Book Review: Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro

Joana .
Apr 23, 2021
7 min read

Updated: Apr 25, 2021

There was something very special, but it wasn't inside Josie. It was inside those who loved her.

Ishiguro is one of the most celebrated contemporary fiction authors in English. He has received four Man Booker Prize nominations and won the award in 1989 for his novel The Remains of the Day. Time named Ishiguro's novel Never Let Me Go the best novel of 2005 and one of the 100 best English-language novels published between 1923 and 2005.

In 2017, the Swedish Academy awarded Ishiguro the Nobel Prize in Literature, describing him in its citation as a writer "who, in novels of great emotional force, has uncovered the abyss beneath our illusory sense of connection with the world".

Klara and the Sun was his first novel since then.

Until recently, I didn’t think that humans could choose loneliness. That there were sometimes forces more powerful than the wish to avoid loneliness.

I was very excited to read this book, I truly was. I had been gifted the signed hardcover copy of Klara and the Sun on my birthday. I thought this was the Universe speaking to me. Giving me another chance to read a contemporary story ^^"

This story is narrated by Klara, an AI friend (or an artificial friend, AF) with superintelligence and unique observational skills, yet her knowledge of the world remains limited. Klara, from her place in the store, watches carefully the behaviour of the people who pass by the street, and those who do visit the store. She remains hopeful that a customer, a child, will soon choose her.

This is the summary given on Goodreads... Kinda vague, wouldn't you say?

AFs (or artificial friends), are AI simulations made to accompany and/or babysit children until they become of age and go to college. Children are bought an AF (hopefully just one) who would be available at their service during this time.

One day, a 14-year-old girl stops by the store's front window and starts talking to Klara. Her name is Josie. These two form a bond, an unspoken friendship, and that's where the whole thing starts.

But however hard I tried, I believe now there would have remained something beyond my reach.

Some years back, I read Never Let Me Go and I couldn't rate it anywhere beyond 3 stars... It was an interesting read, but not the best! Having known that now, Ishiguro was awarded a Nobel Prize for Literature, I honestly hoped I'd find a drastic improvement in his style of writing... Albeit, this time, I was handed nothing but a platter of disappointment and dismay and a blow of calamity and misfortune.

The whole thing was as dull as dishwater. If you ask me, I have a whole lot more question mark on my head than when I started this book:

1. The AI theme, it seems to me, that Ishiguro wasn't bothered much with researching further with it that he consciously chose to keep it underexplored in his book... I can give him the benefit of the doubt and opt for the "intentionally unintelligent layout" Ishiguro's set out here. Except that there was no justification for this wild move on his part anywhere in the book...

2. Then we have Klara, the superintelligent one, where did she come from? How was she made? Why was she singled out from all other AFs to acquire such sharp observational skills, other AIs lack? She is the centre of the story... the book was named after her... why aren't we getting more details there?

3. And Josie! She's sick for some reason. Her condition is getting worse... I think?! She was limping the second time she showed up at the storefront... that wasn't mentioned later. She had such an odd, complex and toxic relationship with her mother and it wasn't going anywhere. Her sister, Sal, her mysterious disappearance(?)/sudden death... what's that all about?! Rick's mom's seen something... or did she?

4. Rick! Why wasn't he lifted like the other children?! What is "lifting"?! What's with the mother?!

This is only a sample of the questions I have. In fact, the more I think it over, the more complex and absurd the events and characters of the story get! I had such high hopes for a quirky twist in the story, a blast of some unrealistic robotic invasion at least, some conclusion to all the oddities in this book, as I kept going, page after page. Line after line. An answer to any.. just ANY of the questions Ishiguro has raised in my mind. Alas, all were to no avail.

This book is marked for the burning for 2021!

Ishiguro's overdone it this time. He's had a wide array of themes for this story, which perhaps had been underexplored, resulting in this quite underwhelming book. The amount of energy invested in Josie's whining and apologizing, Klara's naive smarts and her childlike observational skills, and Rick's anger for not fitting in with the (?) Society could've empowered a more plausible cause! An essay, perhaps, about toxic relationships (friendships, mothers and their children, etc), grieve over losing a child, or even research in childhood loneliness/depression and how to assist in overcoming it -___-" This the only way to go with it all!

Our generation still carry the old feelings. A part of us refuses to let go. The part that wants to keep believing there’s something unreachable inside each of us. Something that’s unique and won’t transfer. But there’s nothing like that, we know that now. You know that. For people our age it’s a hard one to let go.

