Klara and the Sun: The Times and Sunday Times Book of the Year

Klara and the Sun, Kazuo Ishiguro’s eighth novel, astoundingly builds on the fundamentals of the paranoia that humans have had with Artificial Intelligence and technology advancements that make for existential dread. Like his other works, "Never Let me Go", the events occur in the future where humans have reconstructed the world to fit their motives and wants. Klara and the Sun sometimes feel almost innocent because of Artificial Intelligence or AF’s naivety. Klara has a devotion to the Sun, which is the primary energy source for AFs to operate. The novel revolves around Klara as she becomes the AF of Josie, a sickly girl and an array of characters that have affected Klara’s life. AF are friends, but they are not on the same as humans level. As the plot progresses, we realize that more Klara has to do than be Josie's AF, and it brings the question of AI replacing humans. A beautiful quote, "Our generation still carries 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. " shows how one character believes that is a minor difference between humans and beings like Klara. Klara is a AI created by humans. She lacks human mobility fluidity, so navigating even a gravel driveway is a carefully planned projected adventure for her. But the keen AI has the curious mind to learn and replicate, and this quality sets her aside to be Josie's and her family's necessity in their lives. Ishiguro leaves us to presume the order of things in Klara and the Sun and the world it is. Set in the near future, readers will question the future. Can a machine replicate human consciousness? What are family bonds? What future are we building?

This is the first time I read Kazuo's and I don't really enjoy it. The way Kazuo writes left me questioning and speculating many things. And I don't like it. But the moral story is deep. The narration is as if it's told from the newborn's perspective on the world but she could articulate her observation perfectly. The world set as background is where the artificial human and DNA editing are already common.

A story about a robot, who in her own way, knows what love is.