Sometimes I don't choose a book but it chooses me. Sounds weird?

In the beginning, I don't understand and was a bit confused by the words such as donor, and carer.

I may say this book is a bit slow, boring, and mundane but it is growing interesting when you continue discovering it.

The imaginative or sci-fiction story of Kathy, Tommy, and Ruth makes me reminisce about my life and I am grateful that we can live in a free world.

Remember, we never take the "free world" for granted. We must protect it. Sorry, a little bit of politics here.

In "Never Let Me Go," a fictional story focusing on three classmates from a unique boarding school, author Kazuo Ishiguro deals with questions of loss and mortality that each of must eventually confront. As we get older, as we lose our friends and family, as the environment around us changes and things once familiar to us disappear or become unfamiliar, as we cling to our memories of how things used to be, how do we come to accept the fact that our lives are finite and attach some meaning to our limited existence? These are questions that the narrator of "Never Let Me Go," Kathy H. copes with as she recounts the disjointed memories that comprise her life. Sorting through these memories, she finds comfort in her friends and her career, eventually coming to terms with the meaning of her life and her ultimate fate.

Reflecting upon her life, Kathy devotes most of her time to thinking about her friends from Hailsham, a secluded boarding school where she grew up. Because contact with outsiders at Hailsham is limited, one of the school’s big events is the quarterly Exchange, where students are given tokens they can use to buy other students’ artwork. As this is the students’ only way of accumulating material possessions, they grow dependent on each other for their "personal treasures" and learn to value others’ work, forging unique bonds with one another. Kathy’s two best friends are Ruth, an extroverted leader at the school, and Tommy, a shy introvert who gets bullied due to his lack of creativity and inability to produce substantial work. While they depend on each other throughout their time at Hailsham, like a lot of friends they drift apart after leaving the school. Looking back at the petty argument that led to the group’s break, Kathy comments, "It never occurred to me that our lives, until then so closely interwoven, could unravel and separate over a thing like that." Kathy regrets the loss of her friends, but doesn’t do anything about it until she hears that Hailsham is closing: "[I]t started to dawn on me, I suppose, that a lot of things I’d always assumed I’d plenty of time to get around to doing, I might now have to act on pretty soon or else let them go forever." Realizing that her time is limited, Kathy decides what is important to her – what she doesn’t want to let go of – and reconnects with her old friends, Ruth and Tommy.

In addition to her friends, Kathy’s career has a special meaning in her life. Kathy begins the book by identifying herself as a "carer." Although a lot of carers "are just going through the motions waiting for the day they’re told to stop," Kathy enjoys her work, the long drives and the solitude, and she knows she is good at what she does. As a carer, she helps look after patients, assisting as they recover from "donations" and keeping them calm. She knows that she is a good carer, which is important to her: "[I]t means a lot to me, being able to do my work well." However, when she becomes Tommy’s carer, he questions the meaning of her work, asking her if she really considers her job to be important since all of her patients are going to "complete," or die, anyway. Kathy responds, "Of course, it’s important. A good carer makes a big difference." When reflecting upon her life, Kathy decides not only that her friends are important to her, but she also considers her job important, believing she makes a difference by helping others.

