Reviews

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

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esthersedition's review against another edition

5.0

Kazuo Ishiguro, the undisputed King of dystopian fiction. That should be enough to get you to read this book but I feel obligated to not be stingy and expand on why this book is so amazing. (there are no spoilers in this review.)

First of all, Mr. Ishiguro is so talented at describing concepts and feelings that are familiar to us but hard to define. Like jealousy, anger, affection and confusing relationships. But instead of just plainly describing them on paper, he takes the reader through a journey and shows the origins of these feelings and how they grow into what they are or turn into sometimes something else completely. Like love into jealousy etc. But that's not even the tip of the ice-berg, it's the way he immerses the reader so smoothly into the dystopian world he's created that you become so interested in the character's reality itself only to be hit with a deep philosophical truth at the end. It's amazing.

I want to say he's the King of dystopian fiction but that would be selling him short. I feel like he's also the only author I know to do philosophical fiction so well. Other's may find it boring but if you're like me and you're a lover of philosophy or existential questions about life or society but also don't like reading nonsense jargon all the time – this is literally the best book for you. I've only read two of his books so far but I have more of his books that i'm just going to obsessively power through.

The book itself is set in a dystopian England centred around one main student – Kathy alongside two other students, Ruth and Tommy and explores how they navigate their lives through and after 'Hailsham' their not-so conventional school. Hidden in the cracks of these storylines is a mystery that is pulled on here and there at the beginning but never in full until the end where they discover the truth of it all. However, in all honesty I wasn't a fan of the ending I think there should have been something more but then again i'm yet to have come across a book I love with a perfect ending – simply because I don't want it to end at all.

'Never let me go' by Kazuo Ishiguro - 5/5 stars for me.

amallard's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No

4.5

Idc that Ruth's a nasty little conniving so-and-so. When she realises that

she's never going to work in an office

I lost it. Give this woman her dreams of capitalist exploitation.

sophialuna's review against another edition

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dark reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No

3.0

adelle_bookworm's review against another edition

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4.0

Uf. Tak tohle bylo hodně silný.

Miluju momenty, kdy vám to začne docházet. Že něco neštimuje. Že tam bude něco jinak. Docela dobře znám film

Spoiler

Ostrov

, takže tady mi to bylo jasné brzy, o to zvědavější jsem byla, jak se k celkovému konceptu přistoupí. A možná proto mi tam pak pár věcí nesedělo

Spoiler

(třeba jako nedořešení rodiče, zapojení do společnosti... je jasné, že o to tak nějak šlo, ostatně ty postavy to dávají dost najevo, jak to vnímají, ale přece jen jsem trochu doufala, že toho třeba slečna Emily práskne víc)

. Ale jo, ta myšlenka je děsivá a autorovi se povedlo mě do toho vtáhnout se vším všudy.