\u201cNever Let Me Go<\/a>,\u201d by Kazuo Ishiguro<\/a> \u2014 author of “The Remains of the Day<\/a>“, “An Artist of the Floating World<\/a>“, and “Klara and the Sun<\/a>” \u2014 published in 2005, remains a well-loved contemporary literary fiction classic, quite widely distributed at corporate and independent bookstores alike.<\/p>\n Ishiguro, who would go on to win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2017, crafts a brooding, melancholic narrative that unfolds at an English boarding school with idyllic charm and dystopian underpinnings. It was also nominated for the Booker Prize, further cementing its standing among the best books of the 21st century.<\/p>\n “Never Let Me Go”‘s brooding plot has mesmerized critics and casual readers alike. But its plain language, minimal world building and lackluster plot resolution will leave readers conflicted. Whether they enjoy the tension between what is said and what is not said will determine how they enjoy the book overall. In this “Never Let Me Go” review, we’ll explore the characters, themes, and my personal takeaways from this classic.<\/p>\n \u201cNever Let Me Go\u201d by Kazuo Ishiguro is a dystopian novel that follows three friends coming of age in a pleasant English boarding school for \u201cdonors.\u201d Writing in clear, controlled and understated prose, protagonist Kathy H narrates in first person yet in hindsight, reminiscing on a childhood centered around the Hailsham school where students enjoy a life as carefree as it is predictable and sheltered. Teachers emphasize how special the students are and the importance of the art they\u2019re to produce for the \u201cGallery.\u201d<\/p>\n This subtle narrative perspective also recalls techniques used in Margaret Atwood\u2019s dystopian works, where the internal monologue becomes a lens into larger systemic tragedies.<\/p>\n Inept at art and more comfortable playing ball, when Tommy begins to fall behind, he starts having tantrums that show the first crack in the placid fa\u00e7ade of Hailsham life. Kathy takes pity where others do not, beginning a lifelong friendship that promises to become something more.<\/p>\n In the meantime, her budding friendship with Ruth complicates matters. Ruth, an imaginative manipulator who more-or-less represents the status quo, continually tests Kathy\u2019s allegiance and ensures a third-wheel dynamic with Tommy that follows them throughout the novel. Using this tension, Kazuo Ishiguro explores the nature of love and the strengths, and drawbacks, of unconditional friendship. The book also brings up themes related to the nature of memory in hindsight, fate versus free will, and the tension between innate morality versus complicity for the sake of social bonds.<\/p>\n Often-subtle, always strange, the encounters in which the characters discover, accept or contest their fate will provoke controversy among readers. This narrative tests our ability to empathize with individuals whose worldview and morality are so influenced from a young age by a reality unfamiliar to us. We\u2019ll be left to question the human spirit\u2019s ability to fight for what is right, regardless of upbringing and circumstance.<\/p>\n Editorial note<\/strong>: Love literary fiction? Read our review of “The Memory Police”<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div> At The Rauch Review<\/a>, we care deeply about being transparent and earning your trust. These articles explain why and how we created our unique methodology for reviewing books and other storytelling mediums.<\/p>\n<\/div> \u201cNever Let Me Go\u201d is no science fiction. You could argue that genre is more concerned with the technology underpinning the characters\u2019 world. In science fiction, there\u2019s a greater emphasis on building a world that\u2019s as believable as it is audacious or otherworldly. There is often a more global emphasis, following more than one character, often taking on the third-person omniscient perspective. Many science fictions also tend to play out political dramas and ethics surrounding a controversial technology.<\/p>\n \u201cNever Let Me Go\u201d differs in each regard. (Spoilers) It is not very concerned with the nuts and bolts of cloning, organ removal and transplant; which<\/i> organs are never mentioned. Nor does it focus on the receivers of these treatments, their complex motives and the ethical ramifications. Finally, it\u2019s equally unconcerned with the political factions for and against these procedures.<\/p>\n Instead, the book makes itself at home in the long tradition of Plato\u2019s cave allegories such as \u201cThe Giver<\/a>\u201d or “Brave New World<\/a>” or even \u201cThe Matrix<\/a>.