Name: Fred Rivett's review of Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
Item: Klara and the Sun
Rating: 3.5
Author: Fred Rivett

Kazuo Ishiguro

Sunday Times Number One Bestseller

Klara and the Sun

"From her place in the store that sells artificial friends, Klara--an artificial friend with outstanding observational qualities--watches carefully the behavior of those who come in to browse, and of those who pass in the street outside. She remains hopeful a customer will soon choose her, but when the possibility emerges that her circumstances may change forever, Klara she is warned not to invest too much in the promises of humans. In this luminous tale, Klara and the Sun, Nobel Prize winner Kazuo Ishiguro looks at our rapidly changing modern world through the eyes of an unforgettable narrator to explore a fundamental question: what does it mean to love?"--

Fabrice Schäfer Rodrigues

Sometimes, she said, 'at special moments like that, people feel a pain alongside their happiness. I'm glad you watch everything so carefully, Klara.

Carrie Booth

She was quiet for another moment. "Yes," she said, eventually. "That must be it. They lost each other. And perhaps just now, just by chance, they found each other again."

jenny grace

“Perhaps they hadn’t met for a long time. A long, long time. Perhaps when they last held each other like that, they were still young.’

‘Do you mean, Manager, that they lost each other?’

She was quiet for another moment. ‘Yes,’ she said, eventually. ‘That must be it. They lost each other. And perhaps just now, just by chance, they found each other again.”

“Those people seem so pleased to see each other,’ Manager said. And I realized she’d been watching them as closely as I had.

‘Yes, they seem so happy,’ I said. ‘But it’s strange because they also seem upset.’

‘Oh, Klara,’ Manager said quietly. ‘You never miss a thing, do you?”

“They fought as though the most important thing was to damage each other as much as possible. Their faces were twisted into horrible shapes, so that someone new might not even have realized they were people at all, and all the time they were punching each other, they shouted out cruel words.”

“she was, in her own way, excited and observant, and as anxious as I was to prepare herself to be as kind and helpful an AF as possible. But the more I watched, the more I wanted to learn, and unlike Rosa, I became puzzled, then increasingly fascinated by the more mysterious emotions passers-by would display in front of us.”

“I noticed such things all the time, but said nothing”

“What you must understand is that we’re a very special store. There are many children out there who would love to be able to choose you, choose Rosa, any one of you here. But it’s not possible for them. You’re beyond their reach. That’s why they come to the window, to dream about having you. But then they get sad.’

‘Manager, a child like that. Would a child like that have an AF at home?’

‘Perhaps not. Certainly not one like you. So if sometimes a child looks at you in an odd way, with bitterness or sadness, says something unpleasant through the glass, don’t think anything of it. Just remember. A child like that is most likely frustrated.”

“A child like that, with no AF, would surely be lonely.’

‘Yes, that too,’ Manager said quietly. ‘Lonely. Yes.”

Fred Rivett

“Perhaps,” I said eventually, “the Mother thought if she stayed with Josie all the time, Josie would be less lonely.”

“If that were true, if Josie really would be less lonely with the Mother, then I'd happily go away.”

“But who says I'm lonely? I'm not lonely.”

“Perhaps all humans are lonely. At least potentially."

I had seen photos of bulls in magazines, but of course never in reality, and even though this one was standing quite far from us, and I knew it couldn't cross the fence, I was so alarmed by its appearance I gave an exclamation and came to a halt. I'd never before seen anything that gave, all at once, so many signals of anger and the wish to destroy. Its face, its horns, its cold eyes watching me all brought fear into my mind, but I felt something more, something stranger and deeper. At that moment it felt to me some great error had been made that the creature should be allowed to stand in the Sun's pattern at all, that this bull belonged somewhere deep in the ground far within the mud and darkness, and its presence on the grass could only have awful consequences.

The kitchen was an excellent room for the Sun to look into.

Francine

The Sun had ways of reaching us wherever we were.

AVAILABLE TO PREORDER NOW 'The Sun always has ways to reach us.' From her place in the store, Klara, an Artificial Friend with outstanding observational qualities, watches carefully the behaviour of those who come in to browse, and of those who pass in the street outside. She remains hopeful a customer will soon choose her, but when the possibility emerges that her circumstances may change for ever, Klara is warned not to invest too much in the promises of humans. In Klara and the Sun, Kazuo Ishiguro looks at our rapidly-changing modern world through the eyes of an unforgettable narrator to explore a fundamental question: what does it mean to love?

sina (she/her) 

"I supported you this time. But I won't do it again. Its for the customer to choose the AF, never the other way round." 

