A review by usedtotheweather
Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro

challenging dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.5

Klara's narrative voice is clear and buoyant even while the world and plot are at first murky and uncertain. Ishiguro's slow revelation of the situation, both of the the main characters and, through them, of the world they live in, is masterful, with hints slowly dropped generating confusion or curiousity, then the same detail revealed in a different setting with just enough new context to piece together its relevance.  The plot of discovering the world is the most compelling aspect of this novel, and the futuristic world as a mirror of some contemporary desires is dizzying and dismaying.  The narrative arc of the characters is more difficult to grasp, odder in many ways. And here too is the question of faith: what are we to make of Klara's deep belief in the power of the Sun?

In the Tournament of Books discord there is discussion about one of the concluding lines,

“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. That’s why I think now Mr Capaldi was wrong and I wouldn’t have succeeded" and the corresponding conclusion that Klara is worthless because unloved--DanJ suggested out there that this must lead to the conclusion that either this book is a criticism of that philosophy or just nihilistic and dark AF. Klara is an unreliable narrator, unreliable not out of nefarious design (though some in the world would suspect her of nefariousness just based on her status as an AI alone), but out of extreme naivete.  She has deep machine learning and acute observational skills, but she is not skeptical and cannot perceive the illogical but deeply held commitments and values of the humans around her: for example, she is confused that Miss Helen would choose a path that benefits Rick but leaves her lonely, having recently learned that humans will do almost anything to avoid loneliness. But Klara also holds this belief in the Sun's power to heal, based on its apparent resurrection of a homeless man when it warms him (warming is presumed by this reader).  As she never tells anyone what happens in her negotiations with the sun, she is able to presume that the cure happens because of her bargaining. And even Rick confirms that something related to the Sun seems to have happened. This is (as Michael's presentation on COVID taught me) witchcraft of a sort! it is religion, it is faith practice.  Correlation is a kind of faith, and one that Klara, the Artificial Friend, is particularly prone to.

I have many questions about the plot and the characters, particlularly of Klara? What is the nature of the Sun, and what are we to make of Klara's deep belief in its power?   What happens to the Mother, and to the relationship with the Mother and Josie after the turning point of the plot? to the Mother and Klara? 

is the woman at the end actually Klara? given the mixing and melding of memories, perhaps yes, and perhaps Klara never did know that she was to be 'continued'?, and what exactly was the barn, why did it mix with memories of the AF shop?