\u201d But unlike “Brave New World”, which paints a grand dystopian tableau, “Never Let Me Go” zooms in on the private, quiet anguish of young people robbed of autonomy yet clinging to friendship and meaning. By making its setting less specific and its premise scientifically vague, Kazuo Ishiguro is better able to explore more universal themes.<\/p>\n As to whom this novel will appeal, a survey of Goodreads<\/a> is very telling. Those who came to the book with the most preconceptions were most disappointed, especially if they thought they were reading science fiction. Reviewer Henk sums it up well:<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I was 16 I focused on the parse, plain prose, on world building and implausibilities; now I cried repeatedly because deep down, in a sense I feel our lives are how main character Kathy H. describes hers: In the end, we can\u2019t stay together forever<\/i>.\u201d<\/p>\n Protagonist and narrator Kathy H describes her past in hindsight many years later while addressing us, the reader, as if we were not only part of her world but also a donor. While this unique device could easily be overdone, Ishiguro uses it sparingly in occasional asides like, \u201cI don\u2019t know how it was where you were, but\u2026\u201d These asides also reinforce her casual tone and narrative style that departs on natural tangents, and then carries on with something like, \u2018Anyways, what I was getting at was\u2026\u2019 This all serves to lend the narrator our trust.<\/p>\n However, some readings might argue the narrator is a little too<\/i> reliable. Her calm and plain mode of address lends credibility to character development, who said what to whom and the nature of their circumstances, all while glossing over the horror awaiting Hailsham graduates and its moral implications. Readers will come away with more questions than answers, and come to focus less on what<\/i> Kathy says than how<\/i> she says it, and \u2014 more importantly \u2014 what she omits. Many will find this tension an appealing part of the novel.<\/p>\n While we never understand Kathy\u2019s motives for writing us, this mystery only adds to the allure, reinforcing the deceptive innocence of a narrator late in life \u201cmerely\u201d recollecting her past, as if in reverie, to an acquaintance, (spoiler) without outright raging against lost years of love and the horror of her fate.<\/p>\n Editorial Note: We believe these three factors are important for evaluating general writing quality across every aspect of the book. Before you get into further analysis, here\u2019s a quick breakdown to clarify how we\u2019re using these words:<\/i><\/i><\/p>\n There is no doubt that \u201cNever Let Me Go\u201d is a compelling tale, but whether or not that\u2019s true for you depends on your expectations. If you were expecting deeply detailed world building with answers to all of your scientific hunches and moral dilemmas, you will be left disappointed. If instead, you are drawn to its brooding, understated nature that leaves most of the outside world\u2014 including the nuts and bolts and justification for (spoiler) cloning and organ donation \u2014 up to your imagination.<\/p>\n At times I found myself craving more answers, but would more world building have made for a better reading experience? After all, there\u2019s a line between science fiction and speculative fiction. This novel was likely meant to read more as an allegory.<\/p>\n Nevertheless, each main character and their admittedly small worlds are<\/i> compelling. You may pine for more questioning characters, (spoiler) some rebellion or dramatic reckoning of their shared fate, but perhaps that\u2019s exactly what Ishiguro was aiming for.<\/p>\n Ishiguro\u2019s \u2014 or we could say Kathy\u2019s \u2014 writing in \u201cNever Let Me Go\u201d is clear, perhaps to a fault. Her sentences are rarely long. The storytelling style is casual, addressed as if to an acquaintance. Her tangents feel natural the way our brains might follow a thread, yet never go on too long. Then she course corrects with an aside like, \u201cAnyways, what I meant to say was.\u201d<\/p>\n Chapters and subchapters are well paced and often end with a gentle cliffhanger of what\u2019s to come. Ironically, you come to learn that it\u2019s more about what she omits than what she says. It\u2019s this very leading-you-by-the-hand style that lends to the tension and brings out the novel\u2019s themes.