Sunday, February 05, 2006
book report: Never Let Me Go
Never Let Me Go
by Kazuo Ishiguro
I picked this book from the list of Booker Prize nominees. I've never read anything by Ishiguro before, but I know he's held up as one of the best writers of our times... although honestly the only book I recognize that he wrote is "The Remains of the Day".
The book opens as a narrative by a youngish woman, Kathy. She is apparently an alumna from a private school called Hailsham, and is currently working in some kind of health care capacity. I'm not going to reveal the secret about the students, but it is clear from the beginning of the book that there is something special about Hailsham students. Kathy's narrative swings back and forth between reminiscing about her school days, and describing the work she does as an adult. She has particularly sharp memories of two childhood friends, Ruth and Tommy - but gradually she reveals that Ruth is now dead and Tommy is in the hospital.
The first two-thirds of the book was exciting, as I tried to figure out the secret of the Hailsham students, and piece together what Kathy was doing as an adult. However, near the end of the book, the story took a vaguely ridiculous turn, where a character from Hailsham is put in the role of explaining everything to Kathy and Tommy, and by extension to the reader. I found this device disappointing, since the excitement of the first part of the book was in trying to see through Kathy's eyes and figure out what she was missing about her own situation.
Ishiguro's writing is crystalline and spare. And the concept of the novel is a creative and topical one. But ultimately the book wasn't that compelling because everything was revealed in one big dump. I'll try other Ishiguro books based on the strength of his writing - does anyone have a favorite to recommend?
by Kazuo Ishiguro
I picked this book from the list of Booker Prize nominees. I've never read anything by Ishiguro before, but I know he's held up as one of the best writers of our times... although honestly the only book I recognize that he wrote is "The Remains of the Day".
The book opens as a narrative by a youngish woman, Kathy. She is apparently an alumna from a private school called Hailsham, and is currently working in some kind of health care capacity. I'm not going to reveal the secret about the students, but it is clear from the beginning of the book that there is something special about Hailsham students. Kathy's narrative swings back and forth between reminiscing about her school days, and describing the work she does as an adult. She has particularly sharp memories of two childhood friends, Ruth and Tommy - but gradually she reveals that Ruth is now dead and Tommy is in the hospital.
The first two-thirds of the book was exciting, as I tried to figure out the secret of the Hailsham students, and piece together what Kathy was doing as an adult. However, near the end of the book, the story took a vaguely ridiculous turn, where a character from Hailsham is put in the role of explaining everything to Kathy and Tommy, and by extension to the reader. I found this device disappointing, since the excitement of the first part of the book was in trying to see through Kathy's eyes and figure out what she was missing about her own situation.
Ishiguro's writing is crystalline and spare. And the concept of the novel is a creative and topical one. But ultimately the book wasn't that compelling because everything was revealed in one big dump. I'll try other Ishiguro books based on the strength of his writing - does anyone have a favorite to recommend?
Labels: book reports, science fiction
