Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
Published by Faber & Faber, 2021
Rating: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Being Ishiguro’s first release since he won the Nobel Prize for Literature, this was always going to generate a lot of buzz, drawing in casual readers and hardened critics alike. Thankfully, Klara and the Sun is more than capable of pleasing this broad readership spectrum: It has great commercial appeal thanks to its pertinent themes and readability, while Ishiguro’s signature insight into the human condition and subtle emotional delivery heighten the experience.
The blurb actually gives very little away in terms of plot and theme, covering only the book’s opening pages. This was clearly deliberate, and so I too will avoid detail beyond the fact that the story opens with the eponymous Klara, an Artificial Friend (a highly sophisticated humanoid machine designed to serve as a companion to a child), as she observes people from the store, waiting to be purchased.
The capabilities of Artificial Friends are never up for debate; society has clearly reached the point at which AI has gained full sentience, meaning these machines now exhibit independent thought, emotion, and learning. This makes Klara a fascinating POV character, as she possesses the kind of wide-eyed innocence and desire to please you’d expect from a child, with the intelligence and eloquence of an adult, and all without the level of cold detachment you’d normally expect from a “robot” narrator.
Presenting us with the story through Klara’s eyes was very clever on Ishiguro’s part, for a number of reasons. The world-building is eked out slowly throughout the novel, the characters often skirting around contextual details that would reveal more about how their society operates, and the true depth of what is going on narratively. This kind of understated yet drawn-out mystery would have felt forced and frustrating if told in third person, or from a human character’s perspective, but Klara’s unique position means Ishiguro can get away with it. After all, why would humans feel the need to contextualise their lives for the benefit of a machine? Why would Klara prioritise the same information as us when her entire worldview is different from ours? By having us learn about this world at the same pace as Klara, Ishiguro is able to maintain an undercurrent of intrigue, delivering quietly devastating revelations along the way, as more and more pieces fall into place.
This leads nicely onto the prose itself, which is simple yet effective. There’s a charm and a formality to the tone, but a complete avoidance of flowery language, all of which are befitting of Klara’s characterisation. In that respect, it’s not a “beautifully” written book, but there is undeniable skill in the control Ishiguro has over his plotting, characters, and pacing.
It’s hard to talk about further specifics without dipping into spoiler territory, and the book’s marketing was clearly designed so that readers can go in knowing as little as possible (not unlike Ishiguro’s hit, Never Let Me Go). Suffice to say, this is a nuanced exploration of science-fiction’s greatest questions: What does it mean to be human? What does it mean to love? Where should we draw the moral and ethical lines when it comes to scientific progress? In a capitalist society, will advancements in technology improve equality or simply fuel further class division due to discrepancies in access and social standing?
My only real reservation was the handling of the denouement, which I found a little too brief. While I admire Ishiguro’s commitment to subtlety, the full implications of the book’s final turns felt somewhat untapped. Having laid the groundwork so cleverly, I think he’d more than earned the kind of emotional sucker punch he ultimately shied away from.
That said, Ishiguro gets to the very heart of humanity with a deft hand; exposing our best and worst traits, while paying tribute to the persistence of hope, and faith in the wonder of the natural world. I was compelled throughout, only realising the true extent of the book’s power upon reaching its final pages. I’m intrigued to see how this one stays with me over time.
Amazing review, you do have a way with words! And I appreciate reviews, which don’t reveal anything about the plot, after having read a massive spoiler in one of the UK newspapers. Grrrr. Even if we had a somewhat different experience of this book, I mostly agree with your points. I have seen people criticising the language, but it was strangely suitable to Klara’s character. I did wonder about the “feelings” of Klara, though. As a reader, I think we project our own feelings on her and feel sad for her or happy for her. But from the text itself, this point isn’t entirely clear.
Thank you very much! 🙂 That’s so frustrating; I’m really glad I managed to go into this one spoiler free, I think it really heightened the reading experience.
Great point. I think we definitely project our own perspective onto Klara’s worldview, and thus have a greater emotional response to certain situations than she does. It felt to me like she lacked an ability to perceive certain nuances (especially ones that would frame humans in a bad light, interestingly), but that she was definitely capable of “basic” emotion, like contentment, anxiety, etc.
I found this underwhelming, unfortunately. I loved Klara’s voice and perspective but I felt like the book didn’t have much to say, which is so weird for Ishiguro. All the characters other than Klara were so underdeveloped. I did, however, appreciate that Ishiguro seems to have created an AI that genuinely thinks differently from us, rather than going for the old cliche of an AI who is human in everything but name/discriminated against – but I would have liked much more of that and much less of Josie!
The characterisation of the supporting cast didn’t bother me, given the first person perspective. I thought it made sense, given her naivety, that Klara failed to pick up more overtly on certain nuances that were only hinted at. I thought there was particularly interesting subtext on grief and consumerism, but agree that a little more punch would have been welcome. And absolutely, the AI Ishiguro created is definitely one if the more interesting and convincing.
Sounds good Callum – I got a copy this week – once Reading Ireland Month is over I’m getting stuck in!
I look forward to your thoughts on it! 😊
I’m going to read this one next month! I have seen some mixed reviews but I want to make my mind up.
I hope you enjoy it! I’ll keep an eye out for your thoughts 😊
Great review! I fully agree with you about this book. I liked it a lot but, yes, there definitely could have been more of a punch at the end. At the same time, the subtlety throughout was very in line with Ishiguro’s previous work.
Thank you! Absolutely, it felt like very typical Ishiguro which I liked, but I couldn’t help wishing for a little more impact. Still a great read nonetheless!
Hello Callum. I read about half of this book. I didn’t like the atmosphere of it and set it aside. I may go back to it at some time. It was disappointing as I’m a big fan of Ishiguro’s.
I hope you enjoy it if you decide to give it another shot. It certainly seems to be drawing polarised opinions.
I was so bummed that I didn’t snag this as an ARC.
I hope you find it’s worth the wait! It certainly was for me 😊
This book looks amazing! Great review
Thank you! I was pleased it lived up to the hype. I hope you enjoy it too if/when you give it a go.
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