From the promotional materials:

In his highly acclaimed novel Never Let Me Go, Kazuo Ishiguro (The Remains of the Day) created a remarkable story of love, loss and hidden truths. In it he posed the fundamental question: What makes us human? Now director Mark Romanek (ONE HOUR PHOTO), writer Alex Garland and DNA Films bring Ishiguro’s hauntingly poignant and emotional story to the screen. Kathy (Oscar® nominee Carey Mulligan, AN EDUCATION), Tommy (Andrew Garfield, BOY A, RED RIDING) and Ruth (Oscar® nominee Keira Knightley, PRIDE & PREJUDICE, ATONEMENT) live in a world and a time that feel familiar to us, but are not quite like anything we know. They spend their childhood at Hailsham, a seemingly idyllic English boarding school. When they leave the shelter of the school and the terrible truth of their fate is revealed to them, they must also confront the deep feelings of love, jealousy and betrayal that threaten to pull them apart.

See also: Book Review: Never Let Me Go

It took a good 100 pages to really feel immersed in the world of the book, which involves a good bit of made up terms (the book includes a 20 page glossary).

I hesitate to recommend it because of its length. It would have been good to have a large block of time to read it, rather than spreading it out over 3 ½ weeks, so perhaps if you’re going on a reading vacation. Or flying from California to the UK.

If you do read it, stick with it until you feel yourself really getting absorbed into the world of the book, then go back and start from the beginning again.

On June 26, the movie version opens, starring Cameron Diaz, Abigail Breslin, Alec Baldwin, and Sofia Vassilieva.  I wonder if they’ve changed the ending?

Which stories will guide us as we make our way through the perilous 21st century with its stunning technologies and burgeoning data about our bodies, minds, and universe? As science holds out to us possibilities previously only imagined, which myths will shape the imaginations of our decision makers? Which narratives will form our religious sensibilities, provide our spiritual values, and craft our view of the supernatural—indeed, of God? Only the true myth at the heart of Christianity is powerful enough to prevent excesses and avert atrocities. How can the church respond?

Read the whole thing

The paperback edition I was reading contains a reader’s club guide, which consists of an author interview and a several pages of questions and topics for discussion. In the interview the author states:

sometimes researchers and political candidates get so bogged down in the ethics behind it and the details of the science that they forget completely we’re talking about humans with feelings and emotions and hopes and fears . . . like Anna and her family. I believe we’re all going to be forced to think about these issues within a few years, so why not first in fiction?

Indeed, My Sister’s Keeper raises a number of bioethical issues – designer babies, parental decision making, children as tissue donors – in a way that, to my eye, reads genuinely. Picoult has done us a great service in writing this novel. I recommend it highly.

As you prepare for the holiday weekend, maybe you’re looking for something to read while laying on the beach. Cast of Shadows is a debut novel (thriller) that gives a vivid picture of what the world might be like if cloning to produce children becomes as widely accepted and practiced as in vitro fertilization (IVF) has become. Christina Bieber Lake, associate professor of English at Wheaton College, reviewed the book for The Center for Bioethics & Human Dignity in 2005.

Happy reading! (And stay warm)