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A review by booksjessreads
Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
So I did really love this in some ways, but in other ways, I wanted more from it. It wasn't as engaging and certainly much more slow-paced than I was expecting, but nevertheless an interesting read.
I love how we were told the entire world from Klara's perspective, and that had both its ups and downs, but an overall interesting perspective. Klara was honestly such a wholesome AF and I think she had such optimistic views of the world that really made me feel for her. The ending for Klara in particular was quite bittersweet and it did pull on my heartstrings a little. I think having things from Klara's perspective also meant we missed a lot of the detail in regards to the dystopia that they live in. The dystopia, and the circumstances as to why AF's exist, as well as the whole 'lifted' trait, is never fully revealed and you only can infer from what Klara tells you. Whilst this does leave a lot of room for you to explore what you think is happening, it also makes it sort of frustrating.
I think this was the main thing that made me mark it down, coupled with its lack of engagement (for me personally), I found that I was left wanting so much more from the society that Josie and Klara live in. However, I will say that the plot twist surrounding Klara's existence was pretty juicy and from when you find this out, it does get quite interesting and picks up for sure, but this isn't until around the 200 page mark so be prepared for it to be slow up until then. I think another slight disappointment for me was the way things ended for Josie. I just didn't like how Josie was hit by the rays of the sun and miraculously got better super quickly. Unless I have not read that right, I didn't like that rushed recovery for her and such a lack of explanation as to how she actually got better.
I feel like a re-read of this will make me feel a bit more engaged and perhaps I will get more of the references and foreboding of what is to come. Overall, Ishiguro wrote a very interesting novel and I would still recommend it.
I love how we were told the entire world from Klara's perspective, and that had both its ups and downs, but an overall interesting perspective. Klara was honestly such a wholesome AF and I think she had such optimistic views of the world that really made me feel for her. The ending for Klara in particular was quite bittersweet and it did pull on my heartstrings a little. I think having things from Klara's perspective also meant we missed a lot of the detail in regards to the dystopia that they live in. The dystopia, and the circumstances as to why AF's exist, as well as the whole 'lifted' trait, is never fully revealed and you only can infer from what Klara tells you. Whilst this does leave a lot of room for you to explore what you think is happening, it also makes it sort of frustrating.
I think this was the main thing that made me mark it down, coupled with its lack of engagement (for me personally), I found that I was left wanting so much more from the society that Josie and Klara live in. However, I will say that the plot twist surrounding Klara's existence was pretty juicy and from when you find this out, it does get quite interesting and picks up for sure, but this isn't until around the 200 page mark so be prepared for it to be slow up until then. I think another slight disappointment for me was the way things ended for Josie.
I feel like a re-read of this will make me feel a bit more engaged and perhaps I will get more of the references and foreboding of what is to come. Overall, Ishiguro wrote a very interesting novel and I would still recommend it.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death and Grief