Kazuo Ishiguro - Never Let Me Go

[Mila]

I came across Kazuo Ishiguro, while searching for British authors. Noticing clearly Japanese surname within them, pique my interest. After finding that Ishiguro is British novelist of a Japanese origin, and his family moved to England in his childhood, I began looking for a book. “Never Let Me Go” was the first one that caught my eye. I didn’t read summary or reviews, I just saw that it’s a science fiction novel. It was enough.

Now I already read my e-book, and while searching material for my review, found Amazon’s version of the summary: “From the Booker Prize-winning author of The Remains of the Day comes a devastating new novel of innocence, knowledge, and loss. 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. Suspenseful, moving, beautifully atmospheric, Never Let Me Go is another classic by the author of The Remains of the Day.” I was glad that I didn’t see it before reading. I didn’t have any expectations - especially these great expectations - so I was mildly annoyed, but not devastated at the end.

Story told from Kathy’s view; from the first chapter to the last we saw everything through her eyes. Her childhood: very emotional and detailed; her adolescence: the time of the great quarrel; her adulthood: where everything came to the end. We learned how to live in private boarding school (very strange boarding school, studying questionable subjects, with interesting guardians and even more intriguing Madam); how to build our relationships at the Cottages (strange and questionable) and to prepare ourselves for future work (and we finally knew, what it is! Yep, strange, questionable and mind-blowing); how to live the rest of our lives (still strange from the normal perspective, but not questionable anymore and a little boring) and to find hope. Through the entire story we had this thin line of mystery, suspense – who were this children, why were they special, why did they do their work, where did they come from, what would be their future?

Interesting and tempting? Not in the real life.

Reading the book, especially first part, I was excited.  Atmosphere brought to mind Chuck Palahniuk’s novel “Survivor”. You understood, that something wrong with all these children, that guardians and Madame not like them. I was waiting for the truth, for this climax. But author was uncovering reality from time to time; giving us enough hints, so culmination was mild and disappointing. After it I was hoping for bloodcurdling dystopia, like my beloved dystopian novel by Yevgeny Zamyatin “We”. I expected search for answers, struggle with real world, fight for the freedom, at least agony of their situation. Between all of these we had only first part – quest for the truth – and little bit about freedom - and not a whole freedom, but only a delay. The culmination  was weak, like with all enthralling moments in this book.

 

Ok, so maybe author didn’t want to write about outward things. Louis Menand in his article “Something about Kathy” pointed it out with great frankness: “…“Never Let Me Go” includes a carefully staged revelation scene, in which everything is, somewhat portentously, explained. It’s a little Hollywood, and the elucidation is purchased at too high a price. The scene pushes the novel over into science fiction, and this is not, at heart, where it seems to want to be. But where the novel does want to be is even less obvious than usual… Although his novels are self-consciously “set,” they are not historical novels, and the facts don’t seem to interest him very much. …in “Never Let Me Go,” even after the secrets have been revealed, there are still a lot of holes in the story. This is not because things are meant to be opaque; it’s because, apparently, ... science isn’t what the book is about.”

So, how about human’s relationships - Ruth and Kathy’s friendship, somewhat of a love-triangle between Ruth, Tommy and Kathy? Did you think it was interesting to finally have expecting conversations? No. Before you knew it everything was already agreed upon, everybody happy/unhappy, lives went on.

As you already could see, the main characters were Kathy, Ruth and Tommy. Tommy was the most alive figure. We observed him growing-up, evolving. And we saw how easily it was to crush great potential in a person. Ruth was rude imitation of Queen Bee – pure force, dominance, manipulation and nothing else.  And Kathy, we couldn’t forget Kathy, our main protagonist, the first string! She was a sheep; nothing; bleak character, without hope of changing. I couldn’t love or sympathize with her, and I couldn’t hate or be irritated with Ruth, because I didn’t believe in them. They all had only one dimension, while humans had much more complex personality.

Writing style was conversational, but while appropriated, Kathy’s thoughts were often going in this lengthy entangled pattern, where some details began another pattern of thoughts in a new direction. It was easy to forget the original line.  At the end of the novel I was so tired of this.

I was glad having e-book, because I could forget all about “Never Let Me Go”, just clicking DELETE.  Disappointed, but not devastated, I could read “Survivor” by Chuck Palahniuk to feel alike from the others, “We” by Yevgeny Zamyatin to struggle in dystopia, and “Harry Potter” by Joanne Rowling to think all about rights and wrongs of manipulating other’s childhood.

[gardengirl]

I read this book a couple of years ago [Never Let Me Go]. Thought it was quite brilliant in every way. The 'flat' [as some have said] delivery, just points up the tragic and awful truth about the children, making it all the more heart breaking.The students can't just 'walk away' as there is no future at all for them that way [won't say why as it would spoil things for readers] but it should be obvious why if you have read the whole book.Perhaps this book hits the spot more for mature readers [i mean older, by that]. Some have said it's depressing [does life always have a Disney style happy ending?]If non British readers are reading this book in English, perhaps it may be better to read it in their own language, because there are subtleties that may well not come across well.

A friend of mine described the book as , very well written, but too harrowing for her, so I understand that not everyone would find it an easy book, in fact I was tearful through quite a lot of it, but ultimately it was a 'new' story well told, and you have to take your hat off to him for that!