Never Let Me Go

Kazuo Ishiguro

4/8/2006

Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy grew up at Hailsham, a school for special children with a specific purpose in their lives. None of the children have parents. The adults around them are Guardians. They live an idyllic existance except for the fact they are cloistered from the outside world.

Kathy and Ruth are best friends as girls. Tommy has a terrible temper and for a time was an outsider. Kathy never quite lets him go even when he is unpopular. She and Tommy also become good friends. With some wise words from one Guardian, Tommy adjusts and becomes part of the community at Hailsham.

Now, as an adult, Kathy looks back on their lives at Hailsham and after. She is a Carer, traveling around England to attend people in special long term care facilities. She and Ruth had a rocky relationship, especially once they were at the end of Hailsham and starting their adult lives. Ruth and Tommy become a couple with Kathy friends to both. The three split within the next two years.

Kathy meets both Ruth and Tommy later in life, both in different hospitals. Now after both have left their hospitals, Kathy recalls the story of their lives, how they grew up, and the expectations put on them.

Kazuo Ishiguro has given us a philosophical question in Never Let Me Go. When is a person not a person? Anyone who follows science fiction has dealt with the definition of life - self awareness, fear of death, a sense of independence. Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy are fully human. But the population outside of Hailsham regard them as sub-human. They don't realize the full import of their situation until later in life.

The book is written in first person narrative by Kathy. The reader understands the meaning of her life from Kathy's point of view and the inevitibility of her path. Yet by the end, injustices are realized...and accepted. Ishiguro doesn't preach - he just lets Kathy relate her life to us. It is up to us to understand the injustice in Kathy's, Ruth's and Tommy's lives. The three have emotions and actions like any other person. They have to handle them differently.

Never Let Me Go is a fascinating read. The narrative goes from present to past and back, leaving the reader tantalized when Kathy hints at future actions that the early days lead to. Kathy's humanity is real and effective. When is a person not a person? When those around him (or her) won't allow him to be...

You can find more about this book at .

Notice: Non-explicit sexual situations