Short Analysis:

Book cover: (3 stars)

Bold colours! the cover of the book going hand in hand with the title and... yeah I shouldn't say more ^^"

Plot: (2 stars)

The main plot is.... Klara and Josie, I suppose. Their friendship, aka, Klara fulfilling her duties:
- This was quite dull. Not interesting at all. They wake up, stay with the Mother while she's having her morning coffee, then go on about their day doing all sorts of non-sense
Then you have Klara and Rick. Not sure where that was going. It was doomed from the start. But hey, it was dull and boring
Also, you have Klara and her odd interest in the Sun. He was giving her nourishment (yes, the sun is a male in this context... Very confusing, I agree)
Exceptionally intelligent children are "lifted". They would be homeschooled by special professors. This is the case with Josie and most children in Society.
- However, Rick, is not.
- For that, he is discriminated against by the "Society".
- Again, this was not very clear throughout the book! So Why wasn't he lifted? And what in Moses's name is "lifting"?!?!?!?
I'm not sure if there was an importance to the mother's odd behaviour towards Josie and Klara. She was almost never there, but when she was... Again, I'm not sure what Ishiguro was attempting. This is frustrating!

Story structure and content: (2 stars)

The story's quite slow-paced, but I've grown tolerant of this *cough*Tolstoy*cough*. Except that this story never leads anywhere... Yes, there were so many parts where I hoped the story would pick up, but soon it would be forgotten.
Worldbuilding you may ask? ... where??? Ishiguro's either naive to this (which he isn't, hence moving on to the only other valid option) or he forgot how to build up his story well this time... or maybe he just lazed out and hoped the readers would get inspired somehow from the limited context that he's provided idk
The characters were all toxic and unimpressive. I didn't grow any attachment to any of them (Josie, Rick, Klara)
Then you have Klara's obsession with watching the sun, praying for it and attempting to convince people to invest in her cause or destroying the machine causing pollution. Was that of importance? I say nay! It's just filler content. (Fillers are unnecessary details that add nothing to the main plot of the story).
Usually, at this point I'd DNF! And I've DNF'd so many books so far this year... but I held onto loose strings of false hope for some miraculous twist of events to boost the vibe on this book... alas, nothing.

Writing style: (1 star)

Hmm... where to start....? Oh yeah! How was this classified with adult fiction?! I'd stuff right next to John Green's novels in the YA-Fiction section! The main characters are still in high school and the "schooling" bit was of importance to the kids, Josie and Rick... and the rest of the kids, who I believe, were the centre of attention
The language isn't faulty per se, but it was flat. Unimpressive. Unmoving. It lacked the sense of maturity an adult reader would expect from a book, especially one by Ishiguro
The dialogues (especially those between the kids) were so lengthy, pointless and unbelievable!
The characters, the story, the events... it felt quite forced! There wasn't much harmony between any of the elements
Also Rick, for some reason he is English, then he lost his English sense halfway through
The main plot, as well as the secondary plot(s), were quite underdeveloped with little to no further interpretation of anything that happens here. Pointless I tell you, and so vague... I wouldn't even dare to compare with Murakami's red-herrings, master of magical realism!
To add to the mouldy mix, the writing was dull from beginning to end and predictable

Ending: (1 star)

I'm not sure about everyone else, but it was quite predictable from the start, with Josie's mysterious illness and her mother purchasing an Artificial Friend (AF), Klara
Klara, she hoped to fit in and be accepted as a... a what exactly? A friend for life? A carer? ... Yeah there isn't much to add there
I get that Klara was narrating her PoV, but what happened to the rest of the cast?! Josie? the housmade?! ... God, it's not even understood what happened with the shop owner! *smh*

Final rating: 1.8 stars /5

I finished this book in two days, not because I enjoyed it (I wanted to DNF @ page 75, truth be told), I was honestly desperately searching... scraping for an ounce of genius for which Ishiguro was favoured over Murakami for a Nobel Prize! And surprise, surprise, I found none (- o -).

If you want to read this book... do it at your own expense. I'm not taking any part of it!

PS. What's more astounding, is that I haven't even tabbed many lines/quotes worth remembering! Ouch... so far this is my least annotated book this year!

PPS. Are all books relating to AI so terrible? Or is it just my luck?!