‘Never Let Me Go’ by Kazuo Ishiguro, 2005

I’m not altogether convinced that the world Kazuo Ishiguo paints in ‘Never Let Me Go’ is entirely believable. Something sinister kept nagging at me while reading the novel, and yet, I’m not sure it was necessarily the book’s theme. Could a small class of people—clones—be conceived and raised for the sole purpose of serving the greater population by yielding up organs whenever the notice comes down the line. It’s not like the people are being held in a concentration camp; they are free to do as they want: hold down jobs, get married, buy a home, drive across the country. Conditioning is effective only to an extent, I think. Anyway, there’s this literary device called verisimilitude that says ‘this is believable’ and ‘this is bogus.’ Reading from chapter to chapter I couldn’t help but think how untenable the premise was, which is a sort of transgression in storytelling.

That said, I think there are plenty of redeeming qualities about the novel. Ishiguro’s characters are solid, fleshed out, and I especially like the voice of the narrator. And even though I was somewhat exasperated with the book’s concept, I kept reading, which surprised me, as usually I set down a book after fifty pages if it doesn’t engage me. I’m looking forward to picking up other novels by Ishiguro.