Never Let Me Go (2005)

An interesting book that ultimately failed for me. The basic premise (and this is a spoiler of sorts, since the book reveals its premise very slowly) is that humans are cloned and raised to be organ donors. This practice has resulted in the elimination of cancer, heart disease, etc. The story is narrated by one of the clones and focuses on her and two close friends. Since this is an Ishiguro novel, everything is revealed slowly through a limited narration. One of the problems I had with the book is that ultimately I was not convinced by the alternative universe, especially the fact that the cloned humans were allowed out in public, walking around. I never was convinced that this would not lead to widespread questioning of the practice, or to the clones asserting their own will to survive. There's a clunky scene near the end of the book that addresses some of these questions, but it wasn't enough. I will admit that once I hit the halfway mark I got invested in the narrative, and I will admit that the book worked emotionally in some scenes as well. It was sad, but I needed to know more about why the clones were so willing to give up their lives to serve the greater good.

A movie is being made, starring Keira Knightley and Carey Mulligan.