Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
Klara is an Artificial Friend. She lives in a store with other AFs, waiting for a child to come in and choose her to be their companion. Every day the AFs are given a place in the store to stand as customers come in. The best part of the store is the area behind the big front window, where Klara is able to observe people passing by and feel the Sun.
AFs are solar powered, so the sun is important to all of them. But Klara sees the sun as a presence, with feelings and emotions like her.
She observes the Sun’s happiness when two people reconnect on the street in front of the store. She also sees the Sun’s special ability to heal when a homeless person and his dog are miraculously revived by the sun’s rays.
Not long after that experience, Klara is chosen by a girl named Josie. Josie and her mother have a house out in the countryside, but her mother commutes to work every day. Klara will be there to spend time with Josie and help keep her happy.
Like many children in her peer group, Josie has been “lifted” – genetically modified to improve her intelligence. Unfortunately, Josie suffered some side effects from this procedure and is frequently ill.
The illness is unpredictable, forcing Josie to stay in bed for weeks at a time. It is also very serious. Some children who exhibit these symptoms do not survive.
As Klara gets to know Josie and her world, she presents anecdotes largely without opinion. But she does possess deep insight into what people are feeling or thinking. When she lets these insights slip, it is a reminder to the reader not to underestimate her abilities – her intelligence may be artificial, but it is well-honed.
The focus of KLARA AND THE SUN is on interpersonal relationships between the people in Josie’s limited world. Klara is able to interact with each of them and develop her own relationships with them.
Readers only get a sense of the larger world: glimpses of persistent anti-robot sentiment and the ways that people’s lives have adjusted in this version of the future. Josie’s friend Rick is very smart, but he is not lifted. As Josie and Rick grow up, Klara observes how that affects what he can expect from his future.
Throughout the novel, Klara is looking back on her life. She is reminiscing about her own history. She lets the reader know that these events have all passed, but keeps the outcome to herself until the end.
Klara herself is a very interesting character. She uses unusual speech patterns when speaking to other characters, but her internal monologue flows very smoothly. Although she is not human, she feels real. The reader never questions the validity of her experience, even when confronted with the facts of her artificial nature.
Book review by Alyssa Berry, Technical Services Librarian