<\/p>\n At 288 pages, the paperback took two reading sessions over two days and flowed naturally. It also wasn\u2019t difficult to pick up where I left off. The plot unfolded naturally, following the progression and fate of the students and their lives after Hailsham, and is peppered with curious incidents that threaten to reveal more of what\u2019s really going on. If an incident or a feature of life at the school is introduced, like the \u201cGallery\u201d where students\u2019 art goes, it\u2019s well explained, even if not fully, and then expanded upon later. Each incident seems well placed and is generally tied up with a neat bow \u2014 sometimes too neat.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t think the novel would have benefitted from being longer, unless it was structured as a struggle and vindication with a second part. I think this type of plot would have been too ambitious and would likely have thrown off the novel\u2019s cohesive atmosphere.<\/p>\n \u201cNever Let Me Go\u201d features moderately developed characters with relatable, rich relationships yet somewhat dim inner lives that will leave some readers wanting. While they don\u2019t fall into tropes, they\u2019re also not fully fleshed out \u2014 intentionally so. Many readers will come to sympathize with Kathy, Tommy and Ruth as products of their circumstances, characters in a relatable allegory. Still, they\u2019re rarely mere set-pieces to string together a plot.<\/p>\n Where Ishiguro shines is in portraying social dynamics, awkward encounters and subtle hierarchies. He deftly describes the way Ruth, Kathy\u2019s bossy friend, uses her imagination throughout the novel in increasingly sophisticated ways to manipulate others into looking to her as a leader. He potently describes cringeworthy situations, whether petty or significant, where both Kathy and Tommy sacrifice their happiness, or their sense of right or wrong, to enable their relationships with Ruth. But Ishiguro does so in a way that helps us relate to both sides of the equation: We imagine Ruth\u2019s behavior likely comes from a need to feel special, and important, in the face of a shared, identical fate. And we all know too well that the best friendships are often marked by enabling your friends\u2019 worst behaviors. The thought of losing them is too much, hence the title of the book.<\/p>\n Nevertheless, no character has a true breakthrough. (Spoilers ahead) While they\u2019re fully aware of the horror that lies ahead, they don\u2019t seem to possess the moral compass that us readers do. There\u2019s never outrage or deep investigation into the workings and justifications of organ donation, let alone a reckoning or outright rebellion. Their biggest aspiration in the novel is to get a deferral, which merely delays the inevitable by 3-4 years in which they\u2019d live in the same sheltered circumstances they\u2019re used to. Even though they\u2019re fully aware of their fate, they never fail to use euphemisms like \u2018complete\u2019 (which means to die). You get the sense that they know, but do not understand. The consequences of their fate are only feared in how they affect each character\u2019s social standing, friendship or ability to love. Some may find this quietly brave \u2014 a consequence of their circumstance \u2014 while others will find this naive, hard to believe and deplorable.<\/p>\n The characters certainly come of age and grow in maturity: the way they handle social dynamics, the rich friendships they do all sorts of things for. However, they hardly develop their sense of right and wrong.<\/p>\n Besides some outings to nearby towns during their college years (called the \u2018Cottages\u2019), they never truly meet normal people besides their teachers, nor tempt an escape to live a normal life. Neither are they expressly forbidden to do so; there are no fences, no threats and no punishments mentioned. While this gives the novel a distinct dystopian mood and mode of discourse, readers may pound their desks and ask how the characters\u2019 lack, or fail to develop, an innate outrage at their situation. It\u2019s not like they don\u2019t have access to popular culture. They even find porn magazines at \u201cthe Cottages\u201d.<\/p>\n Yet, these dynamics propel the main theme of the book that calls into question how easily an environment and upbringing, when it\u2019s as engrossing as life at Hailsham, can dim our worldview and cause moral apathy.<\/p>\n The plot of \u201cNever Let Me Go\u201d hums along at a gentle, consistent pace, which makes it easy to read and compelling, without being a total page-turning drama. In essence, it\u2019s a casual retelling of Kathy\u2019s life more concerned with nostalgia and the meaning of friendship and love than the horrors of their shared fate and the procedures, politics and justifications for (spoiler) organ donation.