Never Let Me Go

By: Kazuo Ishiguro

Narrated by: Rosalyn Landor

Length: 9 hrs and 40 mins

Publisher's summary

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.

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.

©2005 Kazuo Ishiguro (P)2005 Random House, Inc. Random House Audio, a division of Random House, Inc.

Critic reviews

• National Book Critics Circle Award Nominee, 2005, Fiction
• Alex Award Winner, 2006

"Stunningly brilliant fiction....A masterpiece of craftsmanship that offers an unparalleled emotional experience." (Kirkus Reviews)

"Ishiguro's elegant prose and masterly ways with characterization make for a lovely tale of memory, self-understanding, and love." (Library Journal)

"So exquisitely observed that even the most workaday objects and interactions are infused with a luminous, humming otherworldliness.....Ishiguro spins a stinging cautionary tale of science outpacing ethics." (Publishers Weekly)

"So exquisitely observed that even the most workaday objects and interactions are infused with a luminous, humming otherworldliness. . . . An epic ethical horror story, told in devastatingly poignant miniature. . . . Ishiguro spins a stinging cautionary tale of science outpacing ethics." —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Perfect pacing and infinite subtlety. . . . That this stunningly brilliant fiction echoes Caryl Churchill’s superb play A Number and Margaret Atwood’ s celebrated dystopian novels in no way diminishes its originality and power. A masterpiece of craftsmanship that offers an unparalleled emotional experience. Send a copy to the Swedish Academy." —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"Ishiguro’s provocative subject matter and taut, potent prose have earned him multiple literary decorations, including the French government’s Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres and an Order of the British Empire for service to literature. . . . In this luminous offering, he nimbly navigates the landscape of emotion—the inevitable link between present and past and the fine line between compassion and cruelty, pleasure and pain." —Booklist

Maybe an allegory?

I'm not wild about this style of writing - starting out as if the reader is already familiar with the story and subtly dropping little kernels of detail that flesh things out. It seems like trying to cover up for not having much to share. I can see some timely topics, but I'm going to have to process for a while to figure out what those topics are.

Haunting

In some ways the story is slow but as it weaves along it carries the reader and leaves you with a wisp of lives not quite substantial, yet very real. A haunting story that connects us to our shared humanity.

I really didn't care for it

I listened to the entire story but it was a long and dreary slog. I found the characters to be highly unlikeable and found the ending disappointing.

a dystopian vision

Ask the questions that need asking. Ishiguru leads you to asking them. Who are the donors? How are they selected?

Almost Didn't Get It

To be frank, I couldn't remember the title of this book because I didn't get it. Too much tedious detail on young adults things got boring to me, but there was a shift change in the book. This author is remarkable in their craft. As you read through each chapter, you realize that something is missing, but you are not quite sure what is wrong until towards the end.

Great, sad world-building mystery

I listened to this constantly so that I could finish it within two days. I was drawn in but I understand some people might find the situations and settings banal. It’s an existentialist novel with some sci-fi thrown in—kinda like Cormac McCarthy. It’s more The Road than Harry Potter, if you get my vibe.

Interesting plot

I didn’t enjoy the book. I finished it but , frankly, if not for audio format, would put it down somewhere one third through. The plot, even thought interesting and original, doesn’t deliver any additional layers. For an experienced reader it stays lackluster with the same tonality and undertone through the whole book. In one work, not a good attempt.

Strange book, always having sex

The book is cryptic and hard to follow it first. They don’t come right out and say why these kids are different. You have to figure it out. By the time they are older teens, they are taught about sex. The author mentions having sex over and over again. Nothing very graphic, but keeps saying they had sex, they had sex, so they had sex. It’s distracting. I don’t need to know every time they have a drink of water or every time they have sex.

Simple clear reading

The narrator's emotionally astute yet restrained reading complemented the story perfectly. A joy to listen to.

the raw emotion the book produced

I liked the fact that this book is written in a way reflecting normal interaction, rather than dramatisized writing