Anyone read 'Never Let Me Go' by Kazuo Ishiguro?

[Wintersun]

What did you think of it?
I thought it was a good book though quite dark and cheerless.
It left so many questions unanswered and I did find myself wanting to know more about this alternate world.
A bit of unsatisfying read that one.

Found it strangely compelling - provoked a lot of discussion at our book group, and yes, it did leave a lot of questions unanswered. I did get involved with the characters, and care about them, got frustrated at the beginning with not understanding what was going on. I lived near Cromer as a child, where part of the book is set.

I thoroughly enjoyed it. I liked the way it managed to hold my attention through the frustration of not knowing what was going on. Then the gradual dawning, after I'd come to care for the characters.

i found it very spooky. but well written.

Yes, lots left unsaid/unanswered... I found this frustrating at first, and then I began to wonder whether it was due to the characters being emotionally stunted because of their circumstances. They were barred from seeing the full picture too.
The effect this had on the narrative the way they told their story was (I thought) really effective. Read it ages ago, but it has really stayed with me.

I read it in the summer and was drawn into it, loved it, very powerful. I like Ishiguro's way of writing, always understated, always so rational when talking about horrific things.

I found it believable and was interested to hear that other people thought there were flaws which made it too hard to believe.

Loved it - though it was so creepy. I read it when it first came out and still remember it - which is very unusual for me, something must have stuck there. I then went on to read another of his, and could not get into it at all - the one that's kind of in a dream and takes place in the far east...
Never Let me go did remind me soehow of Margaret Attwood's Handmaid tale, I read that so very long ago, but I don't know why. Perhaps the creepiness and the other world?!

I just finished it a few weeks ago and really enjoyed it. I thought it was beautifully written and sad but not bleak. It's the first of his books that I've read but I've added Remains of the Day to my Amazon list.

Can only echo what others have said. Infinitely depressing though well written. Loads of questions - were these children illegitimate orphans or were they really clones? What bits do you take out first so that you survive for a second or third donation? Why the effort to do the art work that made no difference to their fate?

Oh yes,I felt so much left unsaid too...

Haven't heard that opinion, lilymaid, that they were illegitimate orphans. I thought you could maybe take out spleen (would that be of any use to anyone?), kidney, lung so you'd have definitely had your chips come the nect one.

And were the teachers of that particular school not trying to make a case for the clones having emotional and aesthetic intelligence like everyone else by being able to produce works of art? But in the end, no one bought their case?

I found it a good book to talk about.

I enjoyed readin git, but by the end felt frustrated with the characters. Why couldn't they just run off and join the rest of the human race? If technology is good enough to produce human clones, then why not just grow spare parts? It is an incredibly expensive way to produce a heart for transplanting. But if you put the scientific objections aside, can the clones not escape because they are lacking in some human characteristics?

It is very similar to Remains of the Day in the way that a horrific story is slowly revealed.

I think Remains of the Day is an outstanding book though, and this isn't. I think there were lots of ideas there but I got frustrated that none of it had any resolution. But I like the sparseness and matter of factness of the language, I thought it made it very creepy.

'Once were orphans' is great too.
I really like him.

I just had a look at my bookshelves as I recognised the name but its "The Unconsoled" by the same author that I've got in my pile of books to read. I've not read any of his books before.
Has anyone read it? Is it good?

pointydog - I agree re. your point about the artwork, made me think quite a lot.

Mary - my favourite is Remains of the Day too. Read it about 15 years ago, it has really stayed with me.

I wondered about them 'running away' too but then I thought that perhaps they were 'created' and programmed in a way that they totally accepted their fate and purpose.
I also wondered about the donations and what they were donating at the 1st and 2nd donations. I suppose it could include things like bone marrow too?
The bit that really had me horrified was the rumour that they had heard where at the 3rd donation they were left kept alive by machines while they were slowly 'harvested' over a period of time. Shudder.

Um ... but surely it wasn't meant to be taken seriously as an alternate universe?

It was just a really heavy-handed metaphor for normal lives!

I did enjoy it, although it upset me quite a bit.

I didn't like it as much as once we were orphans. Found it a bit thin

I should read his other books, I did like his writing style. Was it on a Booker shortlist? I must have read it as part of that ...

I thought that it was flawed by stating the obvious. I like (IYSWIM) the way the realisation of what they are and what their fate is just creeps up on you. By the time the story actually states this, you already know it, and I think that weakens the story. Nonetheless fairly brilliant - though not nearly as good as Remains of the Day. How on earth can you Write a whole book about nothing, where nothing happens, and yet keep your reader riveted?!

You see, I found the not running away thing very believable but I know a lot of people thought that was a flaw.

I believe that environment can have a huge effect on behaviour. If you had grown up within the very strict confines of a school with no familial love whatsoever and if you were then dependent on others to provide a house for you, where would you run away to? You know no one and have no source of income. You have been brought up to be very passive and to believe you have an important role in life. Lots of people long for a role in life.

And wasn't it implied that a few clones did run away, like that guy they went to visit in Wales? But I can believe most would conform in that situation, despite the instinct for self preservation.

Besides, they had a horror of The Woods, which could well have been taught to them to encourage a fear of leaving the 'campus' for anywhere other than the accepted next stage (ie the cottages).

Bettyspaghetti - I tried to read The Unconsoled and got most of the way through but it is like one of those dreams you have where whatever you do you can't move the story on - he just keeps tramping around the mystery city. There are usually copies of it in secondhand book shops - and I'm sure very few have ever been read all the way through. I did enjoy Remains of the Day and When we were Orphans (I may have the title wrong but it is the one largely set in Shanghai).

I really liked Never Let Me Go. I couldn't stop thinking about it for a while straight after I read it. The donation sequence got me too. I agree Unconsoled was really hard work and not very memorable. I read a Pale View of Hills recently and found that very unsatisfying.