Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

Kathy, a clone about to donate all her organs and die, reflects on her past about her school and the friends she made over there. Ishiguro explores what it means to have a soul and how art distinguishes man from other life forms. But above all, *Never Let Me Go* is a study of friendship and the bonds we form which make or break while we come of age.

The pacing is glacial and I don't like Ishiguro enough to struggle thru.

This novel arose a lot of mixed feelings in me. The tale starts out as a sweet story of a bunch of kids in some kind of a boarding school, but the reality of their lives becomes increasingly harrowing and dreadful with each page. The protagonists were described in great detail, the pictures of their personalities painted very real. I could not help myself rooting for them, but at the same time l kept wondering why none of them ever tried to rebel against such a reality. It felt almost painful to keep reading about these kids bowing to their fates with such devotion and acceptance.

I like the writing style of Kazuo Ishiguro. I have previously read his The Remains of the Day. Both of these books have a troubling aspect to them and both cause the reader to question reality-fictional in case of this book. Never Let Me Go-despite being a work of fiction-felt so realistic that it left me with a bad taste in my mouth. How can such a world exist?

It took me a bit to get into this book, but I'm really glad I gave it some time, because I'm really enjoying it. There is a slight, slight, slight creepy sci-fi back story, which I won't go into, that was surprising, but mostly this is an interesting personal fictional account of looking back at one's younger and adolescent years, and what growing up sometimes means: Seeing things more clearly. Thirty pages in I wasn't sure I'd finish it. Now, with 50 to go, I don't want it to end!
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Lived up to my expectations, though the so-called “twist” ending...wasn't twisty to me. It was still a satisfying ending, and I think I'll go read some more of this guy's books...