Never Let Me Go (Vintage International)

A unique story about growing up and a beautifully sympathetic novel for anyone who has been in love and had to say goodbye.

DNF because library loan expired. but it was OK.

I'm glad I didn't know much about this book before I began reading it. I liked the subtleties and internal dialogue that was part of the narrative.

Under no circumstance do we consider the narrator or the others in this book as "less than" in any way. However, after the fact, one might consider the general topic of the book with our own thoughts about the subject now and in the past. (Trying to word this carefully to avoid a spoiler.)

Here's the mark of a good book, that you keep thinking about it long after you've finished reading it.

They were doomed from the start, love was not strong enough and I should have never had hope im so upset and I also really disliked Ruth throughout the entire book ong i hate that b

Oof. The majority of this book is mundane talk about petty boarding school conflicts, but it's sprinkled with underlying hints that the students are being prepared for a weird post-school role in society. Only the very end of the book provides a full explanation that leaves you reflecting on what it means to be human. This book is more about what isn't said, than what's actually said. The ending makes you revisit the characters in your head to analyze their behavior with the newfound information.

By the end of the book, we confirm that the students are all sterilized clones that have been created to be organ donors for society. They live in a world that treats clones as non-human creatures without souls. The school that the students attended provides superior treatment to this particular group of clones and tries to sway society into believing that clones are fully human and deserve more ethical treatment. They eventually lose this culture war because their society can't give up all the benefits that the organ donors provide in curing their ailments and keeping their loved ones alive. This book will leave you contemplating what it means to have a soul and free will. Another reviewer accurately summarized that this novel "explores the futility of human life, its un-bargainable eventual completion, and how we all choose to deal with the inevitable end."

Yes, this is an interesting premise that brought up great thought experiments; however, I have to admit that I didn't enjoy reading it very much. It was slow, and I disliked reading about the constant conniving behavior between the main characters.