BOOK REVIEW: Never Let Me Go – by Kazuo Ishiguro

Title: Never Let Me Go
Author: Kazuo Ishiguro
Genre: Fiction, Science Fiction, Dystopia
First published: March 3rd 2005
Publisher: Vintage Books
Finished reading: August 31st 2017
Pages: 288

“Memories, even your most precious ones, fade surprisingly quickly. But I don’t go along with that. The memories I value most, I don’t ever see them fading.”

Sometimes you stumble across books that are simply not a right fit, and I’m having a feeling that is exactly what happened between me and Never Let Me Go. I’ve had this title on my TBR for ages and always wondered if this story would be for me… This doubt is probably one of the main reasons I have posponed picking this title by Kazuo Ishiguro up for as long as I have, and it seems like the author and me will not be friends. Because even though this book has been highly rated by many and is very well known, I actually struggled a lot with it. I had a really hard time making sense of it all when I started reading and while things became better as I forced myself to keep reading, I can’t say I exactly enjoyed the reading experience. And this surprised me, because I’ve seen so many people naming Never Let Me Go one of their favorites… Call it unpopular opinion, call it a bad book-reader match, but this dystopian story wasn’t for me. The prose never managed to lure me in completely and like I said I had a hard time figuring out what was really going on. I like a healthy dose of weird and mystery, but apparently I ended up being allergic to this particular brand. As for the characters… Kathy wasn’t all that bad, but I absolutely loathed Ruth. I guess the fact that she was able to provoke such strong emotions is a sign of good character development… But it also ment I ended up enjoying a story I was already struggling with even less. I seem to be one of the few though, so definitely take my experience with a grain of salt. And to be honest, with my reputation with popular books I’m not surprised this review has turned out to be another ‘unpopular opinion’ one.

Kathy, Ruth and Tommy grow up attending an exclusive boarding school called Hailsham in the middle of the English countryside. They have never experienced life outside the school and are not allowed to leave the premises. The teachers keep reminding them just how special they are, even though they don’t really understand why. That understanding comes years later when their real purpose is revealed… And slowly the understanding comes of exactly what it is that makes them special.

I’ve tried really hard to like Never Let Me Go, but I’m convinced that this book/author and me simply aren’t a right fit. Especially since this book has received so much praise over the years… I personally really struggled with both the prose, plot and characters and I had a hard time making sense of it all. It’s almost as if the readers are clueless students as well and quite a lot of key information is left out in the beginning. In the end Never Let Me Go wasn’t my cup of tea, but since most people did enjoy it don’t let my review stop you from picking it up.

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