Review – Never Let Me Go

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

Quick summary –

As children Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy were students at Hailsham, an exclusive boarding school secluded in the English countryside. It was a place of mercurial cliques and mysterious rules where teachers were constantly reminding their charges of how special they were.  Now, years later, Kathy is a young woman. Ruth and Tommy have reentered her life. And for the first time she is beginning to look back at their shared past and understand just what it is that makes them special–and how that gift will shape the rest of their time together.

My thoughts –

It is difficult to talk too much about this story without giving anything away.  The reader finds out pretty early on in the story what makes these children so “special” but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t still plenty of questions left unanswered at that point.  Slowly, things begin to make sense through the narration and easy storytelling of Ishiguro, but the more things make sense, the more questions I seemed to have.  This book is a very powerful story; although it is science fiction it reads like a well-written, easy to read novel, and I couldn’t tear myself away for very long.  The story raises some powerful ethical/moral questions regarding advances in science, our part in all of that, and basic human rights.  I HIGHLY recommend this book, I truly loved it.  Has anyone read any other of Ishiguro’s work, and if so, what did you think?  I am interested in exploring more of what he’s written.

Rating – 10! (out of 10)

Read Eva’s review here and Jeane’s review here.