Never Let Me Go

Haunting and thought provoking

Would you listen to Never Let Me Go again? Why?

I think I would. Not right away but in time yes.
It forces you to question what it is to be human and what the value you of that is.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Strangely my favourite character isn't a person, it's the atmosphere. The tone of the story and the atmosphere of the book really are a character in itself. I can't really describe it... It's almost somber meet anticipation.

Which character – as performed by Kerry Fox – was your favourite?

I love all the characters prostrated by Kerry Fox, I thought she did a wonderful job with all. However, the biting attitude of Ruth was brilliantly bought forward.

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

What is the real purpose of YOUR existence?

Any additional comments?

A truly haunting story. Horrific without even uttering a word of horror. Truly thought provoking and leaves you thinking, WHY? Not in a dramatic sense but questioning why the situation in this book would ever exist. Hailsham, should never exist... I hope to god it doesn't.

It's the first book I have read that is sweet and gentil throughout but filled with background atrocities that will haunt you and make you question the importance of the fellow man.

18 of 18 people found this review helpful

Deeply disturbung, I could not stop listening

I ordered this book after finding it in a Buzzfeed Booklist of 53 Books you can't put down. Classified as a fantasy, there is no magic, swords or sorcerers. It is written, as if by the main protagonist, who describes her life, growing up in a boarding school for 'special' children bred to become donors. The lack of emotion, her lack of horror, made it even more horrific for the reader. It is a fantastic, and absorbing book. I could not find fault with one word or concept, it is perfectly executed, beautifully crafted. It will remain with me for a long time.

9 of 9 people found this review helpful

Tragic and enigmatic

To begin with, the book is enigmatic. There is the hint of something sinister in the idyllic life of Hailsham. As more details become clear, it's all dealt with very matter of factly, like the sex, as though examining it from a detached scientific point of view. Even the effect off the big reveal at the end on the characters isn't explicitly discussed, although their subsequent actions are clearly related. But don't let that put you off. It's a deeply moving and tragic story and you can't help but love the three central characters for all their flaws. The problem with listening to an audio book when your driving is that keeping the car on the road when your sobbing loudly is quite hard! The narration is of a high quality, particularly of the female characters, but I feel her representation of Tommy is a little unfair.

14 of 15 people found this review helpful

brilliant...

learn as little as you can about this story before you read it. wow, what a narrative

6 of 6 people found this review helpful

Too tedious to complete

Perhaps this was just not my type of book - though I enjoy quite a wide range, from pacey thrillers, to elegaic tales, to factual works. I tried very hard to get into this story but just couldn't. I found the reading to be in almost a monotone, which made me want to switch off - though I think the reader was trying to convey an atmosphere and was of course encumbered by what I felt was dreary writing. Sadly it has to be returned.

6 of 6 people found this review helpful

Absolutely stunning

Wonderful novel and absolutely wonderful reading of it. Strange, subtle and utterly bewitching. Couldn't stop listening.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

Disturbing and brilliant

Any additional comments?

This book is studied in a lot of schools at higher levels so I am sure there is plenty of analysis and commentary a lot more erudite than mine.
The hopeless acceptance of the most awful, an analogy for everything in our world of flawed and cruel humanity as the innocent are prepared for acquiescence. I think this is the most disturbing book I have read that I could read to the end and it will haunt me.
All this from the writing but also the reading that captures the dystopian detachment of Kathy perfectly. A first class production.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Hauntingly beautiful

What other book might you compare Never Let Me Go to, and why?

For some reason, this book reminds me of Brave New World in reverse. At the beginning, we have learn all about the 'science' that the society uses (e.g. how people are made etc.) and later branch into the learning about the characters and morality (or ethical questions for the philosophy purists). Never Let Me Go tells us about the characters and then goes into the societies science and the ethics of it. (I think the questions of ethics have a quiet force - they are not blatantly asked in your face, but more suggested in the subtext.)

What about Kerry Fox’s performance did you like?

Kerry Fox is a really good narrator, you could easily believe that Fox was Kathy. In many ways, if you closed your eyes you could imagine someone sitting opposite you at a pub table telling you this story as though it was real. Her acting range is impressive; her voices for each character are memorable, identifiable and consistent. When Fox speaks with disdain it reminds me of Benedict Cumberbatch which is a testament of her acting.

8 of 10 people found this review helpful

A walk in the fog

Would you listen to Never Let Me Go again? Why?

I enjoyed the book immensely, even though I selected the book rather in random not having knowledge of the author, books or movie adaptations when I started. I wasn't prepared to such a sad affair so I wouldn't listen to it again at least straight away. I might have another go later to get in all the details now I know what to expect.

What did you like best about this story?

I liked that I didn't know what to expect. I didn't know what the book was set out to describe and what kind of a story it was, as it is a bit unconventional compared to novels I have used to read. It was like walking in a fog, you feel sort of safe even though you don't know where you are going exactly and you are eager to discover what lays ahead.

Have you listened to any of Kerry Fox’s other performances? How does this one compare?

This was my first ever audiobook, so I have no previous experience of Kerry and have nothing else to compare her performance to. Being a non-native English speaker, I struggled to understand for the first half an hour, then restarted and had no difficulty after that. The language of the book is lovely and poetic but easy to understand and her calm voice reflected that well. There were places where I thought the use of a different voice didn't work well, but those moments were only few and didn't bother for long.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

I wasn't at all prepared to a few tears at the end, a really beautiful finish to a book.

Any additional comments?

I feel I want to read other books by Ishiguro and I think people should get this one for it gives food for thought and challenges our ideas on humanity in a very disturbing but necessary way.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Kerry Fox made this easy to listen to

Would you listen to Never Let Me Go again? Why?

No. Not because it wasn't a good book but because the subject is depressing and without much hope for the future.

What other book might you compare Never Let Me Go to, and why?

1984 because of the dystopian content and the control people have over others, a form of slavery really.

What about Kerry Fox’s performance did you like?

I thought her calm, modulated and slightly sad tone was fitting for the book. I wish there were more books narrated by her.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, because the combination of Kazuo Ishaguro's poignant writing and Kerry Fox's narration made it come together beautifully. I felt lulled into the story and wanted to find out what was behind it all.

4 of 5 people found this review helpful