<\/p>\n Of course, this dramatic irony is the main draw of the novel. While there\u2019s definitely an arc with a few major crises, I believe Ishiguro intentionally dials down the resolution to these incidents. Regardless, I found each incident to be memorable, usually associated with a landscape, object or imagery and easy to picture in my mind\u2019s eye.<\/p>\n These elements give the book its quiet, understated mood, but some readers will be left pining for more. More emotional catharsis? More humanity, perhaps?<\/p>\n In the novel, if something were totally devastating to us readers, to its characters it\u2019s mildly unsettling, moderately troubling at worst. Whether you enjoy this reticence is a matter of taste.<\/p>\n Throughout this review, I\u2019ve touched on the quiet, clear and understated prose of \u201cNever Let Me Go,\u201d and Ishiguro\u2019s talent for social situations, tension and buried anguish. There\u2019s possibly a distinction to be made between talented story building and the actual language itself. While I believe the clear prose was intentional and works well to set the mood and convey the themes, others readers may finish the book pining for richer, more elegiac passages that rise above the ordinary, something like a movie vignette.<\/p>\n No sentence is merely meant to be a pleasure to read for its own sake. Instead, if the language is compelling, or rarely beautiful or contains a powerful image, it does make an outsize impact. Ishiguro doesn\u2019t use figurative language all that often, but when he does, it feels appropriate to the narrator\u2019s nature:<\/p>\n \u201cWe could see hills in the distance that reminded us of the ones in the distance at Hailsham, but they seemed to us oddly crooked, like when you draw a picture of a friend and it\u2019s almost right but not quite, and the face on the sheet gives you the creeps.\u201d<\/p>\n In describing a donation center\u2019s commons in which resident donors lounge on deck chairs around a pool now drained of its water, Kathy writes, \u201cIt was only when I saw the photo it occurred to me what the frame was and why it was there, and today, each time I see it, I can\u2019t help picturing a swimmer taking a dive off the top only to crash into the cement.\u201d<\/p>\n Descriptions are crisp but rarely flowery. Look elsewhere if you\u2019re after super saturated imagery, poetic turns of phrase or brilliant sublime passages. Ultimately, Ishiguro\u2019s restrained approach seems to fit with what the book is trying to convey, an approach that would likely have sagged under the weight of more esoteric or figurative language.<\/p>\n The dialogue in \u201cNever Let Me Go\u201d is equally understated. Conversations don\u2019t dominate the prose in any way, and remain human, believable, yet surface level. However, there are often undertones of tension or dramatic irony beneath the surface. While the dialogue is perfectly aligned with Ishiguro\u2019s overall style in this novel, it\u2019s prey to the same critiques readers may have with other elements. Readers may struggle to believe characters don\u2019t go deeper with each other. Perhaps they\u2019re a product of their environment, yet with their access to any popular media during their Cottage years, you\u2019d think they\u2019d have a bigger awakening. Readers will either praise the cohesive aesthetic of the novel or balk at its implausibility.<\/p>\n \u201cNever Let Me Go\u201d is set in a fictional 1990s England. Its first half is dedicated to life at the Hailsham boarding school where, as students come to learn, each student is (spoiler) a clone and a donor.<\/p>\n But rather than leaning on the horrors of the latter, Kathy\u2019s narration emphasizes the former: the idyllic childhood she enjoyed, even if it was peppered with troubling incidents. Much of this nostalgia is infused in spontaneous sunny strolls with friends around its well-manicured sports pavilion which, she elaborates, \u201cWe loved\u2026maybe because it reminded us of those sweet little cottages people always had in picture books when we were young\u2026by the time we were in Senior the pavilion had become the place to hide out with your friends when you wanted to get away from the rest of Hailsham.\u201d If the school is only featured in the first half of the book, its impact lingers throughout the whole novel as the narrator strives to cling to cherished memories of her childhood.