Kazuo Ishiguro
Never Let Me Go

Review brought to you by OBS staff member Erin

Summary:

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. (From Amazon)

Review:

This would be a great book for someone who loves to read, but usually avoids science fiction, because they’re afraid it will be too hokey or over the top (or they don’t like aliens). It’s beautifully written, and if you’re not careful you’ll read for two hours…even though it will feel like 15 minutes. It’s incredibly easy to get lost in this seemingly utopian world, especially when you know, from the beginning, that something isn’t right.

You don’t even realize that this is Sci Fi until halfway through the book, when part of what is so special about the children is revealed. But it’s not a “Science Fiction” story. It’s a story about a marginalized group of people being treated differently (like cattle, quite frankly) and their discovery of self, and what it means to be human.

It was enjoyable to read, but I felt like the end cut off too early. I would have liked to know more about “after”. I was a little disappointed. But forcing you to think about “after” without getting too many details might just be the point.