Book Review: Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

(Goodreads)

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.

This book is complicated. Before reading the back summary, the intro pages or the copyright page, you're met with the front cover, which not only informs you that this novel has been made into a movie starring Carey Mulligan, Andrew Garfield (the newest Spiderman), and Keira Knightley, but that according to TIME, this is "the best novel of the decade." I didn't even notice the subheading under the author's name that announces him as the Booker Prize-winning author of The Remains of the Day. I'd say the first impression of this novel sets the bar pretty high.

I was lost in the first five pages. Then mildly disappointed in the next ten. By page 30 I wasn't sure if I wanted to continue reading. I asked my friend who had seen the film if she thought it was worth continuing, and she said she'd enjoyed the film and was surprised that I wasn't enjoying the novel. So I continued and thought to myself, if it doesn't get better by page 100, I'll seriously consider making this the first book I abandon (at least since beginning this blog!).

Ishiguro writes clearly, each sentence by itself is understandable. It's the bigger picture becomes confusing with vague details that don't ever feel like they're going to be cleared up. Kath, the protagonist, spends a majority of the novel looking back at her time in her school, Hailsham, trying to put memories together. While her memories appear very mundane (as if I was writing about a week ago when I went to the supermarket and was looking for a particular kind of soup and came back home to my apartment and petted a white cat on the way in), towards the second half of the novel, they start becoming fond and interesting.

I honestly think a different beginning to this novel would have made it a much better read. I can hardly remember the first 75 pages or so because I was so confused and felt like Kath was taking me nowhere. The first section of Part Three (Chapter 18) would have been a much better beginning to the novel. It clues you in to the book's plot without saying too much and reveals the main character's personality.

"Sometimes I get so immersed in my own company, if I unexpectedly run into someone I know, it's a bit of a shock and takes me a while to adjust" (208). 

This section of the chapter intrigues you, it leaves you with questions like what is a carer? What is a donor? Even when you don't know what's going on, you keep reading because you want to find more clues.

Overall, this novel is a nice read if you can get past the first part of the novel (approximately 100 pages). I think it's a great idea not executed well. I enjoyed seeing Kath's perspective on this alternative lifestyle but was greatly frustrated with the questions it left me that were never even vaguely addressed. However, I am looking forward to watching the film after seeing the movie trailer.

The original book cover, which I find much more beautiful.