Kazuo Ishiguro - Never Let Me Go

[Kell]

Author: Kazuo Ishiguro

ISBN # 057122413X

Publisher: Faber and Faber

First Published: 2005

282 pages

Rating: 8/10

(Olympic Challenge

[Marilou]

I hated everything about this book. The style is too bare and soulless. The characters are cold and non emotional. The storyline is original enough, but what a waste of a good idea when the genius of storytelling is non existant. Kazuo's ideas would fit better on the screen i think. Better not give up the day job!

[Kell]

It's definitely a bit of a Marmite book - you either absolutely love it or absolutely loathe it - I don't think I've heard of anyone (so far) who was somewhere in the middle. During and imediately after the time that I was reading this, quite a few folk approached me with their opinions on it and they ranged from "extremely bland" to "an emotional rollercoaster", some thought the characters were stupid for not changing their situation, others decided they were just resigned to their fate. Ishiguro is definitely a writer I'll be revisiting, to see if I enjoy any of his other works...

[Jeannette]

I recently read this one and found it a disturbing yet fascinating book. I think that people who like bleak novels like The Handmaiden's Tale will also like this one. I didn't find it as well-written as The Handmaiden's Tale (which I consider a true classic), but I do think they will appeal to the same audience.

[dogmatix]

Kell I wanted to love this book, but alas, I also hated it. I just found it dull and emotionless. I recognize and appreciate that the text was written in this manner to mimic the abscence of emotion/reactions in the students but I just didn't buy it.

[Kell]

It's certainly a book that seems to provoke extreme reactions, whether positive or negative. It's also one of those books that seems to naturally encourage discussion on the various ethics involved in the story, which I think makes it a pretty good choice for a book group, especially of you get folks seeing things from different angles (which is pretty much inevitable with a book such as this one). It's certainly provided me with several hours of very interesting conversation with others who have read it.

 

I wonder if that was more what Ishiguro was aiming at when he wrote it?

[Polka Dot Rock]

I really enjoyed it Think it was probably one of the best books I read last year. The narrative voice is incredible strong and well thought-out.

 

Kell, I think you may be onto something: it is very thought provoking and I suppose that we don't consider the effects of *cough* and *cough cough* ( ), if those ever became a reality.

[pontalba]

It is one of the few books I could not finish. Too depressing, and I don't care for his style of writing, I found it flat. That was the second of his books that I could not finish. Rare for me.

 

An author can "do" unemotional without being boring, Ishiguro did not succeed for me.

 

I have read and....well I can't really in all honesty say enjoyed, but was able to finish, Remains of the Day, which may be more of a compliment to Anthony Hopkins than Ishiguro.

[poppy]

I have read and....well I can't really in all honesty say enjoyed, but was able to finish, Remains of the Day, which may be more of a compliment to Anthony Hopkins than Ishiguro.

 

Am so glad I'm not the only one, Pontalba Loved the movie and I usually really enjoy these kinds of books. But this one was sooooooooooooo slow and I just wanted to shake the butler....... so tightly reined in and unemotional.

[Polka Dot Rock]

But that's why I love The Remains of the Day! It's so tragic on a small scale I think Ishiguro's talent for creating authentic voices is superb. I think he's a wonderful writer.

[slywaka1]

I just started this book this morning on my way to work, I'm only 30 pages in but so far I have no criticisms!!

 

This was recommended by a girl in my office (and she lent me the book) and as soon as she mentioned it the office was split. Everyone seems very passionate about this book, but not in the same ways!

 

I really want to like this book, but I've spoken to a few people who hated it... I'll let you know what I thought when I've finished.

 

Anna

[Polka Dot Rock]

This was recommended by a girl in my office (and she lent me the book) and as soon as she mentioned it the office was split. Everyone seems very passionate about this book, but not in the same ways!

 

What a literary office! Can I work there?

[Weave]

Yeah me too, any vacancies?

 

I saw this book in Fopp, I might give it a try x

[Polka Dot Rock]

I saw this book in Fopp, I might give it a try x

 

*nudges Paula* Go on!

[Weave]

*nudges Paula* Go on!

 

Will do x

[slywaka1]

What a literary office! Can I work there?

