Never Let Me Go Audiobook By Kazuo Ishiguro cover art

Never Let Me Go

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Never Let Me Go

By: Kazuo Ishiguro
Narrated by: Rosalyn Landor
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NOBEL PRIZE WINNER • From the acclaimed, bestselling author of The Remains of the Day comes “a Gothic tour de force" (The New York Times) with an extraordinary twist—a moving, suspenseful, beautifully atmospheric modern classic.

One of The New York Times’s 10 Best Books of the 21st Century • A Kirkus Reviews Best Fiction Book of the Century • A Los Angeles Times Best Fiction Book of the Last 30 Years

As children, Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy were students at Hailsham, an exclusive boarding school secluded in the English countryside. It was a place of mercurial cliques and mysterious rules where teachers were constantly reminding their charges of how special they were.

Now, years later, Kathy is a young woman. Ruth and Tommy have reentered her life. And for the first time she is beginning to look back at their shared past and understand just what it is that makes them special—and how that gift will shape the rest of their time together. Literary Fiction Emotionally Gripping Coming of Age Suspenseful Heartfelt Genre Fiction Science Fiction Psychological Thriller & Suspense Genetic Engineering

Featured Article: 10 Great Contemporary Fiction Authors


If you like well-written novels that prioritize compelling timely storylines with artful prose and structure, then this is the genre for you. So, why is it called "contemporary"? Because it’s fiction set in the real world, in times contemporary to the date it was published, and the stories deal with real-world issues. Representing a diversity of backgrounds and nationalities, here are our picks for the best writers of contemporary fiction over the last 50 years.

Featured Article 10 Great Contemporary Fiction Authors
Haunting Tale • Emotional Depth • Exceptional Intonation • Well-developed Characters • Thought-provoking Premise

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As other reviewers have said, impeccable narration of an amazing book. The less you read about the plot points of the story, the more you will enjoy the unfolding of the narrative. Don't order this expecting a mystery or thriller, though; the point is the way the story moves fluidly from memory to memory, back and forth in time as it unfolds. The situation of the "students" in this story is unique, and yet has much to say about our humanity in general. I look forward to reading the rest of his books!

Powerfully compelling book!

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I really liked the premise of this book but didn't feel like it went anywhere. Although it's billed as a "mystery" that "mystery" becomes pretty obvious after the first few chapters. What I found most bothersome is that once the "mystery" is revealed, there is no revolt or outrage, only a quiet resolve and annoying complacency on the part of the main characters. I found that really hard to stomach, especially for a novel that centers around such young protagonists. In most science fiction stories of this nature there is an event that throws the whole system off-kilter, then causing the main characters to question everything and rebuild society. This doesn't happen here and I just keep thinking: why does no one care? It's an intersting read, but not a great one. Other novels do a better job with character development in the face of conflict, and the issues facing future societies.

interesting, but not really much of a mystery

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Within this novel is the perfect gem of a story. Unfortunately, you really have to dig until you find that gem. And by digging, I mean you had to listen to a whole lot of Kathy's introspective thoughts. Much of which does little to advance the story line. There are parts of the book where the narrator (Kathy) actually says "I want to tell you an event, but before I can I have to tell you about a conversation that occurred three weeks before the event." To me that means the conversation will have some direct bearing on the event. In most situations, it does not.

I think the purpose of the first two sections of the book is world-building. Creating an environment for the characters that allows the reader to ultimately accept the unbelievable direction of the characters adult lives. A detailed explanation of the environment the children were raised in, might be helpful in understanding the adults they became. But it isn't. A timely explanation of why they were raised in that environment, an understanding of the arbitrary decision to move them to a new location at a certain age and a little more explanation of the experiment would have helped as well. Instead adult readers suffer through two thirds of the book being nothing more than meandering through a child's then teenager's thoughts. Never very interesting.

The last third of the book is worth the slogging the reader has to go through in the first two thirds - at least I think it is. Many loose ends are never tied up. Many hints are never elaborated upon. Because of the subject matter it obviously cannot have a traditional HEA. Yet I found the part of the book that focuses on the experiment these children are subjected to, the part that focuses on the actual results of this experimentation - how it actually affects those involved - fascinating. For the last third of the book, I highly recommend this novel.

Finally, after thinking about this story a few days I am left with one question - Why didn't they just leave? I assume the reason they didn't was to point out that few of us ever stray to far from the path we start down - even if we know it likely ends poorly for us.

One Wrenching Question

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It's obvious, when you think about it. We participate in horrible things like war, yet we manage to live as if it was not unspeakable. It takes a great writer like Kazuo Ishiguro to twist our world enough out of recognition that we finally recognize it. What's next -- people who watch TV while guiding the killing machines they are watching? Oh, too late -- reality has alrady stolen that plot, and it is playing in afternoon matinees in Pakistan.

A Haunting Portrait of a World Just Like Ours

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Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

The story was wonderful, and we are fans of the dystopian future genre. The book was well written. The time was definitely well spent!

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

As is typical with the genre, we were left with an uneasy feeling at the end. These stories often leave us with the feeling of hopelessness.. Things are not going to be okay!

Have you listened to any of Rosalyn Landor’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have not, but she performed well.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

Most definitely

Any additional comments?

There was a love-story element that was quite enjoyable, but this book was definitely not a love-story.

Great story, but we weren't entirely sold

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