Tuesday, August 24, 2010

A Book Review: Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro


"As I say, I have never in all these years thought of the matter in quite this way; but then it is perhaps in the nature of coming away on a trip such as this one that one is prompted towards such surprising new perspectives on topics one imagined one had long ago thought thoroughly."
-Kazuo Ishiguro: Never Let Me Go

I was completely confused throughout the majority of the first half of the book.  The style that Ishiguro uses is conversational, narrated by Kathy the main character.  This conversational tone is effective in engaging the reader to believe that we are friends with Kathy, as though she is letting us in on her secret world.  When I was confused about the "exchanges" and the "gallery" Kathy eventually explained what it was.  She was letting us in on her life as if we were her real life friends.  I think that Ishiguro was using Kathy as the one to let us in on the lingo to help us connect to his character and become attached to her.  I found Ishiguro's writing style to be how I would write a book.  I liked having that similarity.  

What I didn't like about it though is that the story line would go back and forth a lot through time, and I found it a little hard to follow.  I also didn't read this book as fast I have other books, and I think that hindered my understanding and involvement in the book.  Throughout the book I thought that I would cry at the end (especially since the cover advertises the book to be a "heartbreaker".  Partly because of my lack of involvement and partly for how the ending was written, I didn't.  (Maybe when the movie comes out?  Doubtful.  I am like Cameron Diaz in The Holiday -start at 5:20)  Some things that I didn't think would be important to remember too carefully in the beginning turned out to be important for the understanding of the ending, so I definitely should have paid closer attention. One more thing that I didn't like was how there was all this talk about "donations."  I don't want to give too much away if you do decide to read it, but I don't understand how they could happen.  So please read it, and maybe we can discuss it together one day?  

Over all, I enjoyed the book...and I think that I would have to read it one more time to get everything out of it that is in it.  I hope to be able to do that one day, but for now I am going to move on to my next book: Crime and Punishment.  Any thoughts on what I should tackle after I finish this one?

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2 comments:

Unknown said...

i think your style is totally unlike mine!! Good luck for getting through time and punishment! its a hefty read.

Are you interested in the classics? Are you on Good reads? I can go nosey to get a feel of what else you like so i could reccomend some reads!

Katie Michelle said...

haha well I am open to any book really...but I tend to gravitate towards American Lit (as you will see from my good reads!) I hadn't heard of good reads until you just now told me about it. that is a really cool website! I set up an account...let me know what you think!
goodreads.com/katiemichellew