Klara and The Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
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Web ID: 15413872Haunting
One of my favorite books in years. Almost 2 years later, it's stayed with me.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
an unusual and skillfully written novel
This is an unusual and skillfully written novel, which starts off as if you are joining a conversation mid-way. There is a fully realized world that is both recognizable and slightly off, relatable and alien. Nature, humanity and technology coexist in an uneasy state and parents make life-changing decisions to give their children any advantage in society. This is a world in which people struggle to find, cultivate and maintain connection with each other. The story is told in the first person by Klara, an Artificial Friend intended to be a robot companion for children. Her voice is clear as she observes everything around her and attempts to put each insight into context with her given purpose. Because the author does not share all the details of this world directly with the reader, we observe it and learn about it just as Klara does. By the end of the book, we can infer many things about this slightly futuristic world but there are also things which are left unexplained—they just are, whether or not we understand them. Some readers will likely be put off by not having full insight into the world of the story, but others may find the sensation of exploring a new landscape to be an intriguing bonus to the story. Klara’s growing relationship with her child, Josie, brings her purpose into focus as she tries to understand the mysteries of the human heart and human interactions and use that knowledge to help and protect Josie. Klara’s observations lead her to actions that are surprising and profoundly human in their intention, and the feeling of hope remains as a guiding light for Klara and all the humans in her sphere, much as the light from the Sun of the title plays a prominent role in the novel. Readers who like the premise of this novel will find themselves thinking about it for a long time afterwards.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Loyal and perceptive Klara
In a future when parents choose gene editing to give their kids as much advantage in society as they can get, knowing that the educational system favors “the lifted”, children from well to do families also are gifted AFs (artificial friends), who helped them navigate life and its demands. It is one of those AFs, a B2 second generation AI named Klara, the protagonist of this story. Readers first know Klara at the AF store, where she has been given the privilege of representing her species at the front window. It is there where she meets fourteen-year-old Josie, a sick girl who becomes besotted with Klara, and who promises that, once she buys her, to never part from her. Along with Josie, Klara witnesses some remarkable events from the store window that will inform her worldview and decisions regarding the people who share her life in her new role, especially Josie. Klara is the narrator, an artificial friend with an endearing personality and a sweet voice, who is intelligent, perceptive, and loyal to a greater extent than the real people that populate this narrative. While the actual people seem complex and often have ulterior motives, Klara comes off as innocent and trustworthy. It is significant that Klara is more endearing and genuine than the rest of the cast, because the reader sees the world and the people in it through her eyes. Her experiences as an AI (she has a solar battery), and the events she witnesses at the front store window, inform her view of the world. For example, while the reader may not like Josie that much, Klara’s devotion to saving her friend (from an undisclosed but terminal illness) reaches its zenith when she strikes a bargain with the Sun in exchange for his “nourishment”, which can be interpreted as a prayer— Klara‘s belief in a higher power, a power she knows works miracles— showing a level of consciousness and sophistication that one would not commonly attribute to an artificial intelligence. Even the adults in the story give Klara some leeway, aiding her in her plans despite them not being fully realized or explained. Overall, Klara is one of the most memorable characters I’ve encountered in my reading this year. She is intelligent, loyal to a fault, and just plain adorable. I can see why this novel has garnered such attention and recognition; well deserved, I say.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Emotional Punch
Ishiguru has done it again--taken a science fiction trope and turned it into a compelling emotional drama. As with his masterpiece, "Never Let Me Go," the theme here is the power of love to overcome obstacles. This time the results are more hopeful, but the novel has a similar urgent poignancy and impact. Ishiguro seems to have an ability to strike directly at the reader's emotions and he uses it here to brilliant effect. In the process, the novel explores themes of free will, dedication, personhood, and class schism. Don't miss this offering from one of our best contemporary writers.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Klara and the Sun
Klara and the Sun represents a sort of mirror-novel to Ishiguro's masterpiece Never Let Me Go, and in doing so gives us the perfect book for the 2020s. What is it to be alive? Whether by nature, god or man - are we all not "living beings"? As a person with mental health issues books like Klara and the Sun are a balm, a salve to help me get through my own days. To understand what or if there is a bigger purpose; if we are all made to be equal. Klara represents to me an answer to my questions about "identity", and if we are individual or a collective presence? Kazuo Ishiguro's wonderful novels; from The Remains of the Day to The Buried Giant all look at memory, at the past and how much is distorted. Klara and the Sun and Never Let Me Go build a stronger foundation on those themes because we are allowed to feel and think and remember while reading a tale told from "other" perspectives. In his elegant, sparse prose Ishiguro proves he has more than earned his Nobel Prize for Literature, and Klara and the Sun sit alongside his other magical fables. I would also think Klara could be a tale read to or by older children; a fairy tale that opens up conversations and dialogue about "identity". An absolute treasure of a novel.
Customer review from barnesandnoble.com