Never Let Me Go

Never Let Me Go, by Kazuo Ishiguro, 2005 (288 pages)

I'm not exactly sure what drew me to this book. I know that it's on the list of "1001 Books You Must Read," so maybe that's where I first considered it. I also know that it tends to get good reviews/comments on the Nest's book club board. But really, I knew very little about the book before I requested it from the library.

This is from the front cover flap of the book: "As a child, Kathy -- now thirty-one years old -- lived at Hailsham, a private school in the scenic English countryside where the children were sheltered from the outside world, brought up to believe that they were special and that their well-being was crucial not nly for themselves but for the society they would eventually enter." Kathy narrates the story, looking back on her past at the school. It is a story of friendship and the difficulties that children experience as they grow older; however, the reader can quickly see that there is more going on in this story than a simple story about children living at a private school. There is a subtle, underlying mystery that is slowly revealed as Kathy remembers various scenes from her childhood that hold some significance for her as an adult.

I know that this isn't a very detailed explanation of the book, but I don't want to give anything away. Just before I started reading the book, I learned something rather important about the story that basically ruined the "mystery" for me, and I'd rather not give that away here (in case anyone reading this actually wants to go read the book). Overall, I thought that Never Let Me Go was a very good, well-written book, and I think I would've enjoyed it even more if I had been able to be more surprised by the plot.

Sidenote: This was the 20th book I've read so far this year! I think I'm on pace to read about 60!

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Total number of books read in 2009: 20

Total number of pages read in 2009: 7515