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The Wayback Machine - https://web.archive.org/all/20060325185226/http://www.whatbooks.com/2005/never_let_go.php
Never Let Me Go (Alex Awards (Awards))
by Authors:
Kazuo Ishiguro
Hardcover Description:
All children should believe they are special. But the students of Hailsham, an elite school in the English countryside, are so special that visitors shun them, and only by rumor and the occasional fleeting remark by a teacher do they discover their unconventional origins and strange destiny. Kazuo Ishiguro's sixth novel, Never Let Me Go, is a masterpiece of indirection. Like the students of Hailsham, readers are "told but not told" what is going on and should be allowed to discover the secrets of Hailsham and the truth about these children on their own.
Offsetting the bizarreness of these revelations is the placid, measured voice of the narrator, Kathy H., a 31-year-old Hailsham alumna who, at the close of the 1990s, is consciously ending one phase of her life and beginning another. She is in a reflective mood, and recounts not only her childhood memories, but her quest in adulthood to find out more about Hailsham and the idealistic women who ran it. Although often poignant, Kathy's matter-of-fact narration blunts the sharper emotional effects you might expect in a novel that deals with illness, self-sacrifice, and the severe restriction of personal freedoms. As in Ishiguro's best-known work, The Remains of the Day, only after closing the book do you absorb the magnitude of what his characters endure. --Regina Marler
Average Customer Rating:
Engrossing, albeit not perfect
I finished "Never Let Me Go" with enormous relief. I could not stop reading it until the end, it was engrossing, but this novel evoked in me very strong emotions despite the fact, that the language is almost ascetic (a big plus) and the actual descriptions of emotions are virtually non-existent (typical for Ishiguro).
The narrator is Kathy H, a woman my own age, who recalls her childhood in a boarding school, Hailsham, and slow uncovering of the secrets, which are hidden or half-revealed. Kathy is intelligent and questioning, and together with her friends, Ruth and Tommy, comes very close to the truth.
Very early on in the book we learn that the children are reared to be donors of organs and their life after school is carefully programmed. The school exists, however, to give them some dignity in life and is run by some enthusiasts who want to prove that the students are no less human than ordinary people.
I got very angry with the students for not being more active and rebellious. Kathy, Tommy and Ruth ask questions, but they go on with their lives as they are expected to, although there is no mention of punishments or ordeals, which await those who try to get out of the scheme. It is implied that nobody did. Why? At the same time, I cannot believe, that the guardians who wanted to prove that their students had souls, seem not to believe it strong enough themselves!
I came across an interview with Ishiguro where he claims that the book is optimistic because of the natural dignity of the students, that they are undoubtedly human although their lives are so miserable. I did not catch this optimism at all, I was left with the feeling of hopelessness. Does it mean that the author failed to deliver his most important message? This novel is very good, it must be, otherwise it would not be so moving, yet something is not there... Also, I had a profound feeling of déjà vu ("Brave New World"? "The Island"?), the science-fiction metaphor of human life is not new, therefore four stars.
Great start, uninteresting finish
The first half of the novel was great, kept me guessing. I was dying to find out what the big secret was. Then we are told in a rather boring way, then the rest of the story was just a little flat. I don't think I would recommend this one.
Beautiful and extremely disturbing.
This is probably the most disturbing book I have read in a long long time. I could not read it in one go. I had to stop a couple of times for a few days but I was mesmerized by it and had to continue reading eventhough I guessed but still dreaded what was coming. Now that I have just finished it, I cannot help thinking "what if? Could this be in our future? " After all it is not farfetched. The science is already here and this is what makes it so disturbing. As a cancer survivor, I asked myself "if salvation came from a donor, and it was the accepted norm, would I refuse?". I still hope I would shrink from the horror of it but who knows? As I said: it is a most disturbing book.
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