Never Let Me Go
• Fiction, Sci-Fi, RomanceHailsham seems like a pleasant English boarding school. Its students are well tended and supported, and become just the sort of people the world wants them to be. But, curiously, they are taught nothing of the outside world and are allowed little contact with it. Within the grounds of Hailsham, Kathy grows from schoolgirl to young woman, but it’s only when she and her friends Ruth and Tommy leave the safe grounds of the school that they realize the full truth of what Hailsham is.
Thoughts
I learned about Kazuo Ishiguro while browsing a local bookstore. I was initially drawn to Klara and the Sun, but I ended up buying Never Let me Go too after a friend recommended it. For context, I used to be really into reading when I was younger; I could finish a book in one day and immediately start the next one. However, at some point I just stopped. I hadn’t finished a book in years when I suddenly decided to start reading again as my 2025 resolution, so when I was deciding on my first book of the year, I went for the shortest one I owned. That happened to be Never Let Me Go.
My favourite aspect of this book was its unique storytelling. It’s a story written in first person, which you don’t see very often nowadays. First person writing has gained a bit of a bad reputation, but it can also bring very interesting perspectives and ways of interpreting a story. In Never Let Me Go, the narrator reorganises her own memories of the events, sometimes jumping around in time and giving said memories new meaning with age. I also personally enjoyed how the narrator addresses the reader directly, often mentioning certain aspects of her own universe as though the reader was part of it. This makes for a more interesting read, as it makes you aware of reveals to look forward to from page 1.
Something that I admired from Kazuo Ishiguro’s writing was the realism of the protagonist’s perspective. Kath recalls petty fights with friends that took place when they were teenagers, and how they were forgiven or forgotten. I found myself remembering many of the falling outs I had with my own friends during my childhood, and realising that they were very similar to Kath’s. Ishiguro was able to put himself in the shoes of a 12 year old girl and write about such experiences with surprising realism. That said, I did have the impression that the third part of the book was a bit weaker in that sense.
As I’m still getting back into reading, I’m taking time to rediscover the genres that I enjoy. Back when I was a teenager, I would have never picked up a dystopian contemporary sci-fi book (I was more of an urban fantasy person), but I’m glad I gave Never Let Me Go a chance. It will definitely stay on my mind for a while.