA comes from. Whether they had previously been sterilised or genetically modified before birth, the clones do not have the choice to pass on this DNA by having children. It's implied that their DNA is not their own to pass on as they will, since their entire existence is a mirror of someone else's and the society they're in demands that they therefore serve the needs of "regular" humans. It certainly poses a really interesting conundrum that I hadn't previously thought about, regarding this whole thing about whether an entity should be allowed to pass on DNA if it had been copied wholesale from someone else's for specific purposes.Halfway through though, I didn't quite like how the book devolved into a bit of teenage drama with the whole love triangle between Ruth, Kathy, and Tommy, and how Ruth and Kathy just went on catfighting for most of their lives. I wasn't really sure what that accomplished in the larger scheme of things, and plus I just didn't understand why the two girls went on being so toxic and mean to each other but still being super reliant on the other. It was a whole lot of teenage drama that I didn't sign up for.The ending felt a little anticlimactic. I was really looking forward to the whole big denouement with Miss Emily and Madame, but they didn't really say a lot of things that I hadn't already figured out by that point. There wasn't a big secret sinister plot at the back of it. After that, Tommy and Kathy just went on with the rest of their predestined lives, donating until they completed. It felt like nothing much was discovered (especially since Tommy and Kathy had already somewhat known the truth of their beings all along anyway) and nothing much was changed.

Nobel Prize? One of the best books of the 21st century? I must be missing something. It was still enjoyable, great premise, eerie setting, often entertaining socially critiquing writing style and some great moral questions. However the writing style could also lend itself to be somewhat pedantic (one of the final exchanges, that touch on the title of the novel, while having a nice final thrust to the message of the book, I also found it feeling like fan fiction...) This made some exchanges in the book a bit laborious and kind of broke the immersion for me a bit.
However I think it's also possible that the popularity of this book has worked against it, since the main plot point isn't necessarily meant to be known before going in. The back sleeve mentions nothing about it, and it's not properly revealed until well into the novel. Unfortunately best of lists will readily say this plot point, and I think it ruins part of what Ishiguro was trying to do here. He has a nice way of controlling the provision of information, but knowing this plot point before hand meant I was waiting awhile for it to be revealed in the book. I'm not going to say what it is of course, and I hope in the unlikely scenario someone happens to read this, and they've not read any reviews or blurbs about the book outside of it, they'll simply pick it up and start with no other knowledge about it.

Ishiguro's Never Let me Go is an intensely touching story that poses so many interesting questions to the reader. A closely related book to his recent ‘Klara in the sun' Ishiguro explores what it truly means to be human, and what defines the undefinable human soul. Ishiguro is a master of drip feeding the reader with information so that they are always engaged in the book and does an excellent job guiding them through this immensely complex subject matter. The interactions and love shared between Kathy, Tommy and Ruth is truly an expert representation of human relationships and their complexity. I loved this book and it left me feeling deeply sad and deeply happy at times. Would definitely recommend as an entry to Ishiguro.

There are some writers I always meant to read but somehow never got around to. This is the first Kazuo Ishiguro novel I've read, and boy am I glad I did. Brilliant, oppressive and disturbing.

Literary writers who dip their toes in science fictional waters can often become unstuck. Ishiguro is too good a writer to make a complete hash of this one, but it's still the least satisfying of his novels I've read. The central conceit is interesting, although not nearly as mysterious from the outset as the author would like us to think, but the real problems are in the plot and narrative, which are both very slight. There's barely any actual story here, and the narration is just too limpid and accepting of a fate that I'd expect to provoke rage and rebellion. It's all a bit vague and wafty, as evinced by the way you can see the central idea as an allegory for pretty much anything if you squint at it hard enough. Is it about racism? Or is it an indictment of capitalism and our unthinking consumption of resources? It could be a pro-vegetarian argument against industrial farming or perhaps an attempt to illustrate the class divide in modern Britain. There isn't enough in the book to firmly nail its colours to any of these masts, and the reader is left to apply her own prejudices to the set up in order to read it as anything other than a straight narrative.

I'm moaning more than I mean to here. I didn't hate reading this at all, and the pages kept turning quickly. Ishiguro is still an excellent prose stylist, and the evocation of place here, from an old fashioned boarding school to modern but run down facilities to house these people we don't want clogging up our regular lives (oooh, add maybe it's a metaphor for asylum seekers to the list above) is excellent. In the end, this is nowhere near his best work, but below par Ishiguro is still way ahead of the pack.

I picked up this book having absolutely no idea what it was about, not even the genre. I only knew it was “good” as I'd seen it on several recommendation lists. I guess my not knowing what it was about is what made me somehow enjoy the first third of it. But the last two? It was just... Mehhh. The writing is beautiful, and I liked how it all sounded like a conversation you'd have with the protagonist, like she's telling you about what happened to her and then she'd remember something and would go back in time to tell you a different story etc. But you get quickly bored of this writing style and I'd say even annoyed. The story was good, but not that good. Even the plot twist wasn't a plot twist, once you get there you kind of already know. The rest of the story is very monotonous. I just didn't care for it.

Ah, I loved this book so much, I rented the movie immediately after finishing the read. I was curious to see the story imagined on screen. This is one where the book conveys so much more than the movie. Wonderfully written with such raw emotions and the suspense hits you right in the middle instead of the end which is a surprise you are not prepared for.

This is one of those rare books that I have to give five stars despite the fact that I have no desire to re-read it. It's beautifully written, heartbreaking, and the plot twist genuinely shocked me.

