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A review by andrewspink
Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Kazuo Ishiguro and science fiction are a pretty unbeatable combination. He writes so nicely and always has an interesting way of making you think about the way our society is, or is heading.
He is famous for his unreliable narrators, and you cannot get much more unreliable than a robot that doesn't understand a lot of what is going on. Klara (the robot or 'artificial friend') tries to understand the world by a process of induction from close observation of everything going on around her. Ishiguro is able to use that to make a point of certain things (like how we behave differently with different people) and (when her induction leads to bizarre conclusions) to comment on issues like superstition/religion.
The book deals with some pretty heavy themes, but does that with such a light narrative that it it is not hard work. It is only afterwards, that you stop and think about it, that you realise the profundity (or at least that was my experience). For example, there is a discussion of what makes a person unique (I can't give the context, or that would be a big spoiler), and one character states that what makes us unique is not what is inside ourselves but our relationships with others. "There was something very special, but it wasn't inside Jose. It was inside those who loved her". Interesting thought!
Ishiguro builds up the story nicely. In the beginning, we don't know all sorts of things, like what is wrong with Jose, and he reveals what is really going on gradually. He does that very effectively because the book is entirely written in the first person from the viewpoint of the robot, Klara, which of course has no idea about all sorts of things. This is really effective, and also helps create sympathy for Klara.
Like all books with robots as characters, it is not about robots, but about people. And that is also what makes it so good.
He is famous for his unreliable narrators, and you cannot get much more unreliable than a robot that doesn't understand a lot of what is going on. Klara (the robot or 'artificial friend') tries to understand the world by a process of induction from close observation of everything going on around her. Ishiguro is able to use that to make a point of certain things (like how we behave differently with different people) and (when her induction leads to bizarre conclusions) to comment on issues like superstition/religion.
The book deals with some pretty heavy themes, but does that with such a light narrative that it it is not hard work. It is only afterwards, that you stop and think about it, that you realise the profundity (or at least that was my experience). For example, there is a discussion of what makes a person unique (I can't give the context, or that would be a big spoiler), and one character states that what makes us unique is not what is inside ourselves but our relationships with others. "There was something very special, but it wasn't inside Jose. It was inside those who loved her". Interesting thought!
Ishiguro builds up the story nicely. In the beginning, we don't know all sorts of things, like what is wrong with Jose, and he reveals what is really going on gradually. He does that very effectively because the book is entirely written in the first person from the viewpoint of the robot, Klara, which of course has no idea about all sorts of things. This is really effective, and also helps create sympathy for Klara.
Like all books with robots as characters, it is not about robots, but about people. And that is also what makes it so good.