"From the Booker Prize-winning author of The Remains of the Day comes a devastating new novel of innocence, knowledge, and loss. As children Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy were students at Hailsham, an exclusive boarding school secluded in the English countryside. It was a place of mercurial cliques and mysterious rules where teachers were constantly reminding their charges of how special they were.

Now, years later, Kathy is a young woman. Ruth and Tommy have reentered her life. And for the first time she is beginning to look back at their shared past and understand just what it is that makes them special–and how that gift will shape the rest of their time together. Suspenseful, moving, beautifully atmospheric, Never Let Me Go is another classic by the author of The Remains of the Day."

Snagged this copy at a library sale because I know it's been popular & on lots of wishlists. I read it a while back via a bookring. You can see my review HERE.

Sending off to cinnycat, as she chose this as a winner from my RABCK drawing. Enjoy! :')

thanks so much for this RABCK, indygo88! I'm planning on making it into a book ray after I read it, since I know it is the most wishlisted book on BC. I will write another journal entry soon.

hmm, I don't see the magic that others see with this book. It had a very matter-of-fact writing style, perhaps to show that Kathy was still very innocent. I felt like I was reading something a fifth grader wrote. In order to feel more of a connection to the characters, I think Ishiguro could have explained things a lot more... the purpose of the "students", etc. You'd see what I mean if you read it. I think there were a lot of trivial details, but at the same time a lot of essential details were missing. It was just very strange to me. Maybe I'm just not smart enough to understand what I should be getting out of this. It took me a long time to read for a 288 page book.

I wanted to bookray this before I read this, but now I'm not so sure. Should I bookray a book I didn't really like even though a ton of other people love it and there are a ton of Bookcrossers that would like to read it? I think I'll go post in the forums.

Well, after posting in the forums, Bookcrossers said I should bookray it! So it is bookray time!

Rules:
+ US only for now.
+ Please journal when you get the book, what you thought of the book, and when you send the book to the next person.
+ Usual bookray rules apply. Please don't keep the book for a long time. I know that life (and other books) sometimes get in the way but I think a reasonable time frame would be a month or month and a half tops, but use your own judgement! This isn't strict I just don't want someone holding onto the book for years. :D

Shipping order:
angeeaustin - Texas
ciloma - Idaho
missprisy - Oklahoma
Ilios - Florida
mrsboknows - South Carolina
cyber-librarian - North Carolina
tabby90 - North Carolina
algoan - Indiana
esq228 - New Jersey
neuilly - New York
danadoodle - New York
scootergirl1974 - New Hampshire (moved to the end - slow to get a response and was skipped, but replied back later saying still interested)
jsara

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

FINALLY sent to angeeaustin today to start this bookray! Sorry it took so long.

I received this in the mail today! Yip! I will read and send it on. I am going to try and read it before I leave for vacation on Thursday- though it is doubtful I will finish it.

I plan to spend most of my vacation on the beach, soaking up the sun, and catching up on my reading, so if I don't finish it before leaving, I will send it back on its way when I return next Tuesday (03/10). I already have ciloma's address, so I should be able to ship it as soon as I finish.

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

I am on the fence about how I feel about this book. Sometimes, while I was reading it, my mind would drift off, and I would realize I had read a full page, without "really" reading the page. At this point, I would usually put the book down, because I figured if I wasn't giving it my full attention- I should be doing something else. Of course, as soon as I put it down, I wondered what the characters were doing, and I had to pick it back up again. I am not a sci-fi reader, and I had no idea that there was any type of sci-fi edge to the book- you would never know it by reading the back cover. It is not too sci-fi that it will throw off a non-sci-fi-reader like myself. I liked the way Ishiguro did not come straight out and give some things away. He hints to them, and you think you know for sure what is going on, but there is always that little edge of excitment, because "what if you're wrong?" Maybe I am just a knucklehead, but I liked that. I don't think that the blurb on the back cover does any real justice to the book. There is so much that could have been written- after reading the book, I am confused as to why that was the blurb chosen.

Thanks for including me in your bookray! I am sending this out to ciloma in the morning!
Happy Reading!

This one arrived in the mail today. Thanx for sharing your book and sorry that I messed up the recyclable envelope. This makes two of them that did not survive. When I opened it the whole velcro thing came off instead of sticking to the envelope. Must be the freezing temperatures...I will try to revive it and send it on - no promises, though! (I think I will try to sew it on. Hopefully my tired old machine can punch through the stuff.)