 

 

It's a very literary office, I've got pages and pages of recommendations from them. The only trouble is they all read really quickly. And I don't.

 

Come and work with me, I'm sure they won't mind. Maybe you could just sit at a spare desk and read to us...?!!

 

Anna

[Magdalen]

Book Title: Never Let Me Go

 

Author: Kazuo Ishiguro

 

Synopsis: In one of the most acclaimed and original novels of recent years, Kazuo Ishiguro imagines the lives of a group of students growing up in a darkly skewed version of contemporary England. Narrated by Kathy, now 31, "Never Let Me Go" hauntingly dramatises her attempts to come to terms with her childhood at the seemingly idyllic Hailsham School, and with the fate that has always awaited her and her closest friends in the wider world. A story of love, friendship and memory, "Never Let Me Go" is charged throughout with a sense of the fragility of life.

 

My thoughts on the book....

When I started reading this book, it took me a while to get into it. Its a story narrated by one of the characters and at times it seems like she wants to tell you everything in one go so she keeps jumping from incident to incident and if you are not following carefully, its easy to get lost! But once you are past the first 30 pages or so you get sucked into the story and its hard to put the book down after that. The story continues to be told by Kathy and is made up of various incidents in her life, and the book itself is divided into three parts with the story unravelling itself in layers, so that to begin with the reader isnt sure what exactly the novel is about.

Its a really good book to read, it reminds me of another one of my favourites, flowers for algernon, its laid out in a similar way and the ending too is similar and is bound to move you.

[Kell]

I read this one about a year ago. Here's my review:

 

This is one of those daring books that really pushes the boundaries in terms of the social issues it tackles. It’s uncomfortable to read, but still manages to draw one into the story in quite a personal way. I found myself identifying with the students of Hailsham, who were all completely resigned to their fate and never once even considered the possibility of just walking away and refusing to have their destinies foisted upon them.

 

In terms of action, there’s absolutely no heady excitement – the pace is quite gentle with milestones marked only by basic rites of passage as the students grow up, yet there’s always a sense of something bubbling under the surface and the future, although never really overtly mentioned, nor discussed in any detail, is something yet to come (almost like a reverse case of “jam tomorrow”, where everyone knows that the future is certain and just blindly accepts it. It’s this feeling of total acceptance that makes it such a tragedy.

 

It’s impossible to discuss this novel in even the very vaguest of senses without giving something away, and even if you already know a little of what to expect, it’s still rather hard-hitting and incredibly touching. This is one of those books that will stick in the memory for a long time after the last page has been turned.

 

Rating: 8/10

[Welshman]

Maybe it's because I am a big fan of his work, but I would hold this out as being superior to 'Remains of the Day'.

 

It's not an easy read and it may possibly make you confront some of your own prejudices, but i recommend it highly.

[Guest]

Ooh, dunno about it being better than TRotD, Welshman, but Ishiguro is a GOD in my house. I adore everything about him and his work. If I could write like anyone, it would be him. But I can't, so I content myself by reading his books.

[NiceguyEddie]

I read Never Let Me go some time back. When you realise what's going on, it is a bit of a shock. I thought it was very good & very moving. I listened to an unabridged version of Remains of the Day read by Nigel Hawthorne. One of the best audio books I've listened to.

[Welshman]

Has anyone read 'An artist of the floating world'? I have a copy ready for reading and don't want to be let down as I love Ishiguro's work.

[Guest]

Pfft. Please! If Ishiguro wrote it you will NOT be let down, nosir.

[Guest Sedgewick]

Has anyone read 'An artist of the floating world'? I have a copy ready for reading and don't want to be let down as I love Ishiguro's work.

 

I've read it, but it was a number of years ago and I barely remember it. But, yes, it's certainly worth reading, especially being the centrepiece of his (very loose) WW2 trilogy.

 

Never Let Me Go was a fantastic book but Kathy, indifferent to a world that puzzles her, is still a far cry from Stevens in The Remains Of The Day, which remains, to this day, one of the most beautiful, subtle novels I've ever read.

[literarisch]

I want to read this really bad! Its been on my list for a while now, and I'm glad that everyone is saying such good thing.. makes me want it that much more.