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scellis's review against another edition
3.0
Ishiguro has skill in crafting a compelling narrative in the mundane. But that is all this book was, mundane. The ‘magic realism’ that underpins Ishiguro’s writing lacked greatly and the books end point became clear in the first section. The redemption of this book lies in his characters. Not a bad read. But not a book I would recommend to a friend.
jc560's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
stellaaa1102's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
edwardmoney's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
haileypassmoree's review against another edition
4.0
i can say that i wanted to know what would happen next the entire time and not at one point was i bored or uninterested in the story. can i explain to you what the premise was? not in the slightest, however.
daja57's review against another edition
5.0
I read this many years ago. At the time, the revelations burst upon me one by one and, having wept near the ending, I considered this a hugely powerful piece of fiction which was nominated for the 2005 Booker Prize, and, almost alone, justifies Ishiguro's 2017 Nobel Prize for Literature.
Now, re-reading it, I'm not so sure. Knowing the plot from the start, it had less power to surprise me. But what I can appreciate is his development of character. There are three main characters who grow up together in a sort of boarding-school. Kath, the narrator, is extraordinarily perceptive about the emotions and motivations of the people she observes. Tommy is a lonely little boy: he's often bullied and he has tantrums. Ruth's powerful imagination, her determination, and her sometimes bitchy behaviour make her a natural leader. Together with the other members of their peer group, they go through all the pangs of growing up, the shifts of loyalty, the squabbles and the reconciliations.
It's hugely normal and everyday and this creates huge verisimilitude so that the reader starts becoming aware of what makes these kids different at the same time as they do. Ishiguro adds the oddness in and raises the temperature in tiny increments, so that it becomes natural to talk of donations and carers, of possibles and completion and Madame's Gallery even before you really know what they mean, which is just the way a child would learn.
By the time you realise why these children will never have the opportunities taken for granted in the world at large, you are fully invested in them. You follow the roller coaster, the ups of hope and the downs of despair.
The plot is, of course, important. But it is the skill with which Ishiguro has shown the reader the world through the eyes of Kath, so that the reader empathises and becomes one with Kath, that makes him worthy of the Nobel. He does the same thing in Klara and the Sun, a later book narrated by an android.
Towards the end there is a long intense speech which sets out the moral options and explains why the dystopian future world the Ishiguro has created is as it is.
And then, again, I wept. Because, in the end, the insoluble problem faced by each of these children, is the one faced by all of us: what's the point in art or anything, or love, when in the end we will die and we will be forgotten.
Now, re-reading it, I'm not so sure. Knowing the plot from the start, it had less power to surprise me. But what I can appreciate is his development of character. There are three main characters who grow up together in a sort of boarding-school. Kath, the narrator, is extraordinarily perceptive about the emotions and motivations of the people she observes. Tommy is a lonely little boy: he's often bullied and he has tantrums. Ruth's powerful imagination, her determination, and her sometimes bitchy behaviour make her a natural leader. Together with the other members of their peer group, they go through all the pangs of growing up, the shifts of loyalty, the squabbles and the reconciliations.
It's hugely normal and everyday and this creates huge verisimilitude so that the reader starts becoming aware of what makes these kids different at the same time as they do. Ishiguro adds the oddness in and raises the temperature in tiny increments, so that it becomes natural to talk of donations and carers, of possibles and completion and Madame's Gallery even before you really know what they mean, which is just the way a child would learn.
By the time you realise why these children will never have the opportunities taken for granted in the world at large, you are fully invested in them. You follow the roller coaster, the ups of hope and the downs of despair.
The plot is, of course, important. But it is the skill with which Ishiguro has shown the reader the world through the eyes of Kath, so that the reader empathises and becomes one with Kath, that makes him worthy of the Nobel. He does the same thing in Klara and the Sun, a later book narrated by an android.
Towards the end there is a long intense speech which sets out the moral options and explains why the dystopian future world the Ishiguro has created is as it is.
And then, again, I wept. Because, in the end, the insoluble problem faced by each of these children, is the one faced by all of us: what's the point in art or anything, or love, when in the end we will die and we will be forgotten.
tregina's review against another edition
4.0
I'm really quite in awe of how deftly this story unfolds, and how perfectly the entire novel is paced. I'm not sure I loved it, quite, but I'm certainly not going to forget it.