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A review by adelphiereads
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Before I get into my critique on the plot of the book, I'd like to compliment the writing style of the author. His writing was easy to get lost into. I was carried away by it. I had to go through extreme measures just to stop myself from binge reading it since I was buddy-reading it with a couple of my bookish friends. I also admire how it's almost similar to the thought process of a person in a sense that the narrator, Kathy, kept moving from one memory to another. For instance, she would see this one thing and associate it with another memory and from that she will remember another moment worth mentioning then goes back to the initial memory. For me, it felt like I was talking to a stranger who's telling me her entire life story over a cup of coffee in one afternoon.
Now, for the plot. It's definitely something interesting but it wasn't unpredictable. It was cliche. Even the plot twist towards the end, like I predicted that at least halfway on the book's part 2 of 3. I think the author intended that so that he can focus more on the introspective aspect of the characters involved in that kind of plot line. All in all, I did like the story, especially the gripping emotions and feelings of the characters and the sorrow-inducing situation they are in. But I don't think I would be reading books of this genre in the near future.
I think the ones who would like this book are those who are into examining the morality of men in the scientific aspect. People who like analyzing ethics in science fiction. I guess I'm just not one of those people.
Here are several points that I found really interesting in the book:
1. I feel like this somehow reprsents modern education and society. Wherein children are taught in standardized lessons and tested the same, without ever taking into consideration their different skills, capabilities and most importantly, their creativity. And the donation part, I think it alludes to the fact that if you can't create something novel for the society then your only purpose is to give or donate everything you have until you die.
2. I think the irony of the book is that even though they were clones, the three main characters of the story, Kathy, Ruth and Tommy acted and thought like human beings. Ruth's emotion driven schemes couldn't possibly have come from artificial intelligence. So did Tommy's vivid imagination and temper. And especially, Kathy's empathy. Their individual qualities show humanistic characteristics. In fact their personalities are so humanlike I bet you know a couple of people like them. But the irony is that they were "clones".
3. The biggest question here is that what makes a human? Following that up with the question, can clones be considered as humans if they're the likes of Kathy, Ruth, Tommy and all the other clones in the book who behaved and thought like humans?
Now, for the plot. It's definitely something interesting but it wasn't unpredictable. It was cliche. Even the plot twist towards the end, like I predicted that at least halfway on the book's part 2 of 3. I think the author intended that so that he can focus more on the introspective aspect of the characters involved in that kind of plot line. All in all, I did like the story, especially the gripping emotions and feelings of the characters and the sorrow-inducing situation they are in. But I don't think I would be reading books of this genre in the near future.
I think the ones who would like this book are those who are into examining the morality of men in the scientific aspect. People who like analyzing ethics in science fiction. I guess I'm just not one of those people.
Here are several points that I found really interesting in the book:
1. I feel like this somehow reprsents modern education and society. Wherein children are taught in standardized lessons and tested the same, without ever taking into consideration their different skills, capabilities and most importantly, their creativity. And the donation part, I think it alludes to the fact that if you can't create something novel for the society then your only purpose is to give or donate everything you have until you die.
2. I think the irony of the book is that even though they were clones, the three main characters of the story, Kathy, Ruth and Tommy acted and thought like human beings. Ruth's emotion driven schemes couldn't possibly have come from artificial intelligence. So did Tommy's vivid imagination and temper. And especially, Kathy's empathy. Their individual qualities show humanistic characteristics. In fact their personalities are so humanlike I bet you know a couple of people like them. But the irony is that they were "clones".
3. The biggest question here is that what makes a human? Following that up with the question, can clones be considered as humans if they're the likes of Kathy, Ruth, Tommy and all the other clones in the book who behaved and thought like humans?