A book review from The Movie Snob.

Never Let Me Go, by Kazuo Ishiguro (2005). This new novel by the author of The Remains of the Day has gotten a lot of critical attention and acclaim, so I picked it up. I thought it was absolutely terrific, one of the most moving novels I have ever read. It has a bit of a science-fictionish sort of aspect to it, but I hope that won't deprive the book of the wide audience it deserves. It is, as they say, unputdownable, and I finished it in two days.

The story is a first-person narrative by 31-year-old Kathy H., supposedly set in "England, late 1990s." The first part of the book consists of her reminiscences about Hailsham, an exclusive boarding school somewhere out in rural England, which is where Kathy grew up and met her two best friends, Ruth and Tommy. The rest of the book is basically the story of their triangular relationship. Although Hailsham was idyllic in its own way, it is apparent from the opening lines that the England that is home to Kathy and her friends is not the real England, and there is something vaguely creepy and menacing about Hailsham and its "guardians." The secret is revealed before too long, and you'll probably figure it out even before then, but I won't reveal it here. I will say only that the book is a beautiful meditation on love and friendship, and that you owe it to yourself to give it a try.