Never Let Me Go
Author: Kazuo Ishiguro
Amazon info
This was such a wonderful book that it completely knocked Black Swan Green out of my memory. The story is told from the perspective of Kathy, an English girl, seemingly at some English type boarding school. At first glace it appears to be a well written, but somewhat typical, coming of age story (not unlike Black Swan Green as a matter of fact), but first looks can be deceiving and the story unfolds little by little - never shocking, but always just a little surprising - until we learn, along with the characters, what we have been suspecting for a while. And I found myself to be saddened, although I could have been horrified. But I could have easily imagined a more "Hollywood" style ending, where Kathy leads a rebellion that overthrows the system into which she has been born. However, this ending, much more tragic, seems a better fit for the book.
I recall loving "Remains of the Day" (though I now recall absolutely nothing about it). The one minor annoyance I had with "Never Let Me Go" was some of the transitions seemed repetitive/forced. For example, something along the lines of "and that brings up something else from the past, which I should cover first" and the chapter would end. It felt almost like a tease or a forced digression and the technique was employed a little too frequently to be believable for the character (although I could also argue that it was in keeping with the character and it was the character who was annoying me, not the writer).
Recommended to all.