A review by ginzura
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

emotional mysterious sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

probably gonna ruminate about the ending of this for weeks. something about the way kathy delves into each and every minutiae of (perhaps at face value)  extremely mundane experiences, with so much reflection and sentimentality.. it creates such an air of nostalgia, it’s super tangible, every pang of regret she has, right up until the end. it concludes in such a depressing way whereby all her loved ones are suddenly gone, i feel so void at how everything is just gone, like that, and she accepts it. there’s no room for hope. all she has left is just what she had cultivated with the people near her, waning memories and places she used to be, latching onto them without any actions in hopes of reliving anything, an acceptance. waiting for her to follow the same fate as her lost ones.

also, i never thought of miss lucy & madame are central points in the revelation near the end,  but kinda just as plot devices. hell, i don’t even think they even matter that much. honestly, madame was a HUGE enigma, even after tommy and kathy talk to her, i still cannot gauge a thing about how she truly feels.. why is she scared of them, she’s absolutely mystified.. perhaps a guilty conscience? her and miss emily were definitely complicit in this unethical cloning. madame almost always has tears in her eyes (me and her both tbh ! ) when talking to kathy. i understand that they endeavoured to aid them, to make people realise that they did have ‘souls,’  but ultimately it did not make any difference. at least madame never tried to absolve herself. she acknowledges that she is in no position to do a single thing for these kids, that alone brings her to tears

the animosity other donors harboured towards kathy makes sense towards the end, poor, abused individuals who are literally bred like animals. even so, they shared the exact same fate. i can’t think of what’s worse.. ishiguro seemed to explore this concept.. is it better to live sheltered completely, with at least some semblance of hope ? or to know your fate and be aware of the futility of being hopeful? in the end nothing changed for the children at hailsham, they were merely an experiment. pawns indeed. but i do agree with one thing,   and that is that memories is something that no one can take away from you. they cultivated bonds with one another, even if kathy realised she took it for granted in her adulthood, she honours it and is loyal to the ones she lost throughout. 

thank you for this ishiguro:)