First published in 2005, "Never Let Me Go" (by Kazuo Ishiguro) was nominated for Britain's Man Booker Prize. I just read it. Actually, I read the last 160 pages of the book in "one sitting" -- what a poignant tale of love, redemption, morality, and free will. Ultimately, the story asks us what it means to be human.
Some critics commented that the story is a modern-day Kafka (or Borges). Perhaps. I don't want to spoil the plot, which is tightly crafted and suspenseful. However, I will comment on the narrative, which is a powerful tool to explore the human psyche. (The narrative style is a signature of Kazuo Ishiguro's works).
The story is told as a narrative memoir by the main character, Kathy H. She reflected on her past and struggled to make sense of her childhood, adolescence, and early adulthood. From her "personal narrative", the reader experiences what her life was like. Although not every thought or feeling was made explicit, her seemingly simple narrative carried the reader to somewhere deeper to explore what are found in us all. Sign of a great read? You bet.
[Yes I still have more to say.]
Two things revolved around the story, which readers couldn't run away from:
Her narrative centered around a "secret", shared by all of her closest friends. The "secret" ran her life and that of her friends in ways they could not change. Some critics catagorized her "secret" as science fiction, which (I think) isn't really the author's intent. Her "secret" makes her story "futuristic", but that alone is hardly "science fiction".
Another aspect was what gave the book its title "Never Let Me Go". It was a song which Kathy liked very much. Everyone else involved in her story had a slightly different viewpoint of the song and its meaning. I thought it is sort of a metaphor for art. Artists create. Audiences interpret, each in his own way.
I can't wait to read the book again.
