Mar 19

Mar 19 Klara and the Sun

Author: Kazuo Ishiguro
Publisher: Knopf
Goodreads | The StoryGraph

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Note: Content and trigger warnings are provided for those who need them at the bottom of this page. If you don’t need them and don’t want to risk spoilers, don’t scroll past the full review.

Cover Description

From the best-selling author of Never Let Me Go and The Remains of the Day, a stunning new novel—his first since winning the Nobel Prize in Literature—about the wondrous, mysterious nature of the human heart.

From her place in the store, Klara, an Artificial Friend with outstanding observational qualities, watches carefully the behavior of those who come in to browse, and of those who pass on the street outside. She remains hopeful that a customer will soon choose her, but when the possibility emerges that her circumstances may change forever, Klara is warned not to invest too much in the promises of humans.

In Klara and the Sun, Kazuo Ishiguro looks at our rapidly changing modern world through the eyes of an unforgettable narrator to explore a fundamental question: what does it mean to love?

TL;DR Review

Klara and the Sun is a moving and super-readable novel that asks a lot of questions in engaging, unique ways. It was my first Ishiguro but won’t be my last!

For you if: You like literary sci-fi (or maybe don’t even consider yourself a sci-fi reader).

Full Review

“Rooms within rooms within rooms. Isn’t that how it might be, trying to learn Josie’s heart? No matter how long you wandered through those rooms, wouldn’t there always be others you’d not yet entered?”

I feel like I’m one of the last people to read Klara and the Sun, and even more so one of the last people just reading Kazuo Ishiguro for the first time. But it made for a GREAT book club discussion, and I really liked it.

Klara is an AF, or artificial friend — essentially, a sentient robot whose sole purpose is to be a steadfast, loyal companion to a child. The whole book is told through Klara’s eyes, and we watch her learn more about the world, get purchased (adopted?), and become entwined in her new family’s lives. But Josie, the 14-year-old girl she’s paired with, is sick, and so Klara sets out to try something to save her that the humans haven’t thought of yet, all while the humans have plans of their own involving Klara.

Ishiguro is one of the greats for a reason, so it almost goes without saying that this book is just so incredibly written. Klara’s voice, as our narrator, is singular, but other characters’ voices are also so strong in dialogue that you can’t help but admire his skill.

Technically, I’d say, this novel is a very literary sci-fi — but if you’re not a sci-fi reader, don’t let that stop you. In fact, my book club had a lively discussion about what genre this best fits into. But you’ll find it among other literary fiction at the bookstore, so let that speak for itself. That said, if you’re more of a sci-fi reader, don’t go into this expecting a hero’s journey — this book asks more questions than it answers. In fact, you can tell that’s fully the point. This can either be frustrating or engaging, depending on what you like. I liked it a lot myself.

I’ll definitely be reading more of Ishiguro!