However, as the book begins, Kathy only has eight months left as a carer, and then she will begin the last phase of her life. Initially, Kathy does not accept this fate, hoping to get a "deferral." When the headmaster of Hailsham tells her a deferral is not possible – Kathy cannot escape her ultimate fate any more than the rest of us can – Kathy wonders what the purpose of her life has been: "Why did we do all of that work in the first place? Why train us, encourage us, make us produce all of that? If we’re just going to give donations anyway, then die, why all those lessons? Why all those books and discussions?" In fact, one of the Hailsham teachers, Miss Lucy, had made this same argument when they were children, believing it was more important that they know their ultimate fate than worry about creating artwork and developing their sense of culture: "If you’re to have decent lives, you have to know who you are and what lies ahead of you." But this is not true, the Hailsham headmaster counters, addressing Kathy and Tommy: "Look at you both now! I’m so proud to see you both. You built your lives on what we gave you. You wouldn’t be who you are today if we’d not protected you." Ultimately, Kathy comes to agree with the Hailsham approach. When she meets a patient who did not go to Hailsham, but wants to hear all about her time there so that he can replace his own memories with Kathy’s, Kathy realizes "just how lucky we’d been." Without being warned what lay ahead – as Miss Lucy had wanted – Kathy had been free to live her own life; even if it was messy, it was hers. As the novel concludes, Kathy drives to Norfolk, where she had shared her happiest memories with Tommy: "I imagined this was the spot where everything I’d ever lost since my childhood had washed up, and I was standing in front of it." Instead of hanging on to those things and people she has lost, Kathy realizes that this is as far as her fantasy can go: "I just waited a bit, then turned back to the car, and drove off to wherever it was I was supposed to be." Like most of us, Kathy knows her life is limited, and the best we can do is go about our everyday lives, doing what we are supposed to do. She will never let go of her memories of what she has lost, but she has accepted her fate.

Though her life hasn’t been perfect, Kathy, reflecting upon her memories, finds that her life has been meaningful – having had close friends, an important job, and an idyllic childhood, she considers herself "lucky." But has she, in fact, led a decent life? Has her life been purposeful and meaningful? These are universal questions we may all ask of ourselves – how to accept our own mortality and assign purpose to the limited life we have been given. However, these big questions of how to deal with loss and mortality also become a source of frustration and disappointment for readers because, while "Never Let Me Go" builds these questions up, it never seems to fully resolve or answer them. Fortunately, though, it does provide some clues. One of the recurring items of the book relates to a song Kathy plays as a child called "Never Let Me Go." What makes the song special for Kathy is that she assigns her own meaning to the lyrics; instead of listening to the actual words, she imagines her own version of the song: "Even at the time, I realized this couldn’t be right, that this interpretation didn’t fit with the rest of the lyrics. But that wasn’t an issue with me. The song was about what I said." At one point, when Kathy is dancing to the song in her mind, Madame, a Hailsham leader, catches her and starts sobbing. Later Madame confesses that, when she saw Kathy that day, she imagined Kathy was holding onto the old world, a "kind world," which was being replaced by a "harsh, cruel world," but now Madame realizes her interpretation was wrong: "It wasn’t really you, what you were doing." Soon after Madame catches her playing the tape, the tape is lost, her friend Ruth tries to replace it, and later, with Tommy’s help, Kathy finds another copy of the tape. The symbolic implications are clear: just as she assigns her own meaning to the song, Kathy assigns her own meaning to life. Sometimes she may be lost, sometimes others like Tommy may help her, and sometimes others like Madame may assign a different meaning to her life than she does, but Kathy is the final author of her life. While others may deem her life meaningless, she herself is content, if not happy. "Never Let Me Go" may not provide a universal answer for some of the big questions it poses about loss and mortality, but the ultimate message seems to be one of hope: as the authors of our own lives, it is up to each of us to take what we are given and make the most of it.

Poignant, scary, and yet beautiful.

Second review. I somehow deleted my initial review — which is a pity, since it was somewhat original. I still like the book, but the pacing is too slow for an undergraduate course which is why I had revisited this.

There's no doubt about it, “Never Let Me Go” gives a picture of the '90s that isn't nearly as pretty as the folks on 90210. In the book, you’ll find a dystopia where everything seems perfect. But the sad truth is that this world isn't perfect for everyone. And it's definitely not perfect for Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy. I don't want to spill all the beans here, so I’ll just say this: these three friends are in for a wild ride. Over time, they'll learn about their true (and dark) purpose in this funky world and why they have had such a special childhood.  See, they aren't exactly human like the rest of us… or are they? And what does it even mean to be human in the first place?  While they wrestle with that question themselves they'll also figure out just how important friendship and their memories of growing up together will be in the face of some seriously high stakes.