Danny White

Favoritism, like any other form of corruption, works best when it remains unacknowledged.

The new B3s, it was said, had all sorts of improvements. But how could they be good AFs for their children if their minds could invent ideas like these?

Brodie smith

Of course a human heart is bound to be complex, it must be limited.

“Sometimes,” she said, “ at special moments like that, people feel pain alongside their happiness.”

Klara and the Sun is the first novel by Kazuo Ishiguro since he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature 2017

Klara Hansen 

vivian mizuno

i now see the sun in a different light :’)

Lettuce Wrapped Cabbage Cat

Hanna Rybchynska

Well, this book was really good. 

I loved how the writer introduced us to a world without explaining everything but showing it through the eyes of Artificial Intelligence. It is interesting how he keeps her vision all the same throughout the book. I like Klara and how she thinks and sees the world. The way she tries to understand the humans and believe in their best side. She was always an observer, and I, as a reader was also an observer of this world. 

This book doesn't necessarily have a twist, it focuses a lot on telling a story so we can have our own decisions and conclusions. We need to build the world using the story. 

Overall I think it is a great book, with a good message. It is a simple but at the same time complex story about love, family, and our place in this world, as people and also as AI.

Chloé

I liked the writing I thought it was beautifully written and Kazuo Ishiguro wrote Klara beautifully how he wrote and AI with a great curiosity. She felt human but you could tell through his brillant writing that she wasn't.
I was into it and then half way through part 2 it kinda lost me and if I'm honest I don't know why. I had to power my way through and even decided to read something else before I went screw it let me finish it. 
I would read something else by Kazuo Ishiguro cause his writing style is stunning.

I was so excited to read this book because Never Let Me Go is one of my all time favorite books, & I was excited to see what else this author had in store. this book had such an interesting premise, but unfortunately, for me, it fell flat. I’ll definitely still read his other works, but I fear nothing will beat Never Let Me Go 🥲

Katie Berges 

maitha mana

Eerie, it cosntantly felt off. Then i realized it's the same author as Never Let Me Go.

Nina

This is such a special book that enhances the complexity of human emotions and relationships.

Narrated from the perspective of Klara, an artificial friend, the story unfolds through her observations and interactions with the world around her.

Thus, being an AF, Klara seems to have a different approach to life than the other artifical intelligent friends. The way she worships the sun draws parallels to the human mundane beliefs in spirituality. While her outward expression seems mostly rational, her inside strives from empathy and compassion, creating a special aura impacting those surrounding her.

Not only is this book a heartwarming read about love and life, but it subtly critiques the ethical implications of technological progress.

Figuratively speaking, the book also provides a retrospective perspective on events that lie in today's future.

Mara D Alo Fonseca

This is such a special book that enhances the complexity of human emotions and relationships.

Narrated from the perspective of Klara, an artificial friend, the story unfolds through her observations and interactions with the world around her.

Thus, being an AF, Klara seems to have a different approach to life than the other artifical intelligent friends. The way she worships the sun draws parallels to the human mundane beliefs in spirituality. While her outward expression seems mostly rational, her inside strives from empathy and compassion, creating a special aura impacting those surrounding her.

Not only is this book a heartwarming read about love and life, but it subtly critiques the ethical implications of technological progress.

Figuratively speaking, the book also provides a retrospective perspective on events that lie in today's future.

Julie Rubens

Geez, this book took me ages to finish. I don't hate it but I just didn't find it interesting at all. I'm exited to finally be able to read another book again.

hileahrious

** spoiler alert **
           This is a very thought-provoking read. I am still kind of absorbing the various messages. It is, to put it most simply, an inspection of the human soul... or heart. Are we as unique as we wish to believe? Or is there a scientific explanation for our love. 

Sounds like every philosopher’s question since the beginning of time, right? Boring! However it’s the way this story is narrated through the perspective of Klara, essentially a help-robot. An objective, logical being, concludes that there is in fact more to the human heart, that being the connection to other humans. An important message I think we easily forget sometimes: we are stronger and happier together. If only we could agree ... 

which leads me to the other issues ever so lightly touched upon by the author. Climate change, the fear of AI and tech, class division in every sense, political unrest, ethical issues around genetic enhancement... it’s actually pretty insane to think he threw all this in there but the story isn’t really about any of that. What I think caused the most impact on me personally is the way Klara “worships” the Sun, because he is her energy source. To have a robot respect the power of the sun over any human in the story is quite the banger, isn’t it?

kamille

"there was something very special, but it wasn't inside josie. it was inside those who loved her."