<\/p>\n After Hailsham, it\u2019s off to the Cottages, a cross between college and vacation, set in a poorly maintained old farmstead, a pseudo intellectual haven akin to some Wes Anderson film where students lounge around making art, reading and debating the merits of this or that author while outlining the \u201cessays” they’re neither required to \u2014 nor do \u2014 finish. (Spoiler) In reality, it’s more of a waiting grounds before becoming \u201cVeterans\u201d who go off to \u201ccourses\u201d to become \u201ccarers,\u201d a waiting grounds that affords much freedom and little oversight, and yet where the biggest transgressions are finding and hoarding porn magazines and casual sex. They\u2019re permitted to come and go, seemingly at will, and occasionally go on road trips to nearby towns, once they muster up the nerve.<\/p>\n One such trip is to the mysterious town of Norfolk. Unlike other towns they were taught about back at Hailsham, it\u2019s a place for which their former teacher somehow lacked photos to showcase it. She ends up calling it \u201csomething of a lost corner,\u201d which the students misinterpret and come to think of Norwalk as the place where all their lost property went, a sort of lost and found. (Spoiler) This idea gains significance when Kathy loses a tape at school and finds (what\u2019s surely a copy) many years later. Being a coastal town with an unforgiving cliff-lined shore makes it a memorable setting, both idyllic yet foreboding, where the most heart-tugging incidents happen \u2014 (spoiler) where Tommy proves his love for Kathy, and Ruth discovers that her \u201cpossible,\u201d from which she was cloned, isn\u2019t really her possible, yet glimpses the very life she had discovered in magazine ads and pined for ever since.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve already touched on world building, but I\u2019ll reemphasize the fact that though its setting is allegorically rich, some readers will scratch their heads at how we never really feel in touch with \u201cthe real world.\u201d Even when the characters finally go on an outing, and they face a tear in their version of reality, you still feel as if they\u2019re somehow insulated. I think so much of this aura comes down to the characters never really meeting normal people, ever having to go to the DMV or mail a letter or even go out to eat. This eerie uncanny feeling will truly bother some readers, while others will relish its dramatic effect and moral impact. My conclusion is that while Ishiguro could<\/i> have brought in more of these elements, it would have posed more questions than there are answers, leading to a bloated novel.<\/p>\n Ishiguro\u2019s motive or angle in \u201cNever Let Me Go\u201d is not overt. He doesn\u2019t make a case against a specific movement within science, ethics or politics rooted in the real world. Instead, like a haunting thriller, the novel leaves you with a general sense of foreboding and general desire to hug your nearest loved one. If that idea immediately turns you off, this might not be the book you\u2019d hoped to read.<\/p>\n It is not a discourse on a near future (in this case, a plausible past) in which (spoiler) genetic cloning is not only possible, not only normalized, but even cheapened to the point where \u2018humane\u2019 schools like Hailsham are closed in favor of treating clones as subhuman. Yes, these are all integral facts of the world Kathy inhabits, but we\u2019re not privy to the details. Like all \u201cstudents,\u201d they essentially know what\u2019s<\/i> in store for them without questioning how<\/i>, let alone why<\/i>. This knowledge gap works to create an uncertain mood, but does little to wade into the real and murky ethical waters around cloning, how and if humanity would achieve it, and what unintended consequences we\u2019d allow in the process. It doesn\u2019t ask tough questions like: Would life be better if it were devoid of suffering and we all simply died of old age? Is our current corrupt system for procuring and awarding highly demanded organs much better than some alternative?<\/p>\n But the book is no science fiction nor moral treatise. I believe it\u2019s to be read as an allegory to remind us of our humanity while its characters struggle to show much beyond a trace of doubt and a polite pushback at a fate we hopelessly watch unfold. It\u2019s to be read as a meditation on the nature, power and pitfalls of friendship and love. It also gets us brooding on the effect of groupthink, the way institutions can manipulate their subjects to be practically apathetic.