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A review by scytmo
Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
4.0
Klara is an android, an “Artificial Friend”, an AF. It is a world in which AFs are habitually used as companions for children, and Klara is bought by a family for their ailing daughter. This is their story, told from Klara’s perspective.
It’s difficult to succinctly say what the core theme of the book is - what the book is ‘about’ - as there are three threads that play equal parts and weave around each other throughout the story.
Firstly, there is the use of AI and robotics, and how they can be used to displace people in a variety of roles - the most obvious being the use of AFs as companions for children. Klara’s role is depicted as being a positive experience for the family that she becomes part of, but there are glimpses of where relationships between AFs and their associated children have become dysfunctional.
The story is told from the first-person perspective of Klara, so it is implicit that Klara is conscious and sentient - she is, afterall, the narrator. And yet AFs are treated as property, and Klara unquestioningly accepts that - indeed, is happy to be bought by a family. These broader themes, and the societal impact of using AFs in other contexts, such as displacing people from their jobs, are hinted at but not explored.
Another thread, almost entirely independent of the use of AFs, is the practice of using medical intervention to ‘enhance’ children (referred to as ‘lifting’ in the book), using hinted-at procedures that are not without risk. The ethics of this decision, along with the two-tier society that can result, are not dealt with head-on, but instead form a foundation for much of the conflict within the story, and the emotional struggles of some of the characters.
And then there is the internal life of Klara herself, and the reason for the title of the book. The story is told through a lens of naïvety as Klara learns about the world around her. Klara is described as an AF with particularly good observational skills, and she learns about the world around her mostly through observation - drawing conclusions and inferring cause and effect from what she sees around her. However, this unguided observational learning leads Klara to believe that the Sun (yes, the fiery ball in the sky) has omniscient and mystical power.
This belief in the Sun leads Klara to interpret other events around her as cause and effect, which she then struggles to make sense of - largely due to the inscrutable nature of the Sun’s decision-making process. The parallels with religious faith are clear, and it’s difficult to know what message the author is trying to convey, given some of the questionable behaviour that Klara engages with as a consequence of her belief, and the ultimate outcome of the story.
The world building is very satisfying, and the glimpses of the various issues, ideas and concepts that come out of it are intriguing and thought-provoking. With such broad scope, it’s inevitable that very little is dealt with in depth. While there were many things that could have been explored in more detail, I wasn’t left frustrated that they weren’t - rather, I enjoyed skirting around the edges.
It’s difficult to succinctly say what the core theme of the book is - what the book is ‘about’ - as there are three threads that play equal parts and weave around each other throughout the story.
Firstly, there is the use of AI and robotics, and how they can be used to displace people in a variety of roles - the most obvious being the use of AFs as companions for children. Klara’s role is depicted as being a positive experience for the family that she becomes part of, but there are glimpses of where relationships between AFs and their associated children have become dysfunctional.
The story is told from the first-person perspective of Klara, so it is implicit that Klara is conscious and sentient - she is, afterall, the narrator. And yet AFs are treated as property, and Klara unquestioningly accepts that - indeed, is happy to be bought by a family. These broader themes, and the societal impact of using AFs in other contexts, such as displacing people from their jobs, are hinted at but not explored.
Another thread, almost entirely independent of the use of AFs, is the practice of using medical intervention to ‘enhance’ children (referred to as ‘lifting’ in the book), using hinted-at procedures that are not without risk. The ethics of this decision, along with the two-tier society that can result, are not dealt with head-on, but instead form a foundation for much of the conflict within the story, and the emotional struggles of some of the characters.
And then there is the internal life of Klara herself, and the reason for the title of the book. The story is told through a lens of naïvety as Klara learns about the world around her. Klara is described as an AF with particularly good observational skills, and she learns about the world around her mostly through observation - drawing conclusions and inferring cause and effect from what she sees around her. However, this unguided observational learning leads Klara to believe that the Sun (yes, the fiery ball in the sky) has omniscient and mystical power.
This belief in the Sun leads Klara to interpret other events around her as cause and effect, which she then struggles to make sense of - largely due to the inscrutable nature of the Sun’s decision-making process. The parallels with religious faith are clear, and it’s difficult to know what message the author is trying to convey, given some of the questionable behaviour that Klara engages with as a consequence of her belief, and the ultimate outcome of the story.
The world building is very satisfying, and the glimpses of the various issues, ideas and concepts that come out of it are intriguing and thought-provoking. With such broad scope, it’s inevitable that very little is dealt with in depth. While there were many things that could have been explored in more detail, I wasn’t left frustrated that they weren’t - rather, I enjoyed skirting around the edges.