Never Let Me Go

Kazuo Ishiguro

2005

January, 2023

3/10

The first part is overall rather mundane. I felt the reason for it was simply to establish a connection to the characters in the book and to understand their life. However, an unending sequence of "which reminds of the time when..." followed by "which brings to the time when..." felt like a poor way to navigate the timeline. Additionally, because all the events were from their childhood, I felt completely unengaged and disinterested. If you want me to feel a connection to characters, stories of children doing silly childish things does not work (for me).

And why all the talk about sex? The book makes it seem like the students were led to believe (or mutually agreed) that life was incomplete without sex. Forget love. Forget relationships. Forget romance. Forget partnership. Only sex matters. And why do I need to know that many of the boys partook in homosexual acts at a young age? And why do I need to know the importance of "preparing" the girl before doing anything... as told to children? And why do I need to know about the main character's uncontrollable libido? And why was any of this ever such a big deal? Not once was happiness even mentioned. God forbid you find yourself happy and in a loving relationship: life is all about sex. Ridiculous.

If it weren't for all the good things I heard about the book, I would have stopped reading then and there. It was absolutely ridiculous, and the few parts of the story not about sex certainly weren't enough to make me want to hold on. And the characters being so unlikable didn't help with all the childish relationship drama and fake/approval-seeking personalities.

Part three made me see the potential of the book, though. Better writing could have easily made the book a true literary masterpiece. Instead, I was saddened not by the story, but by all the wasted potential.

Also, the sex talk literally never ends. For no reason. I can't begin to fathom how this book became so popular. Or maybe that's exactly why...