Wow. I honestly don't know what to say. I just finished this book not 2 minutes ago. And I am just blown away. The book is powerful, incredibly so. The story is, at times, heartwarming, but through it all is the undercurrent of devastation. I don't even know how to describe how it made me feel. So many emotions.
There are many "mysteries" throughout this book. Ishiguro leaves you speculating from the very first page, by using terms that don't get defined until much later in the book. And once you feel as though you've figured one out, there's another piece that doesn't quite fit. Without giving away some of the mysteries, I'll say that this book gives you many things to think about. It leaves you questioning whether advances in society are worth it or not.
One thing I found odd was that the characters were not really developed. And the strange thing about that is it somehow isn't a criticism of this book. It worked with the story. I'm not sure how Ishiguro managed to do that. The story is also completely fragmented. Narrated from the memory of Kathy H., it is almost as if you are having a conversation with Kathy. She will start talking about one portion of her life, which reminds her of another time 5 years earlier. And even with all this jumping around, it is still very easy to follow. In fact, I often forgot she had switched gears so completely. I think that's the mark of a great writer. Again, I'm not sure how he pulled that off. But it really worked with the plot.
I would definitely recommend this book. But it is not a light read at all. The message of this book will haunt me for awhile.
There were 288 pages.
Sounds really good, but the fact that it might haunt me kind of scares me. I will definitely have to check this out. Hopefully the library has it. Maybe I will have to pick it for book club.
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