Never Let Me Go

I will admit here and now that the first time I read this book, it had been assigned to me in my Western Literature class during freshman year. I was pleased to find that, unlike most of the assigned reading I'd experienced in high school, "Never Let Me Go" was actually engaging and enjoyable.

The novel is written by Kazuo Ishiguro, a British author more commonly known for his earlier award-winning novel, "The Remains of the Day," and was published in 2005.

Describing the story is dangerous territory rife with the threat of spoiling the inherent mystery of the narrative. The realizations that one personally achieves by progressing through the story is part of the journey that makes this book so singular, enthralling and entirely worthwhile. For this reason, I will not provide a summary or discuss any plot points from the second and third parts of "Never Let Me Go."

The story starts out with the book's main character, Kathy H., as an adult recounting the events of her childhood and life at and beyond a boarding school called Hailsham. Different perspectives are added to events as Kathy recalls conversations with childhood friends, Ruth and Tommy, at their recovery centers, in what feels much like present-day England. But something is different. Something is off – something lies just beyond the horizon of our understanding.

As Kathy H. reflects on her life and gains a clearer perspective on her world, so, too, do we gradually come to understand just what Hailsham and its students are and what role they play in the grand scheme of this very realistic, potentially all-too-much so, world.

As LeVar Burton would famously say: "You don't have to take my word for it." Time magazine named "Never Let Me Go" its best novel of 2005 and included it in their TIME "100 Best English-language Novels from 1923 to 2005" list.

Jonathan Yardley of The Washington Post wrote, "The best Ishiguro has written since the sublime ‘The Remains of the Day.' It is almost literally a novel about humanity: what constitutes it, what it means, how it can be honored or denied."

Jeff Giles of Newsweek said, "What begins as a mystery with futuristic undertones ends up an engrossing meditation on the here and now. As always, Ishiguro pulls you under, even as you convince yourself that you're just going wading."