Never Let Me Go (Vintage International)

Ishigiro's Never Let Me Go is beautifully written and the character development is excellent. I did not put this book down and read it in several hours. It's a wonderful example of modern literature and completely unique in the fact that we read the most unspeakable horror and swallow it up, wide-eyed and alarmed, all the while amazed that something so terrifying can be written so poetically. This is not a horror novel by any means! This is an examination of a certain aspect of our culture and how we can all be indoctrinated to accept it. I don't want to re-outline the entire plot, since so many reviewers have already done so. What makes this story so powerful is how understated it is. We watch these children grow from childhood to adulthood, always knowing how their lives will unfold. Cloned from their "models", they know that they will eventually be harvested for their vital organs. This is their purpose, and it is never questioned. Ever. Sometimes certain events or things will cause the protagonists to stop and almost reconsider their destinies, but they fail to consider it fully and go on with their lives as they've been taught to. Notably, there is an abandoned boat towards the end of the book. Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy make their way to the dock to peer at this ticket to freedom. Kathy notes the cabin size and condition and it's clear they could take that boat somewhere and be free. They don't. They don't even discuss it. They just watch it sitting there. Kathy and Tommy drive all over the English countryside-- it's clear they have their physical freedom. They drive to clinics to visit other donors, to stores to shop, cafes to relax in, and hospitals for pre-donation testing. There are no doors or bars holding these people in. They are conditioned from day one to live their lives knowing they will one day donate and "complete". Nobody they know has done otherwise. There are no rumors about anyone refusing their preordained destinies. Herein lies the books strength and its weakness. Throughout the novel, I thought it seemed as if it was leading up to a more climactic event. And, it did and didn't. The climax was a bit anticlimactic and the characters brought in to meet with the two heroes seemed flat (while empathetic) and lacking depth. The horror this meeting could have evoked was felt more fully through the use of Tommy's hopeful art, through some of the thoughts Kathy had and immediately disregarded. It seemed as if more could have and should have been done with that rather than this macabre meeting with the two former school administrators. Yet, at the same time, maybe this is the novel's strength. Freedom is hinted at, yet not taken. There is no prison, yet they are prisoners of society and their own minds. There is love, but maybe the passion is lacking because they know subconsciously there is no future. And, Kathy has seen her friends complete. She knows what's coming after donation number 4 for the man she loves. She changes the subject when he brings the subject up. She dismisses it because it's too difficult to openly discuss it. We know this and they know this. And, although this might be the book's strength, I do yearn for this discussion. I'm left without real closure and I want them to wake up. This is heartily recommended.

This is one of those books that I've "always meant to get around to." Knowing that the cinematic release is imminent is what finally moved it to the top of my towering TBR pile. I'm delighted to have finally read the novel, and I definitely enjoyed it, but I can't help feeling just a bit let down. I've been hearing raves for years, and my expectations were pretty high. I don't even know what to say about a book that has already garnered hundreds of reviews. It's got a plot that supposedly has a big reveal, so I want to be careful what I write, but that was also part of the problem for me. What was supposedly the big secret was obvious to me from the beginning, either because I've unconsciously picked up chatter over the years, or, um, it was just obvious. Anyway, it's a story told in reflection by Kathy, our 31-year-old first-person narrator. She's reflecting on the events of her life, thus far. The first lengthy section of the novel details her upbringing at an unusual British boarding school. There she formed the relationships that were pivotal in her later life, most notably with her best friends, Ruth and Tommy. She continues relating the events of her life after her schooling, and the continually evolving relationships she had with her friends as she slowly learns more about the world they're living in. That was sufficiently vague. The story is interesting, disturbing, and very, very thought-provoking. There were a few problems I had, but I want to emphasize that despite minor complaints, I thought there was real brilliance to this book. My biggest problem was that every single scene, some of them very emotional, was related by Kathy. And her recounting, in hindsight, was always somewhat flat and removed. An example, "...for a while things were okay between us. Maybe, looking back, there was an atmosphere of something being held back, but it's possible I'm only thinking that now because of what happened next." It was literally a case of being told, not shown. Instead of being directly in a scene, we get everything through the prism of Kathy's eyes. It wasn't that she wasn't a sympathetic character, but somehow I had trouble channeling her emotional connection to the events of her life. I sort of got sick of her deadpan voice, and the constant foreshadowing got a bit old, too. And my other complaint is related. Mr. Ishiguro is renowned for his beautiful prose. I have no doubt his reputation is justified, and I look forward to exploring more of his work in the near future. However, he so skillfully and consistently narrates in Kathy's voice, that all poetry is lost. That simply isn't who she is, and she tells her story in a straightforward and utilitarian manner. It's the haunting nature of her story (to us, if not to her) that is so powerfully effecting. I had a friend tell me that he loved the novel up until the ending, but then felt it was a let-down. My feeling was the opposite. Had it gone any other way, I might have been disappointed. There was so much in this book to digest, I'm not sure that I've taken it all in yet. I'll look forward to the film to spark further discussion, contemplation, and debate.

