Never Let Me Go

This is an amazing story that keeps you gripped and then completely shatters your emotions at the end but all the while its makes you think a lot about life and the reality of things and has a really strong impact.

Ishiguro is a Japanese-born, British writer whose books are generally never light hearted or particularly upbeat but he renders the characters meticulously well and captures the atmosphere for the stories fantastically. I read this book last year, in relation to the Alzheimer's D&AD brief because it's based around consciousness and existence and subjective experience. The theme is similar to that of 'The Island' in the way that the children in the school are clones, anaware of the reality of their environment - they exist in a controlled place as 'donors' and so their lives are lived with that purpose and only rumours suggest what happens beyond completing their donation. The story raises social issues and tests human emotions by unfolding these unsettling mysteries throughout.