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A review by samarakroeger
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
this was a perfect 5 star from me throughout parts 1 and 2. I absolutely love Ishiguro. but the last section of the book lacked the nuance and subtlety I have grown to love and featured far more telling than showing than usual for him.
things I found fascinating:
- the use of weather and hot/cold metaphors throughout
- all the vocal/narrative quirks that Kathy uses which make her incredibly unreliable as a narrator
- the unreliability of memory
- how quietly and mundanely disturbing it is
- how something doesn't feel right to me now that I've finished it, but I can't place it, much like Kathy for most of the narrative
- my suspicions that Tommy has ADHD
- separations and power dynamics between groups of people, be they small or large
if you're going into this thinking it is a high-action, drama-filled science fiction novel, of course you're going to be confused and disappointed. however, I personally do not really like the action-packed mainstream sci-fi out there, much preferring quiet and contained narratives that make you think. I would urge you to give this book a chance.
in the end, I'm not sure how this will stack up against his other works for me. I'm still thinking about Klara and the Sun 6 months after finishing it, and I struggled to get through that one. I would consider it one of my favorites of the year. who knows how I will truly feel about this book until I've sat with it for a long time, perhaps on long drives through nowhere. I already feel a profound sense of loss and heaviness, and the urge to read something incredibly lighthearted and fun.
I do think that this has similar vibes to the movie GATTACA, which is so quietly creepy and hard to place while also asking big questions about what it means to be human.
things I found fascinating:
- the use of weather and hot/cold metaphors throughout
- all the vocal/narrative quirks that Kathy uses which make her incredibly unreliable as a narrator
- the unreliability of memory
- how quietly and mundanely disturbing it is
- how something doesn't feel right to me now that I've finished it, but I can't place it, much like Kathy for most of the narrative
- my suspicions that Tommy has ADHD
- separations and power dynamics between groups of people, be they small or large
if you're going into this thinking it is a high-action, drama-filled science fiction novel, of course you're going to be confused and disappointed. however, I personally do not really like the action-packed mainstream sci-fi out there, much preferring quiet and contained narratives that make you think. I would urge you to give this book a chance.
in the end, I'm not sure how this will stack up against his other works for me. I'm still thinking about Klara and the Sun 6 months after finishing it, and I struggled to get through that one. I would consider it one of my favorites of the year. who knows how I will truly feel about this book until I've sat with it for a long time, perhaps on long drives through nowhere. I already feel a profound sense of loss and heaviness, and the urge to read something incredibly lighthearted and fun.
I do think that this has similar vibes to the movie GATTACA, which is so quietly creepy and hard to place while also asking big questions about what it means to be human.