Perfect, lyrically written prose with a plot and characters who will rip your beating heart from your sobbing body! This explodes the best and worst of humanity. Profoundly moving and thematically challenging this is a must read novel. Like Frankenstein it critiques the lack of scientific responsibility of humanity and the consequences of this selfishness. Like Blade Runner it convinces us that our creatures are,in fact, more human than human.Beautiful! An attempt to write the soul.

Good reading

原作がカズオ イシグロと知らずにドラマを見て、ドラマの方も興味深かったので、原作をぜひ読んでみたいと思いました。実はずっと読んでみたかった作家。なかなか機会がなくて、やっとでしたが、とにかくどんどん読み進めてしまう、とても引き込まれる作品でした。他の作品もぜひ読みたいと思いました。話の内容は重たい部分も多いのですが、個人的には著者の英語表現がすごく好きでした。

This book was impossible to put down and I think that the quality of the writing and story is demonstrated by the fact that such an unlikely premise of cloned, young adults willingly accepting their fate remains so convincing. The text is not at all pretentious and I felt owed alot to another author I hugely enjoy, Ian McEwan. It is really difficult to understand why some reviewers appear to have struggled with this book. The only odd thing about it is that it is effectively a piece of science fiction although there is very little science mentioned within the pages as the clones are humanised to such an extent that the "normal" human beings come across as very much being the outsiders. Perhaps it is this lack of science that makes the reader accept the notion of an alterative Britain populated with clones created for immoral purposes ? Ishiguro's novel consists of the recollections of Kath, initially centring around her childhood at the school called Hailsham where it becomes apparent that this is a somewhat skewed perception of the 1980's and something isn't quite right. References to "donations" and "completion" are dropped into the text so that as the story progresses the fate that awaits the characters is increasingly more apparent. The story is revealed in a stream of flashbacks which deviate and meander to recall other incidents which eventually coalesce as pieces of a sinister jigsaw puzzle. Without spoiling the story, the clues are put together by one of the principle characters, Ruth, to reveal that some sort of salvation may be available and , at this point, the novel evolves along a tangent that will have you racing through the pages as clues have been set up from the very first chapter that things might take a tragic turn. I felt that the ultimate denouement of the story was both poignant and a huge surprise as the real reasons for things such as the encouragement for the children to express themselves through art became clear. The conclusion was both shocking but logical at the same time even if the author has cleverly sent the reader along a garden path. What I like about Ishiguro's resolution of the story is the contrast of the niave expectations of the protagonists and how accurately their previous experiences outlined within the novel dove-tail into the actions of the more liberal -minded characters in the book. (Albeit they are not necessarily those individuals who we might expect at first! )Ultimately, we learn that the Hailsham school was indeed unique. Sometimes you come across a novel that is so powerful that the images it stimulates stick in your head for ages after you have finished the last page. Books like McEwans' "Atonement", LP Hartley's "The go-between" and Alain-Fournier's "Le grand Meulnes" are good examples of this for me and I feel exactly the same as "Never let me go." This book is nothing short of brilliant. I would very much recommend this book and am now awaiting for "The remains of the day" to arrive in the post!

23:00 da verdiğimiz sipariş sabah 9:00 da gelmesi. Müthiş kargo hizmeti. Teşekkür ederim