![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Klara and the Sun
Mar. 2nd, 2021 08:00 pmKlara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
My Rating: ★★★★★
I just finished Kazuo Ishiguro's new novel Klara and the Sun. (And I really do mean new - it literally just came out today.) I was hooked from the first page and couldn't put it down until I was done. It's truly phenomenal! I'm on the verge of tears. I'm pretty sure there's no way I can talk about this book coherently, but I'll say a few things anyway.
Klara and the Sun is a stellar example of science fiction that explores some of humanity's deepest questions. Is there a self, and if so, what is it? What does it mean to love someone, and how should we act on our love?
The book is narrated by Klara, who is an AF - "Artificial Friend" - a humanoid robot built to be a companion to a child. Klara is definitely one of the most compelling and lovable characters in any book I have ever read. She's just so good - and she always sees straight to the heart of things, even when she doesn't understand the particulars. The futuristic setting of Klara and the Sun is certainly interesting, but the focus of the novel is on Klara's own efforts to understand the world and on the small group of deeply compelling characters with whom Klara interacts - especially the ailing girl who is Klara's friend/owner, the girl's mother, and her childhood friend.
It's inevitably an oversimplification to say any book is "about" something. But if I were to try, I would say Klara and the Sun is a book about desperation, about hope, and about what it means to love.
My Rating: ★★★★★
I just finished Kazuo Ishiguro's new novel Klara and the Sun. (And I really do mean new - it literally just came out today.) I was hooked from the first page and couldn't put it down until I was done. It's truly phenomenal! I'm on the verge of tears. I'm pretty sure there's no way I can talk about this book coherently, but I'll say a few things anyway.
Klara and the Sun is a stellar example of science fiction that explores some of humanity's deepest questions. Is there a self, and if so, what is it? What does it mean to love someone, and how should we act on our love?
The book is narrated by Klara, who is an AF - "Artificial Friend" - a humanoid robot built to be a companion to a child. Klara is definitely one of the most compelling and lovable characters in any book I have ever read. She's just so good - and she always sees straight to the heart of things, even when she doesn't understand the particulars. The futuristic setting of Klara and the Sun is certainly interesting, but the focus of the novel is on Klara's own efforts to understand the world and on the small group of deeply compelling characters with whom Klara interacts - especially the ailing girl who is Klara's friend/owner, the girl's mother, and her childhood friend.
It's inevitably an oversimplification to say any book is "about" something. But if I were to try, I would say Klara and the Sun is a book about desperation, about hope, and about what it means to love.
