Klara and the Sun / Never Let Me Go

by Kazuo Ishiguro

Klara and the Sun

‘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, his first novel since winning the Nobel Prize in Literature, 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?

Never Let Me Go

Kazuo Ishiguro imagines the lives of a group of students growing up in a darkly skewed version of contemporary England. Narrated by Kathy, now thirty-one, Never Let Me Go dramatises her attempts to come to terms with her childhood at the seemingly idyllic Hailsham School and with the fate that has always awaited her and her closest friends in the wider world. A story of love, friendship and memory, Never Let Me Go is charged throughout with a sense of the fragility of life.

Genres: Fiction

Paperback

First published January 1, 2021

About the author

Sir Kazuo Ishiguro (カズオ・イシグロ or 石黒 一雄), OBE, FRSA, FRSL is a British novelist of Japanese origin and Nobel Laureate in Literature (2017). His family moved to England in 1960. Ishiguro obtained his Bachelor's degree from the University of Kent in 1978 and his Master's from the University of East Anglia's creative writing course in 1980. He became a British citizen in 1982. He now lives in London.

His first novel, A Pale View of Hills, won the 1982 Winifred Holtby Memorial Prize. His second novel, An Artist of the Floating World, won the 1986 Whitbread Prize. Ishiguro received the 1989 Man Booker prize for his third novel The Remains of the Day. His fourth novel, The Unconsoled, won the 1995 Cheltenham Prize. His latest novel is The Buried Giant, a New York Times bestseller. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature 2017.

His novels An Artist of the Floating World (1986), When We Were Orphans (2000), and Never Let Me Go (2005) were all shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize.

In 2008, The Times ranked Ishiguro 32nd on their list of "The 50 Greatest British Writers Since 1945". In 2017, the Swedish Academy awarded him the Nobel Prize in Literature, describing him in its citation as a writer "who, in novels of great emotional force, has uncovered the abyss beneath our illusory sense of connection with the world".

Reviews

[W. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I ONLY READ KLARA AND THE SUN, but Goodreads doesn’t list these two books separately.

It was different. I liked that Ishiguro didn’t just spell things out but gave hints, sometimes confusing; I like when an author gives his readers credit for having some intelligence that way.
Klara’s visual problems were intriguing, a processing problem, I thought, maybe a bug that the manufacturers worked out in the next model. Klara never seemed to realize that she even had a problem. It was interesting to see her understanding increase as she had more and more experiences.
Klara was more relatable for me than the humans, but she was, after all, the narrator, so all her thoughts and motivations were made clear. Also, being an AF, her programming was designed to make her sympathetic to humans’ feelings, to make her want to be friendly and supportive.
There are other issues raised in the book — buying your child a robot for a friend instead of creating opportunities for your child to have human friends; genetic modification; robots replacing humans in the workforce and what that does to humans whose careers are taken away. All in all, a thought-provoking book that I recommend.

P.S. - Ha ha! I couldn’t post this review at first, because I had failed to go through the “I’m not a robot” process.

[Rae J · Rating 4 out of 5]

Klara and the Sun is about an AF doll who becomes a companion for Josie, a girl who is sick from being "lifted." "Lifted" is a term used to remove any genetic defects and after her parents sent her to be healed, Josie becomes sick so she's in bed most of the time.

But the novel isn't about Josie and instead about Josie. The novel opens with describing Klara's life at the shop. A handful of readers have been disappointed with how long that part has dragged on, but I appreciated knowing more about the background of Josie. Without it, I don't feel like I would have grown so empathic to her character. Klara's own goal is to discover where the sun goes. She feels a kinship to the sun since she is solar-powered and worships the sun as a deity. It's also a fascinating spiritual concept to think about.

It's a dystopian novel, so you expect the novel to be a bit sad. But just because a novel is sad, it doesn't mean it isn't good. While the ending is a bit painful, I feel like the rest of the novel led up to it well and more importantly, it gave me a lot to think about. I won't give away what happened, but I would say that Klara's heart reflects that of an empathetic human. Sometimes we give so much of ourselves that it's sometimes literally all of us.

[Mila · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sólo me leí Klara y el Sol pero Goodreads no los tiene por separado 🤒.

Fue muy bonito leer este libro y ver la vida desde la perspectiva de una IA, Klara es muy inteligente y siente miedo y felicidad, pero a diferencia de los humanos, no se afecta por el resentimiento, los celos o el orgullo. Lo que sí siente Klara, y que muchos humanos intentan evitar, es la esperanza (😭😭😭) y yo la amo por eso.

El final del libro también me impactó mucho porque Klara llega a la conclusión de que por mucho que la IA puedan replicar todos los aspectos de una persona, nunca van a llegar a reemplazar a alguien, porque las personas no solo tienen algo especial dentro de sí, sino que también hay algo especial en el interior de las personas que uno quiso y quiere a lo largo de su vida. Todos tienen su propia versión de alguien, y eso hace a las personas inigualables.