i thought this book was written from a very interesting perspective, even though it took me sooo long to finish (bc of school, life, responsibilities, etc.) honestly, not much happens throughout, but it asks some pretty interesting questions about what it means to be human. also, i guess as someone who specializes in intelligent systems, this book definitely made me think a lot about ethics and tech.

i did enjoy its message, although it might be slightly cliché to some: to be human is to love, and we are defined by who we love and who loves us.

klara is so cute — learning to be human just like me ! 

petrina

Abigail

** spoiler alert **
           “Al mismo tiempo, lo que empezaba a tener claro era hasta qué punto los humanos, en su obsesión por evitar la soledad, hacían maniobras que resultaban muy complejas y difíciles de entender”

Me ha gustado mucho este libro. Han pasado días y aún no paro de pensar en los personajes, sobretodo en Klara, no obstante me ha dejado con muchas dudas y aaaaaa no lo sé, tengo un par de teorías y preguntas.

¿Al final Klara estaba alucinando por el daño que sufrió cuando tuvo que sabotear la máquina? ¿El daño que sufrió fue tal que decidieron ya no utilizarla como el remplazo de Josie?
¿En realidad Josie fue en algún momento remplazada y por eso mejoró cuando el sol la tocó? ¿Fue con la información que obtuvieron del cuestionario que Mr Capaldi le hizo a Klara?
¿Josie murió y por ello Rick le dió el mensaje a su madre?¿Sirvienta se fue por lo del remplazo? ¿Josie salía tantas veces porque la llevaban a hacerle “mejoras” para que pareciese que en realidad estaba creciendo?
¿Dónde está el AA de Sal?¿Rick y Josie terminaron distanciándose debido a que Josie ya no era más Josie?
¿Desde hace cuánto los niños al nacer son mejorados?¿Se hacen las mejoras debido a que las futuras generaciones humanas no serían capaces de competir contra los cada vez más mejorados AA?
¿Por qué gerente caminaba de esa manera al despedirse de Klara?

Los amigos y familiares de los niños podían ser remplazados por AA. Los mismos niños pueden ser reemplazados por AA.
¿Qué es una persona?

One of the best books I’ve ever read. Ishiguro weaving in depth around identity and life’s purpose in a funny, yet heartbreaking tale from the point of view of an artificial being is masterful. I’ll be thinking about this book for a long time. 

Samantha Karpovck

Geetika 

Beautiful book about optimism, hope and goodness. Learning: There is something humane in all of us which can never be replaced. Learn to Love

kyra

Excellent premise and setting ... but underwhelming with the clichéd message at the end. Loved the uncertainty about the ending and the unrealiable narration.

This book is a little bit heart wrenching at the end, although throughout you get the sense it will be. Just before the end of the book they save you from one deep pit of despair and then immediately drop you into one of bittersweet melancholy. 

Liam Richardson

Mia Caven

not what I expected but even better highkey. This was such a warm book in the sense that it was very easy to get attached to the main character and form bonds with other characters. I loved the plot and it was perfectly executed, so well written. 100% Rec

It was so so so gentle. And little mysteries were on point. I also want the Sun to help my friends.

Dora Tominic

Disclaimer: this is not a review.

It was so so so gentle. And little mysteries were on point. I also want the Sun to help my friends.

Yash

It's not bad but that great either. 3.5 ⭐

 wtf this was honestly best book ever vibes so good for real and relevant and scary and true and creepy and every emotion whatever

jillian tenner

@ratleyy wtf this was honestly best book ever vibes so good for real and relevant and scary and true and creepy and every emotion whatever

rumbledethumps

There were some interesting themes in the book (disposability of people, faith, observation/experience), but these themes have been dealt with in better ways before in other works of SF, and it just felt too much like "literary master tries hand at science fiction."

Overall it was just a little too quaint for me to really love.

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 that 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."

A novel

Bilge Ince

A part of us refuses to let go. The part that wants to keep believing there’s something unreachable inside each of us. 
I’ve seen the past, today, and the future in Ishiguro’s first novel, and the closeness of Ishiguro’s imagination to reality has fascinated me.
An Artificial Friend (AF) is the best friend of a kid. Each AF is unique, and its abilities are nothing but a black box. So as we might expect, AFs are Artificially Intelligent robots, and Klara is one of the best generations with an amazing observing ability. Having only one downside required the sun to have enough power to run, and this is the story of Klara.

 There was something very special, but it wasn't inside Josie. It was inside those who loved her.

A thought provoking look at the world through the eyes of a seemingly conscious AI, some beautiful descriptions and a story arc I didn’t fully see coming, but it felt a little lacking towards the end.

Fred Rivett &
Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro

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