Never Let Me Go
NEVER LET ME GO (Kazuo Ishiguro) - Four Stars
What a clever little story.
From very early in the novel the reader gets the impression that something's just not quite right about the students of Hailsham. Ishiguro writes with a narrative voice that assumes the reader already knows all about Hailsham, and the result is a mini-mystery that he makes no effort to conceal but reveals itself slowly and piece by piece.
You can't pigeonhole Never Let Me Go into any one genre, I think. It flirts with aspects of science fiction, mystery, romance, and dystopian society novels, but none of those aspects are ever really the main focus. They're colorful bangles the story wears with an innocent lack of self-consciousness. The novel is so matter-of-fact about what's going on that is lacks the fantastical and awe-struck tones of most science fiction novels. The two "mysteries" that the reader anticipates will be built up throughout the novel are instead revealed casually, almost second-hand, in the course of narration in Part I (that the "students" of Hailsham are actually being raised solely for the purpose of harvesting their organs) and Part II (that the "students" of Hailsham are actually human clones, created for the sole purpose of manufacturing human organs). In some ways, the novel is even a moral debate, questioning what type of society it takes to create and sustain injustice, whether overt or obfuscated.
If anything, I suppose, Never Let Me Go would qualify as something of an existentialist novel. It's an engrossing story, tinged with grey drops of melancholy, about the existence (and/or effect) of free will. The students of Hailsham appear to have been raised without any notion of the concept, and they accept their destinies with the lucid calmness of people who can't comprehend a better fate for themselves as a legitimate possibility.
What a clever little story.
From very early in the novel the reader gets the impression that something's just not quite right about the students of Hailsham. Ishiguro writes with a narrative voice that assumes the reader already knows all about Hailsham, and the result is a mini-mystery that he makes no effort to conceal but reveals itself slowly and piece by piece.
You can't pigeonhole Never Let Me Go into any one genre, I think. It flirts with aspects of science fiction, mystery, romance, and dystopian society novels, but none of those aspects are ever really the main focus. They're colorful bangles the story wears with an innocent lack of self-consciousness. The novel is so matter-of-fact about what's going on that is lacks the fantastical and awe-struck tones of most science fiction novels. The two "mysteries" that the reader anticipates will be built up throughout the novel are instead revealed casually, almost second-hand, in the course of narration in Part I (that the "students" of Hailsham are actually being raised solely for the purpose of harvesting their organs) and Part II (that the "students" of Hailsham are actually human clones, created for the sole purpose of manufacturing human organs). In some ways, the novel is even a moral debate, questioning what type of society it takes to create and sustain injustice, whether overt or obfuscated.
If anything, I suppose, Never Let Me Go would qualify as something of an existentialist novel. It's an engrossing story, tinged with grey drops of melancholy, about the existence (and/or effect) of free will. The students of Hailsham appear to have been raised without any notion of the concept, and they accept their destinies with the lucid calmness of people who can't comprehend a better fate for themselves as a legitimate possibility.
posted by Kevin at 9:13 AM
1 Comments:
I really enjoyed this book. I found the story to be very unique and engrossing. As you may recall, I read quite a number of books, so there are some that I forget within a matter of months. I read this one almost two years ago, and I still remember it and think about it. Someday, I will have to buy this book (I used to buy too many books, so now I check most of the books I read out of the library or borrow them from friends) and read it again.
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