Reviews - クララとお日さま

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25.5k reviews for:

クララとお日さま

Kazuo Ishiguro

3.75 AVERAGE

eeeeunderwood's review against another edition

5.0

emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

theflashyfool's review against another edition

3.75

emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

rpow14's review against another edition

DID NOT FINISH: 25%

Just like his other book, I could not follow the author’s writing. It was too abstract but also really boring. No thanks!

lackerman620's review against another edition

4.25

emotional inspiring reflective slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

chrisrichman19's review against another edition

2.5

fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Loveable characters: No

lorayne's review against another edition

5.0

dark hopeful mysterious reflective fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This story is not what I expected, and I love the ending.

I don't read a lot of sci-fi, so I can't say whether or not the themes or narrative arc are typical. What I really liked though is the peripheral thread woven throughout the story pointing to a

fascist

dystopian society that is masked by a supposed content and productive citizenry. And what resonated with me more was how the various characters navigated and struggled with building/maintaining relationships, especially Klara, who serves as the narrator.

Klara--

an AI robot designed as part of a generation of life size "AFs" (artificial friends) meant to help prevent loneliness in children

--is chosen to spend time with a family who are seemingly far removed from the dystopian side of their society. The novel focuses on how Klara helps her human in her day-to-day life while also seeking to complete a self-imposed mission, which is not what she was designed to do. Via this mission, it becomes clear that AI can be human themselves while highlighting the actual humans' drive to reject what makes us human, as well as disassociating ourselves from all the natural living creatures. It also begs the question about whether or not religion and faith have true healing powers.

In the end, what sticks with me the most is how much this book feels like a beacon of hope as much as a red flag for the world we are stepping into--one that now has so much AI incorporated into helping us with our daily lives while also surveilling all we do.