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A review by ghostly_monstera
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
3.25
This is a book I'm glad I have read but did not enjoy the process of reading it.
I have a lot of thoughts about this book that it almost makes it impossible to put them into any kind of order.
I suppose this whole thing will be spoilers because it is hard to talk about this book without it.
The fact that every student at Hailsham is a clone feels like a weird thing to leave out until a random page in part two. I really thought there would be a big lead up to the breaking of that news, but it came rather casually in the middle. I found it rather annoying because it made all the confusion up to that point kind of unnecessary.
And honestly, the writing was slow and a little dull. I can't deny that Ishiguro brings an ethical conversation to the table in a way that is true to how things are discussed (or avoided) in our own world. I still was rather annoyed that there was no true resolution or answers, but again, that is probably the point he was trying to make. Big ethical issues, despite the overwhelming circumstances, don't ever have true resolutions especially when things are already in motion (like the donation program in this case).
An aside: I had to read this for a class. We spent four weeks discussing this book, picking it to the bone concerning ethics but not really caring about the story aspect of it.
It is not a bad book. It brings to attention some questions we should be asking ourselves while also allowing us a look into complacency in culture when our own individual needs are met. It is an interesting study for those reasons, but as a novel, I don't know that I would have picked it up if my grade wasn't dependent on it.
I have a lot of thoughts about this book that it almost makes it impossible to put them into any kind of order.
I suppose this whole thing will be spoilers because it is hard to talk about this book without it.
The fact that every student at Hailsham is a clone feels like a weird thing to leave out until a random page in part two. I really thought there would be a big lead up to the breaking of that news, but it came rather casually in the middle. I found it rather annoying because it made all the confusion up to that point kind of unnecessary.
And honestly, the writing was slow and a little dull. I can't deny that Ishiguro brings an ethical conversation to the table in a way that is true to how things are discussed (or avoided) in our own world. I still was rather annoyed that there was no true resolution or answers, but again, that is probably the point he was trying to make. Big ethical issues, despite the overwhelming circumstances, don't ever have true resolutions especially when things are already in motion (like the donation program in this case).
An aside: I had to read this for a class. We spent four weeks discussing this book, picking it to the bone concerning ethics but not really caring about the story aspect of it.
It is not a bad book. It brings to attention some questions we should be asking ourselves while also allowing us a look into complacency in culture when our own individual needs are met. It is an interesting study for those reasons, but as a novel, I don't know that I would have picked it up if my grade wasn't dependent on it.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Forced institutionalization, Infertility, Medical content, and Toxic friendship