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What readers think of Never Let Me Go, plus links to write your own review.

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Never Let Me Go

by Kazuo Ishiguro

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro X
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
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  • First Published:
    Apr 2005, 320 pages

    Paperback:
    Mar 2006, 304 pages

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There are currently 18 reader reviews for Never Let Me Go
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Power Reviewer
Mal (12/24/19)

Unconventional narrative
Unconventional story with themes of memory and dignity. The story leaves you reflecting on its emotional aftermath as well as memories of close friends and foes from past who left an impression and situations both finished and unfinished.

The three main characters' contrasting personalities captured my attention. Their differences made them compelling and authentic.

I found myself considering the possibilities of science/medicine with a new lens - undoubtedly thought provoking.
Isla (12/09/14)

Never Let Me Go
A good book that is for teenagers but mainly adults. A different storyline then other books but one that you can easily follow.
Power Reviewer
Cloggie Downunder (01/03/14)

rather tedious
Never Let Me Go is the sixth novel by Japanese author Kazuo Ishiguro. It is narrated in an almost conversational style by Kathy H., a thirty-one-year-old carer. Kathy reflects back on her life so far: her childhood at Hailsham School, a transitional period at The Cottages with her closest friends from Hailsham, and her working life caring for donors. In many ways, Hailsham resembles a typical English boarding school, giving its residents a sheltered upbringing, although it is soon apparent that this is no ordinary academic institution, and these students are, in fact, destined for a vastly different fate. Kathy’s narration concentrates on interactions between the students themselves and with their guardians, dwelling on incidents, conversations and reactions; it sounds, for a woman of her age, quite immature. It may have been shortlisted for the 2005 Man Booker Prize, and has been described as brilliant. Never the less, some readers will find the characters unappealing and the whole execution rather tedious.
Mike Pearson (07/16/11)

Hauntingly beautiful
I read the book after watching the movie. So my understanding of the plot was already formed before I read a page. The film moved me and the book even more so. The themes are hauntingly alive to me. The idea of our own known mortality that we all look away from. Our demise through illnesses being the most likely fate for ourselves. We're being let go and we're doing it to ourselves in a similar way to how in the book "others" have that responsibility. We're children too and I felt the teenage wonder and exploration tapped into our own sense of being lost and trapped in the world and mortality. Unforgettable read so delicately dripped into me the more I read. Finished it ultra quick since I couldn't stop reading. Masterpiece of effectiveness of writing.
Peter V. (03/19/11)

Brilliant, even if nonsensical
I read this book with patience, then after watching the movie I felt I had to re-read it again. It is a brilliant book,raising a lot of interesting questions. I am avoiding on purpose the link between the topic of cloning and reality, because if one has to bring this up then it becomes totally non-sensical. And the latter is not because of what some reviewers are saying, but because of the simple fact that if science was able to find ways to clone a complete human being it sounds illogical that it was not able to find ways to clone just human organs. Cloning human organs seems much more efficient,and removes all moral dilemmas, but then there is no story line. Then, so what if it is non-sensical. It is a beautiful story, excellently written,revealing beautiful characters, and entangled stories.
Bd (11/21/10)

Powerful
I have seen several reviewers talk about the setting and basic plot of this book. It's only relevant at all because it gives the author a compressed life period to expose what all humans feel, do, live. It's not quite a great novel. But it's close to great, as close as I've seen in a long, long time.
Katy Booklover (10/19/10)

Held out hope it'd get better. It didn't.
By the end of the first chapter, I seriously considered putting this book down for good. Snoozefest! However, based on all of the reviews and accolades, I believed it would get better. Unfortunately, it did not.

I felt as though I were having a conversation with a sing-songy teenager who is unable to complete any story she sets out to tell. The narrator, Kathy, constantly speaks in disjointed patterns. It seems in every chapter, she'd start with a thought and then have to "back-up" to the beginning. I could not identify with one character, or one situation throughout the novel.

Many reviewers tend to focus on the emotional themes within the book. I may be "daft" (a word completely overused within the book), but the narrative was so shallow and boring, I was unable to pull anything out of it.

Don't waste your time!
gene adair (10/02/10)

boring
This is the most boring 'book' I have had the misfortune of trying to read... 67 pages in, I give up...I hope they all get their worst and take Mr. Ishiguro with them...

Let me go ...now...
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