[Zorba5 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read "Klara and the Sun." This was my first Kazuo Ishiguro book and the first time to read a story told by a robot. At first it felt like I was reading a children's book, but halfway through I got drawn in and I couldn't put it down. It made me wish I'd had an AF like Klara when I was a child looking after me and having conversations with me. I loved the moment when Klara realises the difference between AFs and humans. Went through a range of emotions and then heaved a sigh of relief after finishing it.

[Mika · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a gorgeous novel. The kind you just can’t stop reading. This book continually surprised me with its kindness; there were moments I expected things to turn ugly, but the reactions were not what I expected. Compelling and beautifully written, I would frankly recommend this book to anyone.

*this is a review for Klara and the Sun, Goodreads won’t let me switch it to the other version (whoops)

[Sheila · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had read Never Let Me Go several years ago. I only read Klara and the Sun this time. I did not like it. Like Never Let Me Go, Klara and the Sun deals with others using others. This time humans are using robots. Klara is an AF (artificial friend) bought for Josie. She is to be Josie's companion. Josie makes promises to Klara and in the end does not stand by the promises. Klara is intelligent. She understands emotions and feelings. She is willing to bargain with the Sun to help Josie, even sacrificing some of herself. Rick, Josie's neighbor, feels more towards Klara at the end. I hurt for Klara. So many promises made, none kept.

I also disliked so many loose ends. There was no closure on most of the story lines. Only the one where Klara ends is finished. We learn nothing of the others in the story. Also explanations would have helped with words like lifted and Paul's words. I was left to figure it out on my own and maybe I was right but maybe not. I'm not sure if I'll read him again.

[Parker Elliott · Rating 2 out of 5]

I feel like the purpose of this book wanted to be profound and it turned out to just be boring. The whole “savor your life because you’ve only got one to live” narrative is so played out and I really think this book did a poor job of trying to paint a convincing picture of why we should care about these characters at all. A big “eh” for me.

[Barbara Roufa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I only read "Klara and the Sun", but this was the only option when adding. I've never read anything quite like this novel. I was intrigued from the very beginning, and after finishing it, I'm still wondering about all of it. This was the first book I've read by Mr. Ishiguro (though I did see the movie "Remains of the Day") and I will be exploring more of his work.

[Agnes Jackson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I listened to Kara and the sun as an audiobook. This meant that there were quite a few gaps so it seemed to take a long time to finish. The reader had to contend with several different voices and some were more successful than others.
It was an interesting story but did not grip me as others from this author have done.

[Foong Ming · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF 60+%
the description of the world from such a narrow though fascinating view point was an easy read
however the plot went nowhere for me due to Klara's extremely flawed understanding of the world

[Stephen Harrington · Rating 5 out of 5]

Joyful. I read this in one sitting whilst on holiday. Ishiguro never wastes any words, the character of Klara and her story are so vivid, and her interpretation of the world is intruiging.
A story of faith and love, perfectly constructed.

[Taylakathleen]

I really enjoyed Klara and the Sun, I liked the way it made me think in depth about how love can not be felt unless you're human and it was written well. I also read and liked Never let me go and finished it but not as much as Klara.

[Claire Caste · Rating 4 out of 5]

These two books are not the usual genre for me. I loved Remains of the Day by Ishiguro. However, Klara and the Sun/Never Let Me Go were written in a different manner. I enjoyed them both.

[Lorette Russenberger · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting concept. I liked Klara and the arc of the story, but couldn’t get engaged with the human characters.

[Carlotta Spolaor · Rating 2 out of 5]

Never really understood the gist of the book to be honest.
It wasn’t necessarily bad but it didn’t make me feel much

[Matt · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn't get it. Don't see the big deal. Overhyped. Skip.

[Al Anoud · Rating 5 out of 5]

After reading it..you will admire the Sun more than before..

[Asif Anwar · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice point of view of writing. the writer presented some interesting dilemmas which made to book quite interesting. however i felt like finishing could have been better.

[Joakim Sjöborg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok book

[Louise Pottinger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Both really interesting. Enjoyed both.

[Luka Krijbolder · Rating 5 out of 5]

Prachtige boeken die me helemaal meegenomen hebben in een alternatieve realiteit.

[caroline stokes · Rating 5 out of 5]

To say I loved this is an understatement. So touching. The relational and emotional dynamics and precise way Kazuo creates authentic characters makes his writing so engrossing. Bravo!

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like this much more when reading it the second time, about two years after first reading it. No idea why.

[mleriksson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Omläsning för någon av bokcirklarna.