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Never Let Me Go

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Never Let Me Go

By: Kazuo Ishiguro
Narrated by: Kerry Fox
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About this listen

In one of the most acclaimed novels of recent years, Kazuo Ishiguro imagines the lives of a group of students growing up in a darkly skewed version of contemporary England.

Narrated by Kathy, now 31, Never Let Me Go dramatizes her attempts to come to terms with her childhood at the seemingly idyllic Hailsham School and with the fate that has always awaited her and her closest friends in the wider world. A story of love, friendship, and memory, Never Let Me Go is charged throughout with a sense of the fragility of life.

©2013 Kazuo Ishiguro (P)2013 Faber & Faber Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Emotionally Gripping Heartfelt Scary Thought-Provoking

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To begin with, the book is enigmatic. There is the hint of something sinister in the idyllic life of Hailsham. As more details become clear, it's all dealt with very matter of factly, like the sex, as though examining it from a detached scientific point of view. Even the effect off the big reveal at the end on the characters isn't explicitly discussed, although their subsequent actions are clearly related. But don't let that put you off. It's a deeply moving and tragic story and you can't help but love the three central characters for all their flaws. The problem with listening to an audio book when your driving is that keeping the car on the road when your sobbing loudly is quite hard! The narration is of a high quality, particularly of the female characters, but I feel her representation of Tommy is a little unfair.

Tragic and enigmatic

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Reasonable story, based on an interesting idea. Could of been much shorter with little story sacrifice.The reader mumbled which was quite annoying. F/nished it, but nearly abandoned.Would not recommend

Not bad, not worth the hype

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Not for me although I can understand why many other listeners/readers enjoyed the story as it was certainly original and thought-provoking. However, I found the main protagonists to be pathetic and unrealistically compliant, and so they irritated me. The story was very slow to unfold and I found I was asking more questions than getting answers, so again, the story frustrated me. Personally, I found the subject matter quite distasteful and I couldn't suspend reality enough to believe that any of the main characters in this dystopian society would simply accept the injustice of their fate, or that others would not fight to defend their fellow humans' rights. I think there could have been a far better story to have evolved from this idea.

Disappointing, frustrating and rather unpleasant

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I am sorry to say that I found this book tiresome.

There was no plot. I kept waiting for something to happen. I suppose it was written quite well but there was quite a bit of repetition.
Without reading the book perhaps it’s written as if it’s a diary format?
I regret to say that I wouldn’t recommend it.

Not one I would recommend unfortunately.

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I bought this book a year ago when I was trying to venture out of my comfort zone by reading something different but acclaimed. I fear I picked badly as this has been say half finished for a year and I've only just finished it. If I was a deeper, existential thinker I might have liked this more but as I'm not I found it quite dull and unable to get lost in the world of this book. I shall stick to my Sci Fi adventure books methinks until such a time I'm brave enough to try something new again.

A well told story but not for me

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really good audiobook, highly recommend it if you're looking for a well performed/ read book

great story, great performance.

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this story had me immersed from the start. the beautiful voice of the narrator carried me off to Hailsham in this very sad but compulsive listen. I finished this book in 3 days. it went everywhere with me, during my christmas holiday ' up hills, in the bath, whilst cooking and washing up. beautiful.

beautiful but sad tale

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The story is one that keeps you on the edge of knowing what is really going on until the very end. You get the gist but the real horror of it comes as you get closer to the characters.

Be patient because it feels lethargic but the narrative does progress in an engaging way.

Stunning performance, too.

Great performance of creepy story

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The novel offers an unusual perspective on a parallel 20th century Britain, viewed through the narrow focus of a retrospective narrative.

This is primarily a coming of age novel, with an oddly circuitous and indirect structure, which I found at first confusing and then frustrating as the novel progressed. It was so problemativ for me that I struggled to sympathise with Cathy as she relayed the highs, but mostly lows, of her childhood.

The voice actor was spot on though.

slow-paced and melancholic coming of age

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Difficult to understand the point of writing this. A brilliant author (The Remains if the Day is superb!) but this left me sad and confused as to the reasons for it. But beautifully narrated.

Difficult but interesting

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