I love how Ishiguro takes a major sci-fi trope to frame the plot of the book around, but at the same time has no interest in making the book science fiction.
What would you call this genre? Literary Speculative Fiction? Something with sci-fi/fantasy elements, but you wouldn’t categorize the book as being in the sci-fi/fantasy genre. Basically, looking for a beautifully written book with a sci-fi/fantasy twist.
by phoh32
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You could try The Centre by Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi, where there is “a mysterious language school which boasts complete fluency in just ten days”.
His book Klara and the Sun is very much worth reading
All of his books are one of a kind. He’s incredible.
Off the top of my head, I think *The Memory Police* by Yoko Ogawa kind of fits that. It’s a bit more directly sci-fi/dystopia in its conceit than *Never Let Me Go,* but it’s not a typical genre book; really haunting and beautiful, a bit mysterious, centered on the human experience rather than world-building, tech, politics, etc. I can’t say it’s very similar to *Never Let Me Go,* but I think the same sort of person in the same sort of mood would like both.
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin is very character driven with a subtle SciFi plot.
Literary scifi is the genre but you want to find things light on the sci-fi. Unfortunately, a lot of times this is tricky since (like with Never Let Me Go), revealing the scifi element is considered a spoiler.
Klara and the Sun was written as a follow-up to Never Let Me Go so I’d definitely read it if you haven’t already.
I’d also recommend the following:
– Flowers for Algernon (similarly melancholic and the scifi element seems very down to earth and plausible)
– Maybe some Ursula le Guin and/or Octavia Butler? Both a bit heavier on the sci-fi but both grounded and realistic all the same.
– Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
– similar vein as Cloud Atlas: Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel
– Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay (put this at the end because it almost doesn’t count. This one’s scifi element is so well-hidden, it’s technically not in the book at all but was confirmed to be canon by the author after it was published. I still highly recommend it to fans of Ishiguro.)
Try I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Hartman.