Thursday, April 26, 2007

Never let me go


I have vivid memories of reading Kazuo Ishiguro's The Remains of the Day on the top bunk during an overnight train ride. I was enthralled by the precise language and interestingly enough, I identified closely with the main character of Stevens, the English butler.

When I picked up Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go, I had the expectation that my reading experience would be similar (without the overnight train ride part). I was disappointed. The story starts out promising enough. The main character reflects on her time at Hailsham, a boarding school in England. However, the students at this school are different. They are bred and raised for a specific medical purpose. The time is specified as the late 1990s, so that adds a fun element of wondering if perhaps this is really going on right now. However, the main character never endeared herself to me and I found her cold and distant. And by the end of the novel, I really didn't care about what happened to her or to any of the other characters.

2 comments:

Lisa Igram said...

Yes! I'm so excited about your blog.

I am about 10 email posts away from finishing "A Mysterious Affair" by Agatha Christie, inspired by none other than YOU and your recommendation of books@dailylit.com. Sometimes I'm so eager to find out whodunnit that I click on the link "Send next fragment right away!". This is definitely the highlight of my workday. :)

Ok, so the best author I've read lately is Charles Martin ("The Dead don't Dance" and "Wrapped in Rain", whose books and characters are picturesque and set in the south. They're relaxing reads with great descriptions and depth of meaning.

Blog on!

Elaine said...

Thanks for the book recommendations, Lisa! I'll look for them next time I'm at the library.