Think you’re not a science fiction reader? Give Ishiguro a chance to convince you otherwise.
As Never Let Me Go opens, readers may assume they are on familiar ground. Kathy, a quiet but reflective woman, looks back from the 1990s at her love triangle with friends Ruth and Tommy during their days at Hailsham, which at first glance appears to be a typically oppressive English boarding school.
As usual, Ishiguro (The Remains of the Day, The Unconsoled, When We Were Orphans) has a trick or two up his sleeve. In his novels, what is not being said is often as important as what is said. Slowly the reader comes to realize that this is an alternate view of 1990s England (though disconcertingly close to the real world), that Hailsham is not a typical boarding school, and that Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy suffer from more than typical teen angst (although from their point of view, the cruel role they are doomed to play is accepted like angst—they don’t know any better).
Ishiguro has created a novel that deftly explores a dangerous path that genetic medicine could easily take, but he is careful never to let the scientific issues overwhelm his beautifully crafted characters. In the darkest of conditions, they maintain a human dignity that makes them both heartbreakingly poignant, yet ultimately inspiring.
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