I only read this book as I want to read it before seeing the film and boy am I glad that I did.
Its not a book that I would have chosen in fact I had never heard of it. The only Ishiguro I had previous knowledge of was The Remains Of The Day which was out in the cinema when I was at college and I completely dismissed it as being stuffy, I am now keen to read that and his other books too on the back of this one.
Its hard to describe what exactly it is that I like about this book as I found the whole thing so conflicting within itself. I love the fact that Kathy jumps straight in telling the story as if the reader already knows what she is talking about as that is so reflective of the students upbringing where she mentions several times that she can't remember the first time she heard about such and such its like she always knew about it. Even though I didn't know what she was talking about I found the style of writing so easy it was never a problem and I realised early on that all will be revealed when it needed to be again much like the students upbringing.
I thought the narration was quite void of emotion which strangly gave the book lots of warmth. I would have preferred her tone to change with each section of the book as towards the end the monotone was starting to drag.
The natural relationship between Kathy and Tommy was incredibly endearing its like they were drawn to eachother with neither of them knowing why. I felt so sorry for them after their visit to Miss Emily I wanted to give them both a hug. Perhaps Miss Emily's keeping them in the dark helped them not to get too drawn into this disappointment but then if Miss Lucy had her way they could have lived a more fulfilled life before their "completion".
I did find it strange that it was so important that Miss Emily and Madame lived in the dark. Madame kept disappearing into the darkness and then reappearing again which was obviously relevant but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. Was it simply because these two women were intent on keeping the students in the dark or was it because they themselves were now shut out from society and any kind of normal life?
I finished the book wanting to know more about the "cloning" and the "donations" and the type of people requiring these donations but I don't feel cheated of this lack of knowledge I feel it has brought the book round full circle to the beginning again, Kathy has finsihed the book assuming that the reader knows all this much in the same way she started the book assuming the same.
There is really so much more I would like to say but I think my ramblings would end up being longer than the book itself.