Author: Kazuo Ishiguro
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
Released: March 2, 2021
Received: Own

I can’t believe I nearly missed this novel! This one might have passed me right on if not for my book club. If you love science fiction with a speculative edge, you’ve got to read Klara and the Sun, written by Kazuo Ishiguro.

Klara is what you might call an Artificial Friend or AF for short. She may be a generation out of date, but she has several unique talents, namely observational skills. Her skills and happy smile create a path into her new home.

She will now be the friend to a young girl that is very ill. While the adults in this child’s life begin to give up hope, Klara is convinced that another solution exists. Something that they would never have considered.

“So I know just how much it matters to you that people who love one another are brought together, even after many years.”

Wow. I can’t believe I was blown away by Klara and the Sun. I went into this book knowing next to nothing (seriously, I didn’t even read the description – I love surprises), and what I got was such an emotional experience.

Klara and the Sun is described as a dystopian novel, which is very accurate in many ways. Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel is full of commentary on human nature, capitalism, and what we do to our planet. Yet there’s also this spark of hope. This spark moved the novel closer to solarpunk for me, as it felt like there was still hope for humanity. Hope is seen through Klara’s eyes.

In truth, this is the sort of story I was hoping to get from Detroit: Become Human. Perhaps that I why, I found myself enjoying it so much. It was evocative, emotional, and borderline horrifying at times. And yet I wouldn’t have had it any other way.

There is something so calm and fluid about Ishiguro’s writing style. I haven’t read any of these other works, but I’ve been told that this is a common thread. That being said, I can easily see this writing style being something you either love or hate. Personally, I found it to be a breath of fresh air.

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