Reviews   Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro     This book is a rarity for several reasons. First of all, it's one of the few that I've been practically unable to put down, and so finished in a day. Secondly, it's a depiction of an English setting so intimate and real that it's almost impossible to believe the author is Japanese. Thirdly and most importantly, it's the only book I've ever read that has produced in me the range and intensity of emotion required to make me want to cry one minute and the next, throw the thing across the room in frustration and anger. For once, I'm actually inclined to agree with the newspaper quote featured on the front cover - Never Let Me Go would be well summed up with the word extraordinary. It begins quite simply - the premise is warm and inviting; narrated by Kathy, a carer in her 30s, the story dwells on her memories of her school days at Hailsham (a school she attended up until the age of 16), and her relationships with her fellow students. As the story begins, you are lulled into the quiet, country surroundings of Hailsham and the day-to-day lives of Kathy and her friends, filled with much the same games, tantrums and worries over schoolwork that you would expect from an idyllic boarding school in the English countryside. But even from the beginning, small things begin to whet away at the corners of your mind, curiosities which develop first into intriguing mysteries then into burning, unsettling issues which you need to get to the bottom of to regain any sort of peace. What are donations? Why are the students at Hailsham so special? It's these issues that begin to draw the story out of the idyllic setting, and gradually you realise that Hailsham is far from the paradise you thought it was at the beginning of the novel. The answers are revealed gradually as Kathy and her friends grow up, leave Hailsham and make their way out into a world which needs them desperately, but will never acknowledge or accept them. As you read, increasingly you're plagued with the need to know why they are different, and when you're finally presented with the truth, it's shocking and horrific enough to make you wish you'd not discovered it in the first place. But by then it's too late - you're drawn into the story so much that the truth matters as much to you as it does Kathy and her friends, even though it cuts deeply. This book is honest, engrossing and deeply moving. Ishiguro chose a topic to write about which is very much in the public domain, but the skill and direction of his writing ensure that you don't realise what you're reading about until you're far too emotionally involved to take a clinical, logical approach to it. A bestseller which deserves all the accolades it has received.   Information and ratings   Publisher: Faber and Faber Price: £7.99 GBP No. of volumes: 1 Information Ishiguro is very well-informed of both the setting he is writing about and the issue. Imagination Wonderful - a creative masterpiece. Excitement/Suspense Lots of it. The book reads like a high form of a mystery novel - almost. Illustration The cover art of the UK version is particularly effective - it matches the novel perfectly in that you don't realise the image's significance at first. Overall Thoughtful, moving, grotesque and horrific, but nevertheless, beautiful and highly intelligent. Who should buy this book? I'd recommend this book to anyone in search of an intelligent, contemporary classic.