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A review by brice_mo
Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
5.0
Had I finished this book in private rather than in public, I would have sobbed through the final chapter. Unfortunately, I had to rein it in, lest I publicly out myself as a softie.
I found the first third of the book a little difficult to get into. Ishiguro takes full advantage of literature as a medium and keeps the reader in the dark about much of what is going on—terms are thrown around for several chapters before they are actually defined. Conceptually, I love when authors do that, but it does create a barrier to entry. The payoff is worth it, though, and I found myself quickly tumbling through the remainder of the book.
I loved how the narrative reads like a fable or children's story, and if you're a reader of faith, it may feel allegorical. I saw some reviews complaining about the looseness of the sci-fi elements, but I think those readers misidentified the point of the book—Klara spends the book learning that love prompts us to act with irrational faith, so I'm not really sure there's a version of this story that's hard sci-fi.
All in all, a very gentle and life-affirming read.
I found the first third of the book a little difficult to get into. Ishiguro takes full advantage of literature as a medium and keeps the reader in the dark about much of what is going on—terms are thrown around for several chapters before they are actually defined. Conceptually, I love when authors do that, but it does create a barrier to entry. The payoff is worth it, though, and I found myself quickly tumbling through the remainder of the book.
I loved how the narrative reads like a fable or children's story, and if you're a reader of faith, it may feel allegorical. I saw some reviews complaining about the looseness of the sci-fi elements, but I think those readers misidentified the point of the book—Klara spends the book learning that love prompts us to act with irrational faith, so I'm not really sure there's a version of this story that's hard sci-fi.
All in all, a very gentle and life-affirming read.