This tale is science fiction (for now...) and I surely did not expect that!! It was well written (An expectation of Ishiguro - of course) and I loved how the 'important' details were given in teeny-tiny pieces. I enjoyed the writing style and the story compelled (or is it impelled?) me to continue reading. I'm not sure how to take the ending and now that I have considered it - I have decided that it is up to me to decide just where it is Kathy ended up.

I have PM'd the next reader for mailing info and am waiting a response.

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

On its way to missprisy.

Arrived over the weekend while I was out of town. I will start this one soon.

Thanks for sharing. This is a book I probably would not have picked up if it hadn't been for bookcrossing. I alreay have Ilios's mailing address and will get this in the mail this week.

Mailed 5/15/09 Release #2 for 2009 Keep Them Moving Challenge.

just received this book and I can't wait to start. I've never read anything by this author but heard marvelous things, so I am very eager to jump into this book. I will update this entry as soon as I am done.

Thanks for sharing!


UPDATE 6/22/09
I just finished reading this book earlier today and I am still "digesting" the story and the ending. I will write more later on. In the meantime, I already contacted mrsboknows to get an address and keep this book moving.

LAST UPDATE
First of all, sorry for the delay in sending this book out. I had "one of those months" at work and the book was in a tote in my car, patiently waiting to be taken to the post office to no avail. I am glad it got to the next bookcrosser safely. Thanks to cynnicat for checking on it!

I had heard great things about this author and I had high expectations for this book. Unfortunately, I was underwhelmed and it didn't touch me as much as I had hoped. The author's style is very subdued and discreet, almost as if he was trying to deliver his story without leaving imprints. He lets his narrator, Kathy, peel the story layer by layer, until we discover the astonishing truth behind the lives of the 3 main characters.

Although the topic is intriguing and the prose is beautiful, I couldn't buy into the passivity of the characters when confronted with their fates. Just like someone else mentioned before, I couldn't help thinking "why don't they run away?".

Anyway, maybe this book wasn't the best introduction to this author, so I'll try something else before forming a definite opinion.

Arrived today. I will start reading immediately.

Just an update on my progress with the book. . .

I hate to keep books for longer than 3 weeks, just hate it. I apologize for keeping it so long. I am a teacher and have had a rough (in a good way) start to the new school year. It's kept me busier than it usually does and is tiring me out more quickly. The good news is it's Labor Day weekend and I have nothing to do but read! If all goes well, this book will be moving again within the week. :)

What an odd story. I can't say I didn't like it but it isn't one of my favorites; and I don't think I'll recommend it to anyone. The whole time I was reading I found myself shaking my head and wondering what the heck this was really about. Like cinnycat, maybe I'm just not smart enough to get the true meaning of this book.

I appreciate the opportunity to read. I'll have it moving this week.

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Off to cyber librarian in NC. My apologies again for keeping the book so long.

I received this book in the mail yesterday from mrsboknows in SC ... as part of a bookray. I've already started reading it and enjoying it.

c. 2005 -- 288 pages -- Trade Paperback -- Women -- England -- Cloning -- Organ donors -- Donation of organs, tissues, etc. -- #96 on BookCrossing 2006 Favorites list

I just finished reading this book and have PMed tabby90 for her address. The ending was sad but not enough to shed a tear at all. I enjoyed the book. I liked the way the story was revealed little by little. At the beginning I kept wondering what it was about, but knew it would be good and had to keep reading. Maybe because I married a Scientist, the subject of cloning is one to ponder (not that I'm in favor of it my any means, just its possibilities). When I told DH and DD a little about it, they thought of the movie "The Island" ... which does show a couple of the clones trying to escape ... as some have mentioned earlier the urge to have the characters run away. But it is interesting to see it played out to completion. *no pun intended* (sick joke, sorry) I do think it will make a good movie, which will come out next year. I especially enjoyed all the unveiling at Madame's house at the end ... to really get to the true meaning and purpose of the story. Who was right ... Miss Emily or Miss Lucy ... or were they both wrong???? Tough questions to answer. For every action (by the guardians) there is a reaction (by the students). You can't have one without the other. You can't have a soul, without having feelings and emotions. Thank you for letting me participate in this bookray. I appreciate the opportunity to have read this.

