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9780593318171
Overview
Overview
Klara and the Sun is a magnificent new novel from the Nobel laureate Kazuo Ishiguro--author of Never Let Me Go and the Booker Prize-winning The Remains of the Day. Klara and the Sun, the first novel by Kazuo Ishiguro since he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, tells the story of Klara, an Artificial Friend with outstanding observational qualities, who, from her place in the store, watches carefully the behavior of those who come in to browse, and of those who pass on the street outside. She remains hopeful a customer will soon choose her. Klara and the Sun is a thrilling book that offers a look at our changing world through the eyes of an unforgettable narrator, and one that explores the fundamental question: what does it mean to love? In its award citation in 2017, the Nobel committee described Ishiguro's books as "novels of great emotional force" and said he has "uncovered the abyss beneath our illusory sense of connection with the world."
- Format: Hardcover
- Author: Ishiguro, Kazuo
- ISBN: 9780593318171
- Condition: New
- Dimensions: 9.30 x 1.40
- Number Of Pages: 320
- Publication Year: 2021
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“In the morning when the Sun returns. It’s possible for us to hope.”
Jennifer E. - 5 years 4 months ago“Do you believe in the human heart?...Something that makes each of us special and individual? In order to truly learn [a person], you’d have to learn not just her mannerisms but what’s deeply inside her. Wouldn’t you have to learn her heart?” Meet Klara, a B2 AF (Artificial Friend). “Klara has so many unique qualities, we could be here all morning. But if I had to emphasize just one, well, it would have to be her appetite for observing and learning. Her ability to absorb and blend everything she sees around her is quite amazing. As a result, she now has the most sophisticated understanding of any AF in this store, B3s not excepted.” While science and society have collaborated to create Artificial Friends, the latest trend in response to “the extent to which humans...wish to escape loneliness,” can they clone the soul? “Mr. Capaldi believed there was nothing special inside Josie that couldn’t be continued. He told the mother he’d searched and searched and found nothing like that...Science has now proved beyond doubt there’s nothing so unique about [humanity], nothing that our modern tools can’t excavate, copy, transfer.” But Klara begs to differ. “I believe now he was searching in the wrong place. There was something very special, but it wasn’t inside Josie. It was inside those who loved her.” For me Klara and the AFs represent a sort of guardian angels and their limited understanding of human salvation described in 1 Peter 1:12. Klara’s spiritual encounters with the Sun in the sanctuary of the barn also compelled me to consider our narrow understanding of God. Klara waits for the Sun to go to rest in his home in the barn so she can meet with him there, only to discover that the sun doesn’t have a home; rather, she would have to keep chasing him to find his resting place. She prepares carefully worded pleas so that the Sun will notice her, certain he is exhausted from expending the warmth of his rays on others all day, only to discover that the sun’s reflection has many faces. Certain that pollution has dimmed the Sun’s energy and power, Klara sacrifices her liquid, only to realize that the problem is too big for only one AF to stop it. Finally, she pleas for the sun to perceive the worthiness of her owner Josie and Josie’s love for others. The Sun’s rays pour over the girl and Josie recovers, but it is the Sun’s inherent nature to shine regardless of pollution or plea bargains. The source of her healing may stem as much from the Sun as from her own body’s ability to overcome the sickness from within. To me Klara and the Sun serves as a parable of Matthew 5:45, “that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.” “In the morning when the Sun returns. It’s possible for us to hope.”
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An imaginative, beautiful, and provocative take on AI
Stacey M. - 5 years 6 months agoAnother fantastic read by Kazuo Ishiguro. He brings such humanity to the AI concept and manages to bring a near-future world to life in a way that’s provocative and allows the readers to connect the dots however they want. As usual, this author delivers beautiful, clean sentences, memorable characters, and a story that still lingers with me. #SpringPicks
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Klara is an AF with a special relationship with the sun.
Jerry M. - 5 years 6 months agoI am very stingy with 5 star ratings, but this was close. Heard about this on GMA and thought it sounded interesting. Klara is an AF or artificial friend. She has been built to keep Japanese children from getting lonely. She is different than the other AFs in the store. She is very inquisitive and enjoys looking out the window with her friend Rosa. Manager thinks she is special. One day a little girl comes in and talks to her. She promise to come back to buy her. We find out this little girl, Josie, is very sick. Klara devises a plan to help her get better. Klara is like a real person even though she is just wires and algorithms. She can, and does, learn about the world. There are other plans for Josie. Mother has her own way of making Josie "better." There are many touching moments in this book between Klara and Josie, Klara and Mother, Josie and Rick, the boy next door, and many others. Upon finishing, I thought about the song "Puff the Magic Dragon." If you want to know about the title, and why that song, you're going to have to read it. I recommend that you do. #SpringPicks
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Feeling dizzy
H C. - 5 years 6 months agoThis book, as all Ishiguro's books, does a good job of shifting reality a few degrees off center, leaving you feeling askance. Not unlike "I'll Never Let You Go" this book seems to be a critique of humanity's desire to overcome physical and mental limitations to the detriment of some members. I don't want to give anything a way, but this book is delightfully classic Ishiguro. # SpringPicks