Klara and the Sun: A GMA Book Club Pick: A novel (Vintage International)
SOON TO BE A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE DIRECTED BY TAIKA WAITITI AND STARRING JENNA ORTEGA AND AMY ADAMS • A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK • A BOOKER PRIZE NOMINEE • From the Nobel Prize-winning author of Never Let Me Go and The Remains of the Day, a magnificent novel about the wondrous, mysterious nature of the human heart.
“A masterpiece that will make you think about life, mortality, the saving grace of love: in short, the all of it.” —Maureen Corrigan, NPR
Here is 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, but when the possibility emerges that her circumstances may change forever, Klara is warned not to invest too much in the promises of humans.
A thrilling feat of world-building and a novel of exquisite tenderness and impeccable restraint, Klara and the Sun is a magnificent achievement, one that offers a look at our changing world through the eyes of an unforgettable narrator to explore the fundamental question: what does it mean to love?
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Community Reviews
What Bookclubbers are saying about this book
✨ Summarized by Bookclubs AI
Readers say *Klara and the Sun* offers a unique, thoughtful exploration of AI, humanity, love, and ethics through Klara’s distinctive, sometimes naïve...
S
Relying on other’s views of this novel, I ended up giving it 4 stars, even though that seems higher than I feel this book deserves. Themes: humanity, love, relationships, AI (artificial intelligence), genetic enhancement, friendship. Klara is an A.F. (artificial friend) to an ailing teen and is the unreliable narrator of this dystopian novel. Her naïveté was sometimes frustrating but she is worthy of our compassion.
T
thenextgoodbook.com
Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
303 pages
I would love to give this one 4 1/2 stars but bumped it to 5 just because it was so thought provoking.
What’s it about?
Klara is an AF (artificial friend) waiting in a store window when she first sees Josie. Josie is a teenager and wants to buy Klara as soon as she sees her. Josie asks Klara to wait for her- she promises to return. Klara waits patiently, and as she waits we begin to see her kindness and her excellent observational abilities. When Josie comes back Klara can see that Josie is very ill and she is determined to help her. Klara will need all her skills to make a difference in this situation.
What did it make me think about?
Loneliness, faith, and what constitutes a human being.
Should I read it?
I can not tell you exactly why I like this book so much. The plot and characters often seem opaque. The glimpses Ishiguro gives us are thought provoking but so vague that different people will probably glean different messages. A.I. presents so many interesting and troubling ethical questions. Klara and the Sun touches on some of these possibilities. Just fascinating!
Quote-
" 'Yes. Until recently, I didn't think that humans could choose loneliness. That there were sometimes forces more powerful than the wish to avoid loneliness.' "
If you liked this try-
The Circle by Dave Eggers
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
Machines Like Me by Ian McEwan
Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
303 pages
I would love to give this one 4 1/2 stars but bumped it to 5 just because it was so thought provoking.
What’s it about?
Klara is an AF (artificial friend) waiting in a store window when she first sees Josie. Josie is a teenager and wants to buy Klara as soon as she sees her. Josie asks Klara to wait for her- she promises to return. Klara waits patiently, and as she waits we begin to see her kindness and her excellent observational abilities. When Josie comes back Klara can see that Josie is very ill and she is determined to help her. Klara will need all her skills to make a difference in this situation.
What did it make me think about?
Loneliness, faith, and what constitutes a human being.
Should I read it?
I can not tell you exactly why I like this book so much. The plot and characters often seem opaque. The glimpses Ishiguro gives us are thought provoking but so vague that different people will probably glean different messages. A.I. presents so many interesting and troubling ethical questions. Klara and the Sun touches on some of these possibilities. Just fascinating!
Quote-
" 'Yes. Until recently, I didn't think that humans could choose loneliness. That there were sometimes forces more powerful than the wish to avoid loneliness.' "
If you liked this try-
The Circle by Dave Eggers
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
Machines Like Me by Ian McEwan
Still trying to figure out the point of this book. It vaguely reminded me of AI/Supertoys Last All Summer Long, except it did not move me in any way to care what happened to any of the characters, whether human or robot.
Beautifully written like most Kazuo Ishiguro novels. The narrator Klara is an AI "Artifical Friend" chosen by a 14-year old girl as a companion in a sci-fi world where children are all taught remotely and lacking in personal interaction.
A bit of a mash-up of Never Let Me Go (dystopian near future not overly different from our own) and Remains of the Day (first person narrative from a 'servant' to the family). I remember loving both of those books more but still appreciate this one for its ruminations on family, class, and the ethics of AI and genetic modification.
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