Kazuo Ishiguro’s literary speculative fiction books are beautiful and powerful explorations of the human condition, and Klara and the Sun is no exception
First published on Goodreads Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
The older I get—and with the amounts of stories I consume (admittedly mostly audiobooks)—the fewer stories linger in my mind, but Klara and the Sun remains very present in my thoughts. Kazuo Ishiguro is a master of the arts. His literary speculative fiction books are beautiful and powerful explorations of the human condition, and Klara and the Sun is no exception.
“Mr Capaldi believed there was nothing special inside Josie that couldn’t be continued. He told the Mother he’d searched and searched and found nothing like that. But I believe now he was searching in the wrong place. There was something very special, but it wasn’t inside Josie. It was inside those who loved her.”
― Kazuo Ishiguro, Klara and the Sun
There are two main themes—one explores our relationships with artificial, humanoid playmates, the other the ethics and dire consequences of ‘uplifting’ children to meet the demands of a society focused on career and progress. The two themes are interwoven in the storylines of Klara, Josie and Josie’s mother.
We meet Klara (the first-person narrator) in a display window of a shop selling artificial friends (AFs). Klara is exceptionally perceptive and observes her environment with curiosity, interpreting what she sees in insightful comments within her limited dataset. Klara is charged by the Sun and assigns the (to her) mythological figure the persona a god-like benefactor. Klara’s model is soon to be outdated and the shop owner is keen to sell her soon.
Josie’s mother eventually buys Klara after Josie sees Klara and decides Klara is the only AF for her. We learn more about Josie’s mysterious illness and her relationship to her mother through Klara’s eyes. Josie’s mother has clearly other plans for Klara, plans that are opposed by her estranged ex-husband and the housekeeper.
The story unfolds, adding side plots that support the main themes, and the end saw me sobbing into my pillow. What else can you demand from any book?
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