Book the Eighth: Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
Posted on: March 24, 2011
“As a child, Kathy—now thirty-one years old—
lived at Hailsham, a private school in the scenic English countryside where the children were sheltered from the outside world, brought up to believe that they were special and that their well-being was crucial not only for themselves but for the society they would eventually enter. Kathy had long ago put this idyllic past behind her, but when two of her Hailsham friends come back into her life, she stops resisting the pull of memory. “
Having read ‘Remains of the Day’ for my A-Level studies, I had high expectations for Never Let Me Go. This novel did not disappoint, I absolutely loved it and it had such a poignant message that I couldn’t stop thinking about for days after.
The truths about Hailsham are revealed so subtly and so slowly that once it is finally realised you have already come to love the characters and it makes it even more harrowing.
I adored the characters in the novel, Kathy had such a strong voice and the other characters were really well-developed as well even though we only heard about them through Kathy’s observations.
I can’t wait to see the film although I’m not sure if it will be as good as I believe they make it apparent from the start as to why the children are at Hailsham and I think not knowing is part of what made the book so wonderful.
Like Stevens in Remains of the Day, Ishiguro has created an intensely heart wrenching story that makes you fall in love with the characters and completely share in their anguish. I would recommend this book to anyone as I believe that It really could act as a warning to what some lengths some people may go to to find cures for illnesses.
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