“Never Let Me Go” can seem misleadingly simple. It’s easy-going narrator, Kathy, talks to us like we're gossiping with her over tea and biscuits, which is fun and all --but the story as a whole is about the steady erosion of hope, about repressing what you know, and about how many of us can't reach out and grasp the happiness right in front of us. This book can get pretty deep. The thing is, Kathy's chatty style and her mysterious story just make me want to read more. Sure, there are some dark moments that make you think, but the page-turning nature of the book means you won't get paralyzed by the deep stuff.

There are oodles of reasons to pick up “Never Let Me Go” and -- dare I say it?-- never let it go. But the best reason will be: FRIENDS. Life would be pretty dull without good friends with whom to share good times, but the truth is that not all friendships are perfect. There are bound to be fights, squabbles, and even falling outs. But having experienced all these things means you'll fit right in with Kathy and her pals. The novel gives us a good long look at what happens when friendships don't always go according to plan. Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy have had their fair share of tiffs and bruised egos. The trio has even gone years without talking. Nevertheless, their friendships still endure the test of time (and a bunch of other tests, to boot). Reading about this trio may just make you a better friend, too.

Kazuo Ishiguro is a master of human emotion and interaction, he captures these in this book perfectly. He has chosen a surprisingly modern and deep topic with important parallels to life today. What is happening is implied, not spelled out. We are required to observe. Even the events themselves are amenable to different interpretations -- but “Never Let Me Go” is a book that makes you think, maybe even more than you want to, about our society and ethics.

Some titles that come to mind when I think of dystopia include 1984 and The Hunger Games, both of which are fantastic books. The mention of dystopia always triggers certain scenes to play in my head: big explosions, rebellious uprisings, and underground brain-washings. Never Let Me Go is nothing like that, yet it's just as powerful.

The novel is about Kathy, a thirty-one year old woman who reflects on growing up with her friends Ruth and Tommy at Hailsham, a private school for special children. I hesitate to give away too many details because almost the entire plot was spoiled for me. Still, knowing about the story beforehand won't decrease one's enjoyment of the book - it's not the climax that makes it great, but Kazuo's delivery of information through his wonderful writing.

Despite Kathy's detachment as a narrator, her quiet voice (ha, quiet voice. get it?) resonated with me. Her lack of anger, or simply any emotion broke my heart. I wanted to give her a good shaking and scream "see that boy? Go love him properly!" or "don't you know how badly you've been treated? You don't deserve that! Do something about it!"... but, I couldn't. And the fact that the characters couldn't do anything about their predicaments either saddened me tremendously.

So to summarize this sloppy review: stunningly well-written, achingly melancholy.

*cross-posted from my blog, the quiet voice.

I listened to the audiobook of Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. It was narrated by Rosalyn Landon who did an outstanding job of reading this book. Never Let Me Go was Kazuo Ishiguro’s sixth book. Although I enjoyed The Remains of the Day a bit more than this book, I still felt that this book was beautifully written and very thought provoking. My favorite book, though, was Klara and the Sun. Never Let Me Go was character driven with a very unusual and complex plot. There was a darkness to this book. I found it to be quite engrossing but its secrets and discoveries were revealed quite slowly throughout the course of the book. It touched upon my emotions in a variety of ways. Sometimes I was justifiably horrified by what had been revealed and at other times I felt good for what the characters were finally able to understand and accept. Never Let Me Go focused on the innocence and trust of young children, the knowledge young adults acquired and accepted and the acceptance and understanding of loss in later years of life.

Once there was a special private school called Halisham that was located in the English countryside. The children who attended Halisham were always told that they were special. They were protected and sheltered from the outside world. There were very specific rules that the children had to follow and obey.

Kathy H. was the protagonist and narrator of this book. She had been a student at Halisham but was now an alumni and thirty-one years old and a carer. Throughout the book, Kathy H., recounted her childhood memories and experiences at Halisham and how she only wanted to discover everything she could about the school and the people who ran it. Kathy H. finally succeeded in putting the pieces of the puzzle together about the place and school where she spent her entire childhood. The only thing was, that by the time she did it, it was almost too late to do anything about it. She discovered that all the rules and information that were passed down to the students by those in charge of the school had been lies. The children that attended Halisham had accepted and believed everything that they had been told. Perhaps the most important discovery Kathy H. made, though, was that Tommy, one of her friends during her years at Halisham, had actually always been her true love. Even though Kathy H. discovered this and finally acted upon this, it had been camouflaged for the longest time in the love triangle between Tommy, Ruth and herself.