<\/p>\n You may disagree, like me, and say you simply cannot believe humans have no innate moral backbone, regardless of their upbringing and circumstances; that (spoiler) no one would stand up in a Hailsham class and shout, \u201cThis is wrong! Let me out of here!\u201d or run off into the fabled \u201cwoods\u201d just outside, reach the nearest normal household and ask for help\u2014something like we get in a comparable book, \u201cThe Giver,\u201d that memorable scene where everything goes from black and white into color. And then you can imagine Part Two where Kathy comes out with a scathing expos\u00e9 on the organ donation industry, etc.<\/p>\n But then, I\u2019d counter, the book wouldn\u2019t be the self-contained reading experience it is. (Even “The Giver” ends once the \u201creal world\u201d is reached.) It would double in size and break into another genre or several.<\/p>\n Whether you agree or disagree with its warnings, the novel stirs debate.<\/p>\n Does \u201cNever Let Me Go\u201d fit into a greater political or cultural debate? If it does, it\u2019s important to note that was never the author’s intention. In interviews<\/a>, Ishiguro himself admits the book is more of a comment on the human condition, of the nature of love and friendship in the face of inevitable mortality \u2014 something readers, while not donors themselves, could relate to: This feeling that our time alive together is never enough. He then mentions how the sci fi element was more of an intriguing way to explore these themes.<\/p>\n If the book were to enter a discussion on the ethics of organ donation, it wouldn\u2019t make that big of a splash. Firstly, full human cloning is far from being achieved. The true ethical dilemmas lie elsewhere: In the black market we already have where people, usually in dire poverty, elect to \u2014 or are deceived or coerced into \u2014 donating organs; In growing organs from stem cells; And a not so far off future in which brainless embryos could be cloned for certain organs. And the layers on top of that problem when it comes to who gets to, or can afford to have these transplants. There is even a plausible reality in which impoverished parents sell their children off to be donors in some black market. However, if you read the book to weigh in on any of this, it wouldn\u2019t have much to say, because creating living, conscious human clones for the sake of organ donation is the least plausible in the face of more plausible and pressing possibilities.<\/p>\n Mainstream reviews from major publications tend to be quite praiseworthy of “Never Let Me Go,\u201d emphasizing an allegorical reading and putting its tight, understated prose on a shelf along with Samuel Beckett<\/a>, Vladimir Nabokov<\/a> and even Franz Kafka<\/a>. Consumer reviews, like those found on Goodreads<\/a>, reveal a majority of favorable reviews, with praise centered around how heartbreaking and thought-provoking the book was. Negative sentiment usually focuses on its lack of believability, somewhat stagnant plot and characters who don\u2019t outrage at their situation.<\/p>\n I think the discrepancy between casual reader reviews and critics is more that the latter are widely read and also do more research on an author\u2019s motives. When you add those up, it\u2019s hard to misread the book as a boring and failed sci-fi experiment. Many readers missed the fact that we\u2019re meant to ponder our own mortality, that our own lives aren\u2019t that much different, that our society also uses euphemisms for death and generally covers up its sheer reality as much as possible.<\/p>\n On the other hand, would I personally put \u201cNever Let Me Go\u201d on the same shelf as the aforementioned authors? I can see how the book borrows elements of each, yet it\u2019s not cruelly hilarious like Kafka, nor daring and elaborate like Nabakov, nor as painfully minimalistic as Beckett.<\/p>\n Mainstream critics gave Ishiguro too much lenience when it came to his apathetic characters. If we were to read the book as an allegory of our own too-short lives, then we\u2019d have to relate more to the characters. Few reviewers noted the complex duplicity of the characters: How Ruth is manipulative yet for understandable motives; and how Kathy H, upon finally getting with Tommy at the end, so unceremoniously lets him go on to \u201ccomplete.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNever Let Me Go\u201d has been released several times, featuring varied cover art. The most widely distributed edition is published by Vintage (International Edition, March 2016) and features a close up portrait of a young woman looking slightly out of frame, perhaps mildly troubled. Her blue eyes, round face and alabaster skin suggest Victorian English beauty standards. In contrast, a previous edition<\/a> featured a racially ambiguous brown haired woman, face blurred, swaying in a teal dress.