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro is a melancholy yet moving dystopian story about the value of a human life, and indeed what it means to be human. I don't know how to meaningfully discuss this work without spoiling some significant parts of it, so stop reading this review now if you haven't read the book and don't want some plot points spoiled. In Never Let Me Go people are cloned and these clones are raised from childhood to adulthood, going through special schools and training programs, until finally as adults they are called upon to make “donations” (or have their organs harvested to give to regular non-clone people). The “donors” know what they are and what their ultimate destiny is from a fairly young age. It's heartbreaking to see these characters grow up, discover what they are, and simply live with it as if it were normal. It also strained my suspension of disbelief. As adults the donors drove cars and enjoyed some freedom of movement, yet the protagonists never really made meaningful attempts to run away. There wasn't really mention of anyone protesting the practice of raising these donors and then slowly killing them for organs. Based on the way people in real life protest abortion, animal testing, and even eating meat I thought it was pretty unrealistic that everything could simply be so calm, so accepted, and so inevitable. Perhaps this is my American sensibilities running up against the British setting of the novel, but I just couldn't understand why all this went on without a fight or even much of a complaint? Despite this, the book features excellent character development, relationships, and slow-burn world building. I rate this book ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

With a title like that the book is expected to deliver despair & anguish and deliver it does! But delivered way too much

This was hard to rate. It's slow paced yet kept me interested, emotional yet sometimes too dry, thought provoking but sometimes too superficial...it was a strange mix, but I went into it pretty blindly and that's the best way for this book. Surely it can be a perfect read for a book club or a class, because it can generate some very interesting discussions

Left slightly confused by some inconsistencies - seems like the donors at the hospital / recovery centres weren't treated as poorly as you would expect, considering that the Madame / Miss Emily mentioned how badly the students at other schools were being treated. Wonder if each patient getting their own room, carer etc. is cost-effective. Is raising the children in schools really cost-effective either? Allowing the donor adults to live alone after high school also runs the risk of them getting into drugs etc. that could ruin their organs too.

Not an exciting read, yet not a boring one. written in a very conversational style, which suited it nicely. It didn't have any big twists or turns and was paced nicely.
The characters were great and much of the interest i had in the book stemmed from the interpersonal relationships. The overarching story about students, donors and carers was otherwise mildly interesting.

I don't really see why this would be classified as a science-fiction book.

This novel arose a lot of mixed feelings in me. The tale starts out as a sweet story of a bunch of kids in some kind of a boarding school, but the reality of their lives becomes increasingly harrowing and dreadful with each page. The protagonists were described in great detail, the pictures of their personalities painted very real. I could not help myself rooting for them, but at the same time l kept wondering why none of them ever tried to rebel against such a reality. It felt almost painful to keep reading about these kids bowing to their fates with such devotion and acceptance.

I like the writing style of Kazuo Ishiguro. I have previously read his The Remains of the Day. Both of these books have a troubling aspect to them and both cause the reader to question reality-fictional in case of this book. Never Let Me Go-despite being a work of fiction-felt so realistic that it left me with a bad taste in my mouth. How can such a world exist?

ms emily u dumb old hag of course none of these kids had souls, infact they almost stole mine as i tried to get through this shit book as quick as i could.

I don't think anything I can say will do this book and how it made me feel justice. this story, especially how casual this whole thing was for the characters, just killed me. and then the very end killed me once again.

boh... I have not found much special in this book. The premise is strong, but that's just what this amounts to. A book with good premises and no development. It goes in burst, just when you're hoping for something to happen, for the book to find his rhythm, it goes back to endless accounts of nothing. The prose is good, but overall I'm disappointed.

Enduringly beautiful and melancholic, it will sit with me forever.

For some reason starting almost every important story with “Oh, but wait, I need to tell you something before I do that” got annoying and I found myself skipping paragraphs. Otherwise, great work by great author.

I was excited to read this book because of the author's illustrious reputation, but it was a bit disappointing. It was very slow moving, most of the book felt like it was still the introduction, and when various secrets were finally revealed it was pretty underwhelming.

Una lectura fascinante con un trasfondo muy interesante.

ספר לבני נוער על בני נוער, דיסטופיה, a novel of manners?
גם וגם. מעורר מחשבה ,או רצון להדחיק.

Very character-driven, and with little to no action going on, I can kind of see why someone would find Never Let Me Go a boring novel, but I absolutely adored it. At some point, I considered rating it 4 stars, if only because I didn't quite understand how Kathy and Tommy still managed to stay friends with Ruth, but what the hell? It's a 5/5 for me. Ishiguro did a brilliant job.

Besides being a great novel, it's also great sci-fi disguised as “literary fiction,” which is bullshit. Saying it's not science fiction just because it's not about science itself is, well, bullshit. Reinterpreting as nothing but a love story is utter. bullshit. It is. Sorry ‘bout it.

For many reasons, it kept reminding me of Ian McEwan's Atonement. I didn't love Atonement, but some of the same sentiments can be found here: melancholy helplessness, resignation, Keira Knightley. The prose is also similarly beautiful, but while McEwan's book took its toll on me, I couldn't put Ishiguro's down.

3.7

First of all, I don't understand the hype surrounding this book. Yeah, it's a good book... but it moves rather slowly. Ishiguro's writing was very pleasant, but I just found most of Part I & II quite boring. Part III was my favorite since the plot was progressing more clearly than the first two parts.

The story was predictable at some points, like Ishiguro's trying to make it not obvious when it's literally the opposite. I don't know that's just me. But it was really interesting to see the character development of his characters and how they shift from one event to another.

Overall this book was missing something that lovers of this book seemed to have not noticed, but it's still a fascinating read though. It lacks a lot of details, scientifically speaking, and there's not a lot of beautiful prose. Anyway, I'd recommend this to anyone who wants to imagine the unimaginable. It's not an easy-read, so be patient.