Never Let Me Go Paperback – March 14, 2006

A few years ago I reviewed the 2005 film `The Island' and in my review I mentioned that the initial concept was stunning and that the direction that concept could have taken was really one of two ways; either a thinking man's intellectual film or a `no holds bar' action film. `The Island' was the later (and a really good one at that), but I really would have loved to see the concept fleshed out thoroughly to become something more engrossing and poignant.The novel, `Never Let Me Go', by award winning author Kazuo Ishiguro is exactly what I was craving.What I love so much about `Never Let Me Go' is that it is far less about the actual `cloning' concept and more or less an astute and extremely effecting portrait of adolescence and young adulthood. While yes, the main idea of humans being cloned for their eventual `donations' is always hanging over our heads as we read this engrossing novel (so engrossing that I read it in two sittings), it really becomes a secondary character, leaving open the way for the true meat of this novel to shine forth. This is a beautifully detailed (although never demandingly so) portrait of life and the coming of age realizations that come with it.Told from the eyes of young Kathy (her protagonist reminds me of Benjamin Button in that she is really just our eyes into the lives of those around her), `Never Let Me Go' tells of three friends (Kathy, Ruth and Tommy) who grow up at somewhat of a boarding school named Hailsham. They grow up with the knowledge (although they rarely understand completely) that they have a specific course in life to follow. After they complete their school they will start their training to become carers (somewhat like nurses) before they get their notice that their donations will begin, where their bodies will serve the greater good of society, or humans.After that they wait to complete, or die.What Ishiguro's novel so marvelously does is create a sense of normalcy that is something completely unexpected and ultimately more moving. One might think that a concept like this would be ripe with `oh no we are going to die', thus making this something rather one-note and distancing it from the reader. Instead of placing divisions between these `clones' and the reader, Ishiguro makes each of the characters human. Instead of focusing on their impending doom (it is always there, but never the focal point) it focuses on their present life. They form friendships, relationships, aspirations, loyalties; everything that you and I form. They form attachments to songs, they enjoy visiting the city, they enjoy intimacies with one another. Ishiguro makes them just like you and me, and so when they are forced to face their mortality it doesn't feel like something far fetched or inhuman. Their eventual demise feels like a natural and heartbreaking death of a friend or relative because, thanks to Ishiguro's brilliant writing, these characters are not clones but humans.You can feel it as if it were you going through the pain.I also wanted to make mention of the writing style used here. I really found this commendable because of the small detail used to really take you inside the minds of these characters in each stage of their life. I initially found the writing to feel slightly amateurish and really felt that I was going to begin to dislike the novel, but as the pages turned I realized that this was so smart on Ishiguro's part. You see, when the novel opens Kathy is taking us back to the early years of her life at Hailsham, and she is merely eight years old. Ishiguro really makes her age and mindset so real to us, giving us conversations and actions that seem amateurish until you put it into perspective. His writing style makes subtle yet powerful shifts as Kathy grows up and discovers more about herself, her friends and her fate.Stunning; really, truly stunning.

This is the kind of book that win prizes, not the kind that becomes a bestseller.SPOILER ALERTIn literary terms, this book is a masterpiece. It is SO well-written, you won't even remember the author is a man. Mr. Ishiguro gives a perfect voice for his characters, that is for sure. Kathy, the narrator, is a somewhat shy girl, who's always left aside by her bossy friend, Ruth. And the VOICE the narrator has is SO REAL I've often got myself wondering if that's what a real author is supposed to be like, to write like.The book tells the story of Kathy, Ruth and Tommy - three people who are born "special". They are clones, made to donate their organs once they reach a certain age.You would think the story would revolve around that - maybe they decide to rebel and flee, maybe they decide to kill themselves for love, or something like that. Well, surprise, that doesn't even cross their minds. Instead of focusing on the drama such a terrible predetermined fate could cause, Ishiguro focuses on the characters' lives and on how they deal with the inevitable.The story begins at Hailsham, a school for special people, where lots and lots of children are raised and educated for the future. However, they are never told directly about their fate, and that prompts one of their guardians to say they 'have been told but not told' about what's in store for them.The first part is pretty boring, and nothing really happens. In fact, it is just a way of presenting life at Hailsham. The children have no parents, and that isn't mentioned once. Where do they come from? Who are they? Why are they special? We are left wondering. But we have 'Madame' and her gallery. Her mysterious gallery. The children at hailsham are supposed to 'create art'. The best 'art' is taken away by 'Madame' to her 'gallery'. And that's one of the most important things in the book.The second part shows Ruth, Kathy and Tommy at 'the Cottages'. It is somewhat of an intermediary place - a place they go before they start their training to become carers (the people who take care of donors, before they become donors themselves). There the teenagers discover sex, and some form of love. They struggle with the agonies of youth, and they fight and argue among themselves over stupid things. It is good to be young.In the second part we are presented to the concept of 'possible', and that's when we discover the children are clones. Not clones of normal people, but clones of 'winos, prostitutes, criminals'. In fact, it is at that point you realise WHY they've never tried to run away or rebel (that isn't even mentioned in the book). At least in my opinion, since they know what they are, and where they come from, they realise they have no place in the 'real' world, beause they are not 'real' people. They were MADE, not born, for the single purpose of donating their organs. And that's what they do.The third part is where it all gets interesting. They begin donating their organs, but there is little focus on it. We learn of the pain the donors have to go through, and of how destroyed the carers become after a while, but that's pretty much it. We are thrown directly into the feelings of the main characters, something that never happens in the first two parts - we only get hints of what was going on.It is at the point we realise how deep these characters are, how REAL they are. At first we notice they are very flat, but that is only because they are still children. Ishiguro presents us with a real portrait of the uncertainties of infancy, the sufferings of youth, and then we get to see real, developed adults, in action.Although the book is marvelously written, and Ishiguro is surely a Virtuoso when it comes to writing (I've never read his other works, though), the book is very boring in itself. As I said at the beginning of the review, this is the kind of book that wins prizes, not the kind that becomes a best-seller. When it comes to good literature, this book is one of a kind.Here's an example: the book is a sort of memoir written by Kath, very unpresumptuous, very simple. It is something she feels she NEEDS to write down before she 'completes' (i.e., dies after donating too many organs).Since it is a memoir, you are taken through her memories, often in a very disorderly way. She remembers something, and that makes her remember something else, and then she remembers what she was talking about, etc. It may be weird at first, but that is precisely how our memory works, is it not? The fact that an author is able to capture that process in words is simply fascinating to me.And that is not all. As I've already said, Ishiguro creates very REAL characters. At first you think he is simply writing things his readers can relate to, but then you realise that's not the case. You can relate to his characters because they are pretty much real people. I think I am repeating myself already, and I don't want to make this anymore longer than it already is, so here goes a TL;DR:TOO LONG; DIDN'T READ - If you want an entertaining book, full of action, adventure and emotion, this IS NOT the book you want to read.If you want a book where you can savour literature at its best, where you can FEEL what's going on and learn how to write properly (or, in my case, just be jealous because you're probably never gonna be that good), then please, GET THIS BOOK. Although very boring if you are expecting something more interesting, this book is a marvelous piece of good literature.