Never Let Me Go

Just finished Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. It spite of the name, Ishiguro is British and the author of books like The Remains of the Day. That book was made in to a movie by Merchant/Ivory that starred Anthony Hopkins as a butler in the 19th century. A very "stiff upper lip" kind of movie.

In reading this latest Ishiguro book, though, I'm more reminded of books like The Handmaiden's Tale or Donna Tartt's The Little Friend. This is an extremely well written book that, at bottom, is a fairly horrible and disturbing story. I'll tell you later why its disturbing but that'll be a giveaway so I'll give you some warning so you can skip the end my comments if you want.

This book is narrarated by Kathy H one of group of students at what appears a British boarding school called Hailsham. She is one of three very tight friends that make something of a triangle -- Kathy, Ruth and Tommy. The story is told as a reminiscence by Kathy near the end of her life and describes the threesome from the time they were very young -- 4 or 5. It reads like a coming of age story and, like Remains of the Day, seems to be a proper British novel. You slowly come to realize that nothing is what it seems and, clue by clue, you realize whats going on. Ishiguro writes well -- keeps your attention although this feels like one of those books that should be read aloud -- and in a quiet voice.

Other than by implication, the story never gets gruesome but, as I said, its addresses a major 21st century issue in a way that makes it very human. If you're easily disturbed by complex moral issues, you probably want to skip this one.

I actually wrote the "plot spoiler" section of the review and then deleted it. Although I did know going in, based on a review I read, what was happening, it probably would have been a better read if I hadn't known and had things slowly revealed. Try it that way.