<\/p>\n The latter may have better fit the universal appeal of the allegory: While the novel takes place in England, it\u2019s hardly rooted to English identity beyond some landscapes and a history of boarding schools. This previous edition also hinted at a particularly touching scene when Kathy dances to a tape she found, holding an imaginary baby. What\u2019s more, the blur effect evokes the transient lives these students have, whose memory of their rich inner and outer lives will die with them. The Vintage edition cover was likely a commercial choice, as a close up face is more striking and may tempt a reach up to the bookstore shelf.<\/p>\n Released five years later in 2010, the film adaptation of \u201cNever Let Me Go”<\/a> starring Keira Knightley as Ruth, Andrew Garfield as Tommy, and Carey Mulligan as Kathy, captures the buried anguish and understated tone of the novel while leaving out some of the two-sided complexity of its characters. With a screenplay written by Alex Garland and directed by Mark Romanek, the film treats the characters with a generous empathy that many readers may not have found in the book. Understandably, the shorter format cuts to the chase sooner and leans most heavily on the love triangle, as well as the theme of mortality.<\/p>\n The effect of a musical score can also not be understated. Rachel Portman\u2019s score elegantly shades the emotional underpinnings of the implied horror unfolding. The music infuses the film with a richness that makes up for its brevity.<\/p>\n Whether viewers who\u2019ve read the book will enjoy the simpler characters is a matter of taste. The novel more painfully shows the double-sided nature of Kathy, Tommy and especially Ruth. Kathy does<\/i> good but seems to feel<\/i> less than the reader when faced with horrible circumstances. After every incident, she seems to carry on and acquiesce to her fate. This dramatic irony is a hallmark of the book. In the film, Kathy is less callous and the viewer tends to feel her quiet suffering more.<\/p>\n In the movie Ruth is a flatter character pitted against the love between Tommy and Kathy, whereas in the novel she has more complex, relatable motives having to do with feeling important while simultaneously upholding the status quo. We also feel more pity surrounding her dream life, working at a fancy office, which we know will never come true. In the film, her nastier sides are likewise toned down.<\/p>\n Also omitted from the film is the sub plot and tension around Tommy\u2019s paintings, which Ruth finds laughable yet Kathy finds beautiful. In one of the novel\u2019s several cringe-worthy moments, Kathy awkwardly sides with Ruth when confronted by Tommy, \u201cagreeing\u201d how funny they are against her true feelings. Not only does this pit Tommy against Kathy in stinging dramatic irony, it points to the dilemma of fearing the loss of a friendship in a circumstance where you have very few. Because Hailsham students are unique and their fates given a blind eye by society, their memories will die when they do. Their friendships are all they have to remember their special lives.<\/p>\n After the period where he finally gets together with Kathy, the film leaves out the painful ending chapters where Tommy, who has come to relate more to the donors than to Kathy, who\u2019s technically a Carer as well as his lover, distances himself from her while bracing for his inevitable last donation.<\/p>\n Being shorter, the film does not portray these more complex themes as well as the novel. But the themes it does<\/i> choose to explore make an outsize impact.<\/p>\n Up next<\/em><\/strong>: Read our review of “Great Circle”<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n I read the book without any preconceptions, without reading reviews or watching the movie. I think this helped me enjoy the book and reach my own criticisms while avoiding what I later discovered was disappointment among readers who had bought the title expecting a science fiction. When read more as a universal musing on the human condition, the book is a thought provoking and cohesive work.<\/p>\n I personally grew to dislike Ruth even if I could surmise her motivations, but I think we\u2019re meant to. I also felt Kathy to be a disappointment in how casually she took (spoiler) Ruth\u2019s betrayal and how easily she was able to let Tommy go. For some this dramatic irony made its mark; it was up to the reader to feel the anguish. But I sometimes wished the author could find some words to truly capture that feeling of devastation. I also thought, for all its cliffhangers, that the climax would hit harder.