Book Review: Klara and the Sun
Yay! Another book club read - this time we venture into litfic. Not our usual choice of reading, considering that the last book(s) we read were the entire ‘Once Upon a Broken Heart’ trilogy. But, here we are. I’m also still on the book-buying ban, and this is what I had on my TBR list, but NOT on my official reading list. So here we go, venturing into the world of dystopian futures and science fiction.
Klara is an AF (Artificial Friend), a robot of sorts made to be a companion to Josie. She is observant and interested in the psyche of humans. She strives to understand the world around her, especially that of her human family. In short, this book is an innovative look at what makes us human. I have no doubt that artificial intelligence will progress to the point where we have robots in our homes helping with household tasks, work, schools, and other aspects of daily life. However, the question Kazuo Ishiguro raises is, will they become observant? Will they grow and understand us in a way we cannot control, such as learning to care about us? It's an interesting ethical question and one that will in no doubt, come up in the not-too-distant future.
Klara’s biggest friend is the Sun. She is solar-powered and believes that the Sun’s special nutrients will help not only her but the family she is tasked to care for. The Sun is the story’s silent character, but one that carries some of the most gravitas. It is Ishiguro’s writing at its best. It is acknowledged that the Sun is not only powerful, but all-powerful too. It can heal, energise and restore life. Klara is forever in awe of the Sun. A character that is seen but not heard. The Sun becomes mythic to Klara. It represents hope for her and for Josie - her child companion. A hope that Josie will get well due to the power of the Sun’s special nutrients. A silent but resilient force that is the backbone of the novel.
Let's talk about the humans in this book, but also a key theme that appears a lot in Ishiguro’s writing: what does it mean to be human? Klara becomes the companion for Josie, a ‘lifted’ child who regularly gets sick due to the process of being ‘lifted’. Klara’s observational skills on Josie and understanding of who Josie is as a person become a sinister alternative to the real Josie should she die from the ‘uplifting’ process. Klara is confident that, should anything happen to Josie, she would be able to mimic her posture and mannerisms, but admits that she cannot mimic the “heart” of Josie. I think this reflects a really important point in today's debate about AI and how its rapid growth is concerning to a lot of people. “Heart” is important to Klara and key to the book's main argument. “Heart” matters, but more importantly, “Love”. The beauty of Klara is her curiosity as an AF, and whilst Klara’s lifespan as an AF slowly fades to black, she has come to understand humanity better than we could understand ourselves. It is deeply touching, but also what is so concerning for the doomsters of AI.