This is the second book I read for the Japanese literature reading challenge hosted by Dolce Belleza. I finished this book in January but have been delaying my review because I am so conflicted by it, and it took me a lot of time to gather my thoughts and decide what I want to say about it.
Synopsis of Klara and the Sun
From her place in the store, Klara, an Artificial Friend with outstanding observational qualities, observes the behavior of those who come in to browse and of those who pass on the street outside. She remains hopeful that a customer will soon choose her. Still, when the possibility emerges that her circumstances may change forever, Klara is warned not to invest too much in the promises of humans.
~ Synopsis from GoodReads
My Thoughts
I would have liked this book a lot better if I hadn’t already read his seminal classic – Never Let me Go.
In both books, Ishiguro closely examines the nature of love and what it means to be human. In these books, he uses slightly non-human (if I may use the word) protagonists to indicate that humans are more fallible than they think and that some non-humans may be more humane than us.
In Klara and the Sun, the protagonist is an AI friend – a life-size doll with a brain bought to act as a friend to a lonely girl. As the book plays out, it reads almost like a Victorian-era novel: a friendless girl of low means is engaged by a wealthy family to act as a companion for their ailing daughter; the household mainly treats her as invisible but then starts to take her into their confidences; there is a budding romance across class lines, and hints at dark family secrets.
But as the book meanders (it’s a plodding novel), we can see that more and more is being asked of Klara. Can she/will she make the ultimate sacrifice? And will her sacrifice be worth it?
The book’s ending is a combination of things: faith and rationality; love and devotion; loneliness and grief. Are these the traits that make us human?
So, overall I liked this book, or rather I liked the concept. But I think he covers a lot of the same ground that he did in Never Let me Go, albeit in a weaker manner. The ending in Never Let me Go devastated me. Here, the conclusion is flat – nothing is worked through; it’s more like life goes on ending. And that would be acceptable if the rest of the book made up for it. But there’s not a lot going on in general, and combined with the weak ending, it made this a somewhat unsatisfactory book for me.
