Susan (SG) - , reviewed on 5/26/2009 + 25 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 3

I've been an Ishiguro fan ever since The Remains of the Day - he writes beautifully, and is a master of subtle characterization. He's able to reveal his characters' inner lives, even when they don't even seem to understand themselves very well. This book did not disappoint, it is that rare combination of gorgeous writing, interesting characters, and suspense -- enough to be a real page-turner. In fact, I ended up staying up all night to finish it!

As others have said, I don't want to give anything away about the plot, as the details of this alternate universe are unwound slowly throughout the book. About a third of the way in, you're given enough of a quick jolt of information to guess at what might be coming. But the book is less about a "surprise ending," and much more about exploring how the decisions of the larger world have impacted the characters. It is essentially a coming-of-age story about the main character (who is the narrator) and her two friends, and their lives at a boarding school in the English countryside. Because we only know what the narrator knows for most of the book, as readers we're left to pick up clues about why their community seems so isolated and circumscribed. I had a terrible feeling of foreboding the entire time I was reading it, which is part of what drives the suspense and makes it such a page-turner.

I think folks are right when they compare this book to The Handmaid's Tale, there are many similarities. It's not really a standard scifi or mystery novel per se, although it has elements of both. Instead, it connects you to its characters and the world as they experience it. Because it is not a world they fully understand, as the reader you're left trying to fill in the gaps, until you find out "the truth" at the end. This is a haunting and thought-provoking book, and I'm still thinking about it days later. Immediately after I finished reading it, I went right back to the beginning to re-read some of the early sections to see how they fit in to "the truth." I did feel a little frustrated that Ishiguro opens a Pandora's box without giving us a little more insight into the dystopian world he's created - even the revelations at the end feel a bit unsatisfying, and I wondered why some of the characters didn't react more strongly to their situation. I would guess this is a source of dissatisfaction for some readers who are looking for a more scifi-type read (and as a scifi reader, myself, I can see where they're coming from). But this novel is much more about getting you to care about and understand the characters, than describing the world they live in. Overall, this is a mesmerizing and highly-recommended novel.

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