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

I'm mailing this book today to tabby90 in NC ... as part of this bookray.
DC# 0306-1070-0000-8356-1303

Got in the mail, thanks!

I really liked this book mainly because I felt Ishiguro did a fantastic job handling the voice of an adolescent. Granted the tone of the narrator stayed constant (and rather immature) throughout the novel, but the internal dialogue and the way that younger people can overanalyze every interaction was displayed by Kathy in a much more honest way than I have seen by other authors. I really empathized with her and the sense of dispair, reluctant acceptance and matter-of-fact way with which the characters dealt with their donations seemed honest. I've seen other comments wondering why they didn't run away. But their entire lives these donations were seen as an inevitable part of their existence and the explanation of how they were told about their future before they were too young to understand and rebel was perfect. I'm sure there are things in our lives that we do not because they are a good idea but because we have a feeling that it's just the way life goes. We accept illogical things because they've always been that way. All in all, beautiful writing.
PMing algoan for an address. algoan asked to be skipped, PMing esq228

Received today -- with perfect timing as there are NO other bookrays in front of it so I'll be starting on it right away! Thanks for sharing.

Just finished today & will be PMing scootergirl1974 in a moment.

I'm not sure what to think of this book. On one hand -- at some points I couldn't put it down because I needed to know what was going on. On the other hand -- it seems as though the story should have been more emotional. TIME said the book was "a heartbreaker" but I didn't get that. True, what happens to these poor kids is insidious, and that sort of ominous feeling is present from the beginning, and it is awful to think about, but being a crier, I would have though I'd have shed at least one tear along the way, which I didn't. That said, I would recommend this book. Even though I can't really explain why.

Thanks for sharing. Will get this out as soon as I have an address.

11/30/09 UPDATE: still no response from the next reader despite multiple PMs. Will give them another 5 days or so and then will move on to the next person in line.

12/8/09 UPDATE: still no response from the next reader. Will skip on to the one after that.

12/27/09 UPDATE: no response from the second-in-line reader (neuilly). Will try once more and then will move on to the last reader on the list.

I received this book in the mail today! I will try and get to it ASAP. Thank you so much for including me in the ring!

I'm still digesting, and not sure what I'm going to rate this yet...but hopefully I will have a better idea of my feelings when I finish this "review".

**SOME SPOILERS AHEAD - BEST READ AFTER READING THE BOOK**

The book is definitely supremely depressing, and I was starting to get rather claustrophobic near the end, but I just had to keep reading. There's a real sense of inevitability. I know a lot of people question why the characters are in a way so passive, but can you really expect more. It makes us think about where we get our independent rebellious spirit from. We are raised being told that our independence is one of our greatest attributes, we study independent thinkers and rebels in school - but none of this applies to this group. They are taught to be creative, but not rebellious. They have dreams, but are never taught to really act on them. In fact, it takes nearly the entire book for any of them to take one step into trying to change or at least delay their path. And then what would they do? They don't have the same education or skill sets to survive in the world - they don't even have identities! Beyond the science issues, the book definitely made me reflect on the true "nature" of people. Are people really what we think or do we grow up that way because it's what our society seems to value?

**END OF SPOILERS**

I think Ishiguro's writing shines in this book as I in so many ways went through the same things as the main characters- at least at the start. They're never really told (well up until almost page 100), why they are so "special" but they start to piece things together on their own. Like them, I pretty much knew what was going on before I was told, and it didn't feel so much like a revelation as a ominous confirmation of my thoughts. Everything felt a bit distant, even the characters have trouble (for obvious reasons) with creating permanent attachments...and so I still felt rather distant from them, although still moved (though not to tears). I did rather completely dislike one of the characters which didn't help too much...kept wanting to smack her over the head.

A thoughtful and haunting book...not one of my favorites, and I wouldn't go so far as to call it brilliant, but it's definitely made me reflect a lot on life in general.

2.05.10 - Trying danadoodle for a second time, if I get no response after a few days then I will move on to the last person on the list.

I didn't really like the way the book was written at some points I felt that had go read the pages a couple of times to actually read the page. The end part of the book is what got you thinking should you really clone actual humans for parts go heal sick people and if you believe in that how should they be treated?

Thanks for sharing. This was a very unusual story. Like others mentioned, I was not expecting it to be science fiction.
I'm last on the list, so I will try to find a good home for it (another bookray? RABCK?).

left on the "ladies" swap table, lower level
enjoy!