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A review by vegdogmom
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
2.0
Good god, I hated this.
This may be partially due to expectations - I *thought* this was a semi culty sci fi situation. Instead it is a BARELY dystopic literary fiction book with characters that are about as interesting as soggy cardboard.
I've seen folks say "if you don't like this book, you don't like deep character studies" - why would I want a character study of some of the most boring unlikable characters possible? Characters so blandly stupid they can't see what's happening in the world around them, even when they are out in the world?
I will say, Ishiguro's prose is entirely fine, which is probably the only reason I was able to finish this and I'm not giving it a one star. The school where we start the story is well depicted and sets a well rounded atmosphere for the backdrop. Unfortunately that is the only part of this book I can really give any real praise to, and as soon as they leave the school it all just sort of falls apart.
If you love this book, I am so happy for you. But I simply do not understand the hype.
This may be partially due to expectations - I *thought* this was a semi culty sci fi situation. Instead it is a BARELY dystopic literary fiction book with characters that are about as interesting as soggy cardboard.
I've seen folks say "if you don't like this book, you don't like deep character studies" - why would I want a character study of some of the most boring unlikable characters possible? Characters so blandly stupid they can't see what's happening in the world around them, even when they are out in the world?
I will say, Ishiguro's prose is entirely fine, which is probably the only reason I was able to finish this and I'm not giving it a one star. The school where we start the story is well depicted and sets a well rounded atmosphere for the backdrop. Unfortunately that is the only part of this book I can really give any real praise to, and as soon as they leave the school it all just sort of falls apart.
If you love this book, I am so happy for you. But I simply do not understand the hype.