Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro | Review

This is my review for Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro, hope you enjoy! I forgot to mention that the book takes place in the 1980's-1990's.
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[@shipper611]

I think most reviews on this amazing book kind of miss what I believe to be the true and important point of it and I am so glad you touched it! The contrast between logical behavior in their micro world and the absurdity of it all from a macro perspective. Imo this does not only refer to these specific characters but to all of us. We all think we have good reasons for our daily behavior, and it all makes sense to us - go to work to earn money, buy things because we believe to need them etc. etc. By this we explain our micro worlds and make sense of it, however, as a society we destroy our planet, fight wars and create so much absurd misery. We often fail to translate our little understanding of the big picture into action in our personal environment, just like Kath fails to translate her understanding of the system into protest. Showing this inability and how it is incorporated into our lives, is the great gift carried by "Never let me go"!

[@CapturedInWords]

Can't agree more with your comment. Never Let Me Go definitely has a message to share about all of society, and I find it sad that most people end up just focusing on the sci-fi/thriller elements of the story. Ishiguro frames the story in a way that gets the reader questioning the complacency with which we all live our lives. The world is filled with injustice and absurdity yet we let it slide on a daily basis without protest. Thanks for the comment!

[@tangerin511]

Omg, thank you for your comment. I finished reading the book and was binge-watching videos about it hoping to find an explanation like yours. Now I can say the book is indeed brilliant...

[@shipper611]

@@tangerin511 thank you, I’m honestly flattered by your comment - still one of my most favorite books of all time!

[@grantgoodman1533]

I read halfway through, fighting my waning interest most of the way. While I wouldn't say nothing happened, what did wasn't enough to pull me in and make me care about the characters or what happened to them.

[@imyourgenie08]

It was so slow and constantly revealing that I thought I already knew everything that's gonna happen. I knew it won't turn out well. But things were slowly unfolding and because of this, i was completely off-guard when the pivotal part happened. It totally broke my heart and all the different kinds of emotions came rushing in. I was very devastated but I couldn't cry as hard as i want to, because i was also feeling so much disappointment and anger and frustration. It affected me in ways I never expected. Spoiler warning.... At some point in the story, i think Ruth and Tommy, (maybe out of frustration) are very mean to dismiss Kathy's own personal journey just because she wasn't a donor yet. It's oh so common nowadays... "you'll never understand me because you've never been in this situation before, therefore I'm dismissing all your shallow and pretend efforts to care for me." 🤷

[@danielaaleman7394]

I watched the movie first without knowing it was based on a book, I read the book recently and you're totally right, it ruins the reading experience. So, I decided to read again, I still feel there's something more about them.

[@cooky2991]

It's interesting to hear others' takes on it, though I can't say I agree. I had to read the book for an advanced course in school and I absolutely hated it. Not because we had to read it, since we actually read several good stories in English over the years, but just because of the book itself. It felt to me as if the characters were passive for passiveness' sake and that every storybeat just happened with little rhyme or reason.

[@tangerin511]

I also hated reading it :(( but after reading more opinions/explanations I realized the book raises some good questions about our society...

[@annoyingginger5077]

Yes! Literally bored me to hell and back, it's also full of annoying troupes such as boy with anger issues and the two main girls both love the main boy, because oh yeah no other males exist in this story that are overly relevent throughout. I could not get invested in it at all, so, it was no wonder that I forgot all the 'important' quotes during my mocks. The books I actually liked from school were a Christmas carol and of mice and men, which I would read again.

[@andrewedgar3935]

I’m 24 and so wasn’t even born when Ishiguro published his first book. But when I was looking into Nobel laureates from the last few years I bought this book without even reading the synopsis because I wanted to go in blind. Totally different from what I usually read but wow. I couldn’t put it down! The way this man writes his characters is just breathtaking. The quasi-dystopian backdrop is intriguing but the relationships, humanity and sadness of these characters is just incredible. I will be reading a lot more of his work for sure!