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro was about the controversial act of cloning, the donation of human organs in a most unconventional way and love. It was about how certain behaviors could be justified for the greater good of mankind and advances in science. Never Let Me Go explored how certain people just accepted their fate and did not protest about how they were treated even when they were taken advantage of or treated unjustly. Kazuo Ishiguro has an exceptional way of writing about controversial subjects and he has a way of giving his readers a look into how these things might look in the future. I enjoyed reading this book and would recommend it very highly.

Despair. That's what I felt after reading this book. The kind of despair that suffocates you, that makes you want to break things, or, at the very least, go out for a run so you can let out the agony bubbling inside you.

It's ironic, but Never Let Me Go is about three friends who are destined to let go of everything - their bodies, their dreams, their lives and the people they love. And there's NOTHING they can do to avoid that fate.

I hate what this book did to me. I hate the author for creating a semblance of hope, only to completely crush it later.

And that means I hate this book for all the right reasons.


“I keep thinking about this river somewhere, with the water moving really fast. And these two people in the water, trying to hold onto each other, holding on as hard as they can, but in the end it's just too much. The current's too strong. They've got to let go, drift apart. That's how it is with us. It's a shame, Kath, because we've loved each other all our lives. But in the end, we can't stay together forever.”

Well I’m going to have to let this percolate in my mind palace for a little while… my heart hurts :(


(Full review to come)

The girls that get it get it (not me)

That was a little joke, I managed to grasp the point of this book. I would describe it as a dystopian novel exploring the purpose of life.
Without spoiling much, I'm going to point out a few things I liked and didn't like.
As usual, I found the idea or the concept of this book VERY interesting. It's something I can (except for when the book is just a piece of trash) enjoy. I understand why it had to be or, let's say, was written. I found the characters quite versatile which I like. Each one of them (3-4 main characters with side characters of no importance whatsoever) told their own story and presented their take on the situation they found themselves in and that's beautiful.
But the book had many issues.
1) The writing - it's a first person perspective, something that is in my opinion rarely good and this wasn't one of those cases. The sentences were way too simple (3rd grader level of simple). The message was strong but I didn't highlight a single sentence.
2) The beginning - very confusing, took about a 100 pages to start making any sense
3) The big mystery was revealed on the 60th page and nothing happened since - self-explanatory
4) connected to reason 3, the book had barely any plot

To conclude this messy review (staying true to my nature), I'm glad I've read this book since it's very popular and loved, but I'm also disappointed cuz the potential was there but not used whatsoever.
Have you read it? Tell me your opinions in the comments, I love to engage with you

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i heard many good things about this book. wishing a good start for february

I finally finished reading this book. Finally - is the key word. At first I thought the problem was with me - too busy to read, but now that I've finished it, I realise that the book itself was the problem. I've never read any Kazuo Ishiguro's works before, but this book is just pure boredom.

Now don't get me wrong, the idea, the story, the characters are amazing. But the writing itself is simply horribly tedious. Right after finishing the book I downloaded the movie based on it. It's one of those rare cases when the movie is way better than the book. Why? Because things actually happen in the movie, the movie made me think, made me ask questions, made me shed a few tears... while every time I picked up the book, my attention was hopelessly lost after a few pages. The book consists of endless descriptions, memories of the main character... those are described so plainly and senselessly that seem to be pointless, arise no emotions at all. I honestly got the impression at some point that Ishiguro was just filling up empty spaces to ensure that the book gets published.

Hope I haven't offended anyone with this, but I'm used to expressing what I really think about books.

I regret that I spent so much time on this book. I advise people not to repeat my mistake and (can't believe I'm saying this) just go and see the movie. It's really great.