Cultural Dessert

'Klara and the Sun' by Kazuo Ishiguro

25 November 2022

I’ve long been an admirer of the novels of Kazuo Ishiguro. A few years ago I was lucky to see him at the Royal Festival Hall, in conversation with another of my favourite novelists, David Mitchell (reviewed here in February 2016). As well as Kazuo Ishiguro’s wonderful 1989 Booker Prize winning novel ‘The Remains of the Day’, I also really enjoyed 'When We Were Orphans' and even the impenetrably surreal dreamworld of 'The Unconsoled'. I have just finished his latest book, ‘Klara and the Sun’. Set in the near future, this is the tale of an artificial intelligence android, developed to serve as a child’s companion or Artificial Friend (AF). The story is told in the first person by the AF, Klara, a naive narrator whose voice reminded me of the child narrators of ‘The Trouble with Goats and Sheep’ by Joanna Cannon (reviewed here in January 2022) and Mark Haddon’s 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time'. This technique allows the reader gradually to piece together how this future world differs from the present day. There’s an ominous feeling throughout, as you quickly realise that Klara’s optimistic vision of the world is likely to be unravelled once she has experienced more of it. ‘Klara and the Sun’ reminded me most of the dark future reality of Ishiguro’s 2005 novel 'Never Let Me Go' (reviewed here in September 2006) but I don’t think it worked as effectively, not achieving the same level of emotional connection with the characters and their plight.

Labels: Books

posted by Robin Simpson @ 4:15 pm