[@wewerthoncardoso9054]

I love his work

[@saraa3797]

Thankyou! My teacher gave me this to read and review and I was quite confused, you've put it into perspective nicely

[@CapturedInWords]

Sassy Sara I'm glad I could help! Thanks for watching :)

[@natuoyamaguti3909]

I reckon that a milions of reviews on this tragic yet humanie story can not reflect what the aoutor contrived in his work . This review video is worth watching compared to other ones because in part , I feel like the reviewr and I more or less share something important behaind the plot of Never let me go.

[@SydneyBrownTravels]

The summary of the beginning you gave sounded really interesting! I'll have to read this soon!

[@CapturedInWords]

+sydthebookish Glad I was able to make the book spark your interest! It was a really great read!

[@Sakura-zu4rz]

I kept in a bubble, separated from the outside world. I just am wondering about “what is the world outside, always” I struggle with this, and I try to squeeze my dreams and hopes into this kind of small narrow area…living someone’s else’s life while living my own…

[@linnasplund5075]

Great video! When i watched this it felt like you put words to my feeling torwards the book in i really good way

[@CapturedInWords]

Thanks, I'm glad to hear it! This is an older video and I was tempted to take it down but I'm happy there are still people who like it :)

[@whirlwindjourneyer4213]

Can I send you a copy of my book to consider. Mark Twain and the Fantastical, Cosmic, Ruckus

[@valeriav1969]

Good video, really liked the ending too

[@jenperkings7072]

Ruth is the most important character, Ruth is all three and none of them simultaneous. Courage that Kathy lacks, the self awareness that Tommy has never been able to find.

[@renatajd7758]

No, she is a toxic person trying to get what she wants and have a control.

[@littlecornerofjp]

ah that's why the title sounds familiar, I've watched the movie already :D sounds like the book is good as well.

[@Cotictimmy]

A rather good summation of what its really all about - I thought. The book & the film are VERY different beasts (out of necessity) because it would have been difficult to make the movie as bleak or complex as the book. Both are fabulous BTW (but the the film) skips a lot of nuance and simplifies the characters and paints the Hailsham project as dark by omitting vital parts of what Miss Emily reveals to adult Kathy & Tommy in conversation at her house.

[@FarawayPictures]

I've never heard of this book, but when you gave the spoilers I thought 'surely that's the film The Island!'

[@sophias8090]

The ending I was like whaaaaat?

[@notanniewarren]

Thanks for your this review, I really enjoyed watching it :) I've finally finished reading this book too and posted a review on my channel as well. I kind of liked Ruth as a character. I definitely liked her more than Tommy. I thought Tommy allowed himself to be manoeuvred by others way too much. I also found it really sad that the kids got so excited by all the junk they were allowed to buy :( It was heart-breaking. Totally agree with you about the film focussing too much on the love triangle - that was definitely not the point of the book (in my opinion, anyway...). That's an interesting idea that they might have been genetically modified to be more passive, I had never thought of that! Thanks for your review :)

[@AdilsonSamenezes]

Very interesting!

[@hollymcginty1040]

*Stares at the tenth doctor pop figure on the shelf*

[@m.k5391]

bro. this novels story is sooo sad! :*(

[@AdilsonSamenezes]

Where are you from? Your accent is very cool!

[@CapturedInWords]

+Juba Samenezes Haha thanks! I can't even realize I have a accent lol! I'm from Canada

[@tamarabedic9601]

The sympathetic thing about Ruth is her innate yearning for a mom she never had and couldn't really imagine. Ruth starts Ms. Geraldine's Guards, she's obsessed with finding her 'normal'-- she yearns for a maternal figure and... lacking one, twists Ruth into... wanting all the love for herself.

[@hanspaul8836]

I watched the movie maybe book readers can help me understand it a bit more. Why didn't the clones just run away and lived like normal humans? Also, why did it seem like a perfect system, like won't some humans use them as sex slaves or worst? Won't some of them be aggressive?

