Once again the brilliance of Ishiguro unfolds in the pages of this strange but emotionally gripping book. Here is my book review Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro.

Fans of Ishiguro will likely love his latest work, his first since winning the Nobel Prize for literature in 2017 for The Remains of the Day. However, Klara and the Sun feels more like his work Never Let Me Go, a near future look at our society and the sad and disturbing direction things may go. Fans of Handmaids Tale will enjoy Klara and the Sun.

Ishiguro’s strength lies in his ability to create stories about the banality of everyday life, all while generating such strong emotional pull, sometimes horrific sadness and grief and often deep human connection. I really loved this book, but the reviews are mixed…

It takes some time in reading this novel about Artificial Friends (robots) of the future to really understand what exactly is happening. We meet Klara, an Artificial Friend (AF) waiting in the AF store to be purchased. Klara is an unusual AF with a high level of intelligence and what almost appears to be empathy. Klara’s intense observational powers provide her a greater insight into her surroundings than the other AFs.

Josie is the lucky girl who brings Klara home, and in the years ahead we learn about the present day society and the difference between “lifted” children and those who are not “lifted”. We learn about how artificial intelligence has taken over in many parts of society. And we meet a wealth of characters who surround both Josie and Klara and bring both sadness and hope to the story.

I found the ending very moving…with Klara looking off into the distance and the sun shining on her.

This book may not be for everyone, but once I got the rhythm of what was going on I really enjoyed it.

*****Five stars for Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro.

Read last week’s review of Red at the Bone

My current read West with Giraffes

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