<\/p>\n Even though I read it ages ago, I think “The Giver,” a similar Plato\u2019s cave allegory, will sit in my memory banks longer. I still think back on it when facing troubling existential scenarios.<\/p>\n While it was a great book, was \u201cNever Let Me Go\u201d so much better than other books that did not receive awards? I\u2019m not as widely read as I\u2019d like, so it\u2019s not for me to say.<\/p>\n In terms of our unique star rating philosophy at The Rauch Review, I give this book 4.5 stars \u2014 not because it was nearly perfect in every way \u2014 it wasn\u2019t \u2014 nor due to my personal enjoyment, but because it is a cohesive work of art with great pacing, story arc, readability and structure. There is no chapter that feels unnecessary. I knocked off half a star for its characters, which while duplicitous, are a bit flat and so apathetic as to be hard to relate to. Other readers may have knocked off another half a star due to its lack of hard-hitting climax, but I believe reticent works like this can work if they pull off their themes, which \u201cNever Let Me Go\u201d does deftly.<\/p>\n “Never Let Me Go” is a dystopian novel by Kazuo Ishiguro that explores the lives of clones raised for the purpose of organ donation. It follows Kathy, Tommy, and Ruth, three friends who grow up in a mysterious boarding school called Hailsham, as they grapple with their purpose and the ethical questions surrounding their fate.<\/p>\n In “Never Let Me Go”, a carer is a clone whose role is to support and care for donors\u2014other clones who are undergoing organ donation procedures\u2014before eventually becoming donors themselves.<\/p>\n Hailsham is a boarding school in “Never Let Me Go” where clones are raised and educated in an isolated environment. The school is revealed to have a unique role in shaping the children’s understanding of art, humanity, and their ultimate purpose as organ donors.<\/p>\n The central themes of “Never Let Me Go” include the ethical implications of cloning, the nature of humanity, and the inevitability of mortality.<\/p>\n “Never Let Me Go” was published in 2005.<\/p>\n You can find a copy in stock at most Barnes & Noble, Target and Walmart locations, and will likely have no trouble finding it at your local independent bookstore. It\u2019s also widely available in most public libraries. Call ahead or check online to double check.<\/p>\n WorldCat, a directory and search engine of libraries across the globe, lists \u201cNever Let Me Go\u201d available as an ebook rental in thousands of libraries<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\u2018Never Let Me Go\u2019 Summary: Three Friends Await Death in a Toxic Relationship Triangle<\/h2>\n
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‘Never Let Me Go’ Audience and Genre: Appeals to Fans of Dystopian Allegory<\/h2>\n
Perspective: A Reliable Narrator Draws Us In, But Leaves Us in Doubt<\/h2>\n
Three Cs: Compelling, Clear, Concise<\/h2>\n
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Compelling: It Depends on Your Expectations<\/h3>\n
Clear: To a Fault?<\/h3>\n
Concise: The Right Length<\/h3>\n
‘Never Let Me Go’ Character Development: Not Flat, But Lacking Outrage<\/h2>\n
‘Never Let Me Go’ Story: Ample on Tension, But May Leave You Out in the Cold<\/h2>\n
Prose Style: Quiet and Understated, with Rare Sublime Moments<\/h2>\n
Dialogue: Similar to the Other Prose<\/h3>\n
Setting: Memorable Places, One Step Removed from Reality<\/h2>\n
Rhetoric: Concerned with the Human Condition, Not Biotech Ethics<\/h2>\n
Cultural and Political Significance: According to the Author, None?<\/h2>\n
Critiquing the Critics: Too Much Lenience from Mainstream Critics<\/h2>\n
‘Never Let Me Go’ Book Cover Aesthetic: Degrees of English Identity, Depending on Edition<\/h2>\n
\u2018Never Let Me Go\u2019: Book vs Movie<\/h2>\n
Reviewer\u2019s Personal Opinion: Good, But a Bit Disappointing (and Overrated?)<\/h2>\n
\u2018Never Let Me Go\u2019 Review: A Cohesive Artistic Endeavor<\/h2>\n
Books Like ‘Never Let Me Go’<\/h2>\n
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‘Never Let Me Go’ FAQs<\/h2>\n
What is ‘Never Let Me Go’ about?<\/h3>\n
What is a carer in ‘Never Let Me Go’?<\/h3>\n
What is Hailsham in ‘Never Let Me Go’?<\/h3>\n
What is the theme of ‘Never Let Me Go’?<\/h3>\n
When was ‘Never Let Me Go’ published?<\/h3>\n
Buying and Rental Options<\/h2>\n
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Digital Rental Options<\/h3>\n