Scan barcode
A review by book_concierge
Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
4.0
Audio performed by Sura Siu
4.5****
What does it mean to love? Can science duplicate that essentially human quality in an artificial intelligence being? Do we want scientists to even try?
Klara, the narrator of this extraordinary work, is an artificial friend (AF). She sits in the shop with other AFs watching the world go by the shop window, listening to the Manager about how to act / react among prospective buyers. She is a keen observer and learns her lessons well. And even though she is not of the latest generation of Afs it is Klara that one young girl, Josie, wants.
But there are things in Josie’s household that don’t compute. The Housekeeper seems extra watchful when The Mother is away at work. Josie is frail but has a special friend nearby, Rick. Klara gets drawn into Josie and Rick’s “plan” for their future, while also is learning that the plans of adults may not coincide. For all her intelligence and perceptiveness, Klara cannot quite understand emotion and she certainly doesn’t have feelings of her own. Her interpretations of what she observes are sometimes quite naïve, and I was reminded of comments my niece made when she was four or five years old.
This is a dystopian world, and there is significant pollution and there are hints of potential civil war. There are distinct differences between the haves and the have nots. Wealthier parents have the option to “lift” their children (via genetic engineering) to improve their intelligence and academic performance. And AFs are not always treated kindly.
I hope there will be a movie … I can just see the crane shot of that final scene.
Sura Siu does a marvelous job of voicing the audiobook. She really made Klara a believable AF, giving her an innocence to go with her intelligence. 5***** for the audio performance.
4.5****
What does it mean to love? Can science duplicate that essentially human quality in an artificial intelligence being? Do we want scientists to even try?
Klara, the narrator of this extraordinary work, is an artificial friend (AF). She sits in the shop with other AFs watching the world go by the shop window, listening to the Manager about how to act / react among prospective buyers. She is a keen observer and learns her lessons well. And even though she is not of the latest generation of Afs it is Klara that one young girl, Josie, wants.
But there are things in Josie’s household that don’t compute. The Housekeeper seems extra watchful when The Mother is away at work. Josie is frail but has a special friend nearby, Rick. Klara gets drawn into Josie and Rick’s “plan” for their future, while also is learning that the plans of adults may not coincide. For all her intelligence and perceptiveness, Klara cannot quite understand emotion and she certainly doesn’t have feelings of her own. Her interpretations of what she observes are sometimes quite naïve, and I was reminded of comments my niece made when she was four or five years old.
This is a dystopian world, and there is significant pollution and there are hints of potential civil war. There are distinct differences between the haves and the have nots. Wealthier parents have the option to “lift” their children (via genetic engineering) to improve their intelligence and academic performance. And AFs are not always treated kindly.
I hope there will be a movie … I can just see the crane shot of that final scene.
Sura Siu does a marvelous job of voicing the audiobook. She really made Klara a believable AF, giving her an innocence to go with her intelligence. 5***** for the audio performance.