Author: Kazuo Ishiguro
Nationality: British
Year: 2005
Publisher: Faber & Faber
Rating: 8/10
Summary: Eerie and thought-provoking
The outline
This rare foray into sci-fi territory by an author of literary fiction relates the discomforting tale of three friends growing up in a dystopian alternative to the late twentieth century.
Sample
I can still see it now, the shudder she seemed to be suppressing, the real dread that one of us would accidentally brush against her. And though we just kept on walking, we all felt it; it was like we'd walked from the sun right into chilly shade. Ruth had been right: Madame was afraid of us. But she was afraid of us in the same way someone might be afraid of spiders. We hadn't been ready for that.
The verdict
Never Let Me Go is a haunting novel. Often mistakenly labelled as science-fiction, it keeps discussion of science to a minimum and instead focusses on the moral and philosophical issues that surround its central plot device.
The greatest example of Kazuo Ishiguro’s skill in Never Let Me Go is the way that he expertly crafts the voice of his narrator, Kathy. The language and style he uses is perfect for this young female character, inexpert and naïve but vivid and creative, and there was no occasion when the tone of a middle-aged male literary novelist intruded. Her banal descriptions of situations that the reader will find sinister are what create the eerie atmosphere of the novel and enable it to rise above standard dystopian fare.
Never Let Me go is an enigmatic novel. There’s plenty of sense that it’s an allegory for something much deeper than the mechanics of its plot. It’s up to the reader to puzzle it out. Is it about memory? Parenthood? Growing up? Life itself?
The only real problem with the novel is that it failed to engage me on an emotional as well as an intellectual level. Given its storyline, it should have moved me much more. However, overall this is a very powerful novel and one I would definitely recommend.
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