Never Let Me Go
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I have conflicting feelings about this book. On one hand, it’s an interesting, novel dystopian concept, which is a rare find (so many dystopian novels have the same overused tropes IMO– I can only read so many variations of Big Brother. We get it, you’re watching us). I won’t give the dystopian element away because figuring it all out alongside the narrator is half the fun. That being said, it’s pretty slow-moving, and it’s much more character-focused than plot-driven (again, unique for a dystopian novel).
It’s from the perspective of Kathy, who reflects back on the entirety of her life and her childhood relationships, guiding the reader from past to present day. So, we figure out how her world works at roughly the same pace that she figured things out growing up. In that way, it’s also considered a coming-of-age novel. The pay-off is rewarding, as the process builds suspense and we get to view the dystopian world through the eerie, naïve lens of an adolescent, but it also took me a while to get into the book. It takes patience to appreciate.
It also felt a little too YA in the beginning. I’m not ~above that~ by any means, but I’d be lying if I didn’t admit there were times when I got frustrated with the characters’ worldviews. Like, why are you acting like that? Oh yeah, you’re 12. Again, it requires some patience.
Still, I was hooked by the end. I even cried a little at one point while I was reading in my in-law’s living room, so I turned my back to them and blinked my eyes really fast to make the tears go away. Smooth. Kathy’s perspective is so specifically tragic; as a kid who knew no other world, she doesn’t question things the way that we might question them. Her stoic acceptance of her life is both cowardly and brave; she doesn’t push when I want her to push, but she also achieves a level of contentment with her situation that I don’t think many people are capable of achieving. Good book club discussions abound!
Overall, I give Never Let Me Go 3 out of 5 flames. I’m not confident that the novelty of the subject makes up for the fact that I was relatively bored during the first half of the book. I get that the slow pacing helped Ishiguro methodically paint the picture that he set out to paint, but my reluctance to pick up the book in the beginning makes me reluctant to recommend it.
