“Klara and the Sun” by Kazuo Ishiguro is a novel about the relationship between Klara, an android child AF (Artificial Friend) and Josie, a sick teenager. Ishiguro’s novel attempts to examine the essence of what makes us human, but is impeded by the intentionally clumsy narrative of the naive AF.

• Published: 2021
• Completed: 07/07/2025
• Pages: 307

Not very much happens in this novel and we’re kept in the dark about many of the key circumstances; what is the illness affecting Josie? What happened to Josie’s sister Sal? What of the incident where the Mother is seen in a struggle with Sal months after her death? What are these boxes that Klara often mentions in her vision? What is the significance of Josie’s portrait? Why does everyone seem so socially stilted? 

By the end of the novel, only some of these questions are answered, but not in a way that satisfyingly advances any part of the plot. It wasn’t until I was about 3/4 of the way through the novel that I realised I hadn’t had any interesting questions about the nature of the novel. For a work that largely operates as an allegory, this is a pretty huge flaw.

While I am usually a fan of vague, plotless novels mostly driven by feeling, this novel didn’t resonate with me. Klara’s innocence which had initially been endearing became tedious in its predictability. This combined with her childish first person account made the novel a chore to read. 

I think the most interesting idea arising from this novel is that there is nothing intrinsically special about being human. According to Ishiguro, what makes us special is the sentimental value we place on each other. In an era of AI, this may become our only comfort; We may not be able to discern the difference between the machine and human generated, but our sentimentality towards the latter means we will illogically value it more. 

Quotes

• AF = Artificial Friend
• AGE = Artificial Genetic Editing
• Privacy
• Nourishment

New words

• Prevaricate

Restaurant

Monica (Japanese adjacent cuisine, reflecting author’s background)