[@egg_bun_]

Omg YES. Sooooooo many questions. Frustrating.

[@loonylovegood141]

They wouldn’t be used as sex slaves because their purpose is solely for organ donations and that’s it. They didn’t run away because the author said he didn’t want to write a story about rebellion but oppressed people who are complacent. They were raised to believe this is just how life is so it’s hard for them to know better

[@witchland]

That's not the story that Ishiguro wanted to tell. It's basically about our mortality - the human condition - with the sci-fi twist used as a way to truncate our limited time further. People in the real world have their life paths more or less restricted by when, where, and to whom they are born. The vast majority of people born into limiting circumstances don't become Spartacus, but muddle along as best as they can. The best that most of these people can hope for is winning the lottery - much like the donors in the book hope for deferral from their fate. They will ultimately be disappointed, but this is not to say that their lives are without meaning or worth. These clones - considered to be less than human - still have feelings, yearnings, hopes and dreams. But like most of us, they will never be able to live the lives they dream of. To some readers, this is perhaps less satisfying than a story where they either try to escape or fight the system, but it's a far more honest - and heartbreaking - commentary about life and acceptance of circumstances.

[@batty4travel]

Okay but yakusoku no neverland did this theme soooooo much better.

[@carlospolo4653]

"living through life" Yeah, that's the whole point of Never Let Me Go... and the whole point about life

[@CapturedInWords]

lol I posted this video 7 years ago and looking back on it now makes me cringe.

[@minervainjuly8167]

Hehe, 'older' book. From 2005? ... I was dusting my shelves not a week from now and found and old medical volume dated 1861. It probably isn't the oldest as most of male ancestors down mum's line were doctors and loved reading. But yeah. 'Older'. Steer clear of bestseller lists, kid. You seem to be going to a good school that knows their shit.

[@CapturedInWords]

Oh did I say it was older? Haha I filmed this video over a year ago now, when I first started, so I probably said a lot of silly things. I'm not sure why you would advise to stay clear of bestseller lists? If anything everybody should spend time reading these books, especially if they are are so use to only reading new releases. I've read a lot of 1800s literature, not to mention older stories like 'The Epic of Gilgamesh' and 'The Iliad', so just because I mentioned Never Let Me Go was an 'older' book in my video doesn't necessarily mean I'm a complete idiot ;) I simply meant it's not a new release, so I'm sure many people have already heard of it. Really interesting about your ancestry though! That's fantastic that you still have some older volumes!

[@minervainjuly8167]

I avoid bestseller lists like a plague because there is such unspeakable garbage on them, I consider a vast majority of it a complete waste of time and life is too short for shitty pages written badly, with lackluster plots. There are too many books out there so much better. Not saying a good book can't incidentally make it's way onto it if they just got made into a movie so something, but they are usually not decent simply because they are on there... Though, put like that - reading 'new releases', perhaps it's a step up. I don't advocate for classics, those will wait when we're old and gray, but I do have a strict criteria on what is a worthy book. Not 'famous' by commercial standards, but truly good. I don't approve of just gulping them down, either and then forgetting about them. If they're forgettable, avoid. Half of my channel should be about that, though I'm only just starting out. I need to make a noisy statement about it :)) Ye, I'm from a book-praising family :) I'm not called a paper pagan for nothing ;) I found them almost surreal, you know? No book has ever died of natural causes, right? They'll wait for a reader with their story for centuries if need be.

[@Ariarne12345]

Well lar dee dar

[@mbhp2009]

i disagreeeeeeeeeee

[@VandanaSharma-ec6zl]

Spoiler: kathy ruth tommy are clones .

[@ladaffodilion]

Most of the movies adapted from the books spoil the book. One more thing, your spoilers for this book are too weak.

[@davidvesseur]

It's not that big of a spoiler. The whole part 1 talks about the fact they're clones...