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Never Let Me Go

Kazuo Ishiguro

Start date: May 1, 2014

Finish date: May 31, 2014

Discussion: Group Reads Discussions

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What Members Thought

Feb 17, 2016 Steve rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, fiction

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. At one point in George Orwell's grim "1984," the novel's main character, Winston Smith, awakens from a dream uttering "Shakespeare." For me, this is one of the high moments in modern literature. The bleak dystopia is counterpointed by a name, a word, an emotion that captures all that is noble and great and poignant in humanity. But is it transcendent? In Orwell's gray world, the answer is ultimately No. As I entered the homestretch in Kazuo Ishiguro's impressive "Never Let Me Go," and sensing ho At one point in George Orwell's grim "1984," the novel's main character, Winston Smith, awakens from a dream uttering "Shakespeare." For me, this is one of the high moments in modern literature. The bleak dystopia is counterpointed by a name, a word, an emotion that captures all that is noble and great and poignant in humanity. But is it transcendent? In Orwell's gray world, the answer is ultimately No. As I entered the homestretch in Kazuo Ishiguro's impressive "Never Let Me Go," and sensing how the novel might end, I found myself recalling Smith's scene. I was also a bit hopeful, since Ishiguro's world of clones and donors and carers is less science fiction, and more an alternative history. The ending however was devastating, and left me questioning existence, memory, and the necessity of Hope in an increasingly scientific and heartless world.

Despite the familiarity of Ishiguro's world, with it's English setting and references to what is obviously World War II, the author does explore moral and ethical questions that I've encountered in speculative novels such as "Frankenstein," "1984," and, perhaps closest of all, "Brave New World." But Huxley was never one to make you care much for his characters, since he had his eye out on Ideas and Science, and how they might impact Humanity. Ishiguro, on the other hand, makes you care intensely for his characters, in particular the clones Kathy H., and her two lifelong friends, Tommy and Ruth. Their eventual roles as donors of organs is a horrible one, but it's a horror that exists only on the outer edges of the story, since the characters seem to accept their fates almost unquestioningly. Almost. Some clones do wonder, like innocent children, if there is an Out, a miraculous deferral, if they can exhibit, for example, the capacity for Love. If there is horror over how the clones are treated, it exists more with the regular humans, as some wonder over whether the clones have souls. Their anguish is deserved as they prove themselves less than their creations. ...more

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Jun 11, 2011 Micha rated it it was amazing

Shelves: to-be-acquired, books-2011, favorites

I loved this book. It made me FEEL in a way a book hasn't in a long time and I had long conversations about it with multiple people because I couldn't stop thinking about it. It had so much heart but managed to leave me with so many questions and so much sadness and loss but also hope and lovely nostalgia. It is a terrific book and there are few people I couldn't recommend it to, but I can't think of one just now...

Possible SPOILERS for either the book or film version below - BEWARE!

In comparis ...more

4 likes · Like · see review

Sep 09, 2010 Kimberly rated it did not like it

Shelves: books-i-own, book-challenge-10-11, to-read-read-for-college

I was so excited to read this book for a buddy read but it took me 3 weeks to read a book the length of something I can finish in a few hours. I hated the whole thing and it even gave me migraines. To those who like it thats great but this was not for me and I consider it a waste of $20.

2 likes · Like · see review

Feb 07, 2016 Stacey rated it really liked it

A quick read. It was an unusual premise but it sucked me in. The matter of fact style of the narrator made a kind of horrible situation seem manageable and normal.

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Oct 07, 2021 Danise rated it it was amazing

Thrilling and beautiful. Literary fiction but written in a very simple style. It's about people who have been cloned to serve as donations, and it's a romance and a coming of age. It's my first Ishiguro book and now I get what all the fuss is about. ...more

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Mar 08, 2018 Anna rated it liked it

Shelves: au-alternate-universe, hive-mind

I’m filing this book under “hive mind” because I can’t think of any other way someone got these teenagers to behave so well and speak euphemistically of “donations” and “completions”. It is a beautifully written, sad story, and so very “british”. An american school would be ringed in barbed wire, and the “donors” would be exercised vigorously daily, and kept mostly separated otherwise. These young children are angsty lambs being led to slaughter

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Sep 23, 2010 Jenifer rated it liked it

Shelves: 1001-books, dystopian

I know this book is listed on many of the "100 books you should read before you die" lists but I think another 25-50 pages of character details would have allowed me to connect even more with Kathy and Tommy. ...more

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