Never Let Me Go

I finished reading Never Let Me Go a few weeks ago, and I've been thinking about it ever since. For me, it was a very original coming-of-age story involving a fictitious London, love, the 1990s, and cloning.

Yeah.

I have no idea how to classify this novel. It's part science fiction, part theory, part philosophy, and part English literature. But mostly, it was beautifully written. As a historian, I got used to reading dry textbooks and boring articles. But once I learned to really read history, I sought out historians who not only knew their history, but knew how to really write. It was a joy to read books by someone who not only had command of how and why things happened, but how his/her words complimented each other.

This book, of course, was no history book. And Ishiguro really understands how to make words flow. The main character, Kathy, is a student at a strange boarding school. It's obvious that these students are special, and Ishiguro really takes the time to let the reader discover their secrets. The reader is quickly attracted to the lives of Kathy and her friends and wonders where their lives will take them upon graduation.

I honestly don't want to write much more about the plot just because it is such a page-turner. Try this one - even if you don't like the story, the writing is simply amazing.