From the Bookshelf of This Group is Mostly to Hold Felix Accountable…

Never Let Me Go

Kazuo Ishiguro

Start date: January 1, 2023

Why we're reading this: Why anything?
[close] Why anything?

Find A Copy At

Libraries

Group Discussions About This Book

No group discussions for this book yet.

What Members Thought

Feb 10, 2023 Felix Nguyen rated it really liked it

It is very easy to hear different views on what this book is about and then go into it with the wrong idea. Even assigning a genre to it is a disservice to the material. It is not a perfect book, but praise should be given to the author for writing a story that is not meant to reward any assumption.

Even though I had barely read the synopsis before starting the first chapter, I still assumed that the dystopian aspect of the story would play a major role. And it does in a way, but this would have It is very easy to hear different views on what this book is about and then go into it with the wrong idea. Even assigning a genre to it is a disservice to the material. It is not a perfect book, but praise should be given to the author for writing a story that is not meant to reward any assumption.

Even though I had barely read the synopsis before starting the first chapter, I still assumed that the dystopian aspect of the story would play a major role. And it does in a way, but this would have to be the most personal telling of a dystopian future I have seen. Personal in the way that the characters are less concerned about what is going on in this society than their own endeavours. The reader almost has to pry out of every line of dialogue a sense of what is going on, bigger-picture-wise. The author tries (sometimes a little too much) to breeze through any exposition. The purpose, I'm guessing, is to not drive you away from the personal story at hand - but I would argue that sometimes this brings an opposite effect. Sometimes you do need a little more context of the world in which the characters live, so that you learn more about the characters themselves whenever they react to such world.

This is also the most tragic dystopian story I've come across, not because the story ends with major sacrifices of your favorite characters in order for some rebel group to overtake an evil government. It is tragic because, well, there is no rebel group to begin with, nor to end with. The characters don't fight for what's right for them - they just accept. Whenever they decide to do something out of the box, the readers know for a fact that there's a much bigger box for them to break through, but they fail to even consider that an option.

And personally, I think this is the most compelling theme of the book. How often do we think that something unjust will only continue "the way it has always been?" How often does an individual or a group manage to create real change - not the kind of change that arrives because the system itself is moving forward in its endless cycle? ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Jul 16, 2024 Zoey Abigail marked it as to-read

May 05, 2017 Cam Cam rated it it was amazing

Oct 04, 2022 Mattie Finstrom marked it as to-read

Mar 01, 2024 Noa James marked it as to-read

Group Home Bookshelf Discussions

Photos Videos

Send invite Members Polls