Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by remlezar
Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
4.0
Like the other Ishiguro books I've read, Klara appears to be more simple than it is. Also like Ishiguro's other books, the meat of the story takes place in the aspects that are either not said, or said only quietly.
The territory you might expect Ishiguro to explore, namely exploring the question of what makes a human a human, implied by the existence of an advanced piece of AI, is definitely there. But there's a lot more going on, as well.
More striking than maybe anything else to me in Klara is the way the future world of the story has changed compared to ours, and how it's stayed the same. The world of Klara is shockingly familiar, with only a few SF elements that feel like leaps from where we are today, and yet the impact on society is terrifying. The Robots didn't rise up to destroy humanity - by and large they are obedient and highly focused on their programmed duties. But their existence has screwed things up - many jobs have been replaced, which has forced an unknown number of working class people to move into communes. It is implied that people of color are especially impacted.
The other significant change to the world is the advent of a gene editing therapy that advances children's academic capabilities, but carries with it the risk of becoming sick and dying during childhood. Despite the risks, it appears that most, or at least most in wealthy circles, consider it a given. The children could die, but without the therapy, their future is bleak.
Both of these feel like directions we're heading in. Thanks to a variety of factors, automation being one of them, it's become harder and harder to survive as part of the working class in the 21st century. And the requirements of parents and children to increase the chances of success in life are higher and higher all the time.
And all of it makes the humanity in the story less human. The children are so focused on school they have become largely isolated. Hanging out with other kids is itself treated simply as part of the children's training. The adults are similarly isolated and lost, and don't seem to have the vocabulary to deal with their world. So many choices are made out of necessity, a necessity created by human society itself, there is little room for love.
There's plenty more to say, but one final thing I want to document here is the central themes of hope and faith. Fascinating to see Klara develop what is essentially a religion in her head, one that makes complete sense to her but is obvious to the reader to be built on naivety and attributing meaning to coincidence. It's easy to judge, but how different is that when compared to every faith system we have as humans? And the benefits for Klara are significant. Her faith in the sun offers hope and meaning in a world where there is little to go around.
The territory you might expect Ishiguro to explore, namely exploring the question of what makes a human a human, implied by the existence of an advanced piece of AI, is definitely there. But there's a lot more going on, as well.
More striking than maybe anything else to me in Klara is the way the future world of the story has changed compared to ours, and how it's stayed the same. The world of Klara is shockingly familiar, with only a few SF elements that feel like leaps from where we are today, and yet the impact on society is terrifying. The Robots didn't rise up to destroy humanity - by and large they are obedient and highly focused on their programmed duties. But their existence has screwed things up - many jobs have been replaced, which has forced an unknown number of working class people to move into communes. It is implied that people of color are especially impacted.
The other significant change to the world is the advent of a gene editing therapy that advances children's academic capabilities, but carries with it the risk of becoming sick and dying during childhood. Despite the risks, it appears that most, or at least most in wealthy circles, consider it a given. The children could die, but without the therapy, their future is bleak.
Both of these feel like directions we're heading in. Thanks to a variety of factors, automation being one of them, it's become harder and harder to survive as part of the working class in the 21st century. And the requirements of parents and children to increase the chances of success in life are higher and higher all the time.
And all of it makes the humanity in the story less human. The children are so focused on school they have become largely isolated. Hanging out with other kids is itself treated simply as part of the children's training. The adults are similarly isolated and lost, and don't seem to have the vocabulary to deal with their world. So many choices are made out of necessity, a necessity created by human society itself, there is little room for love.
There's plenty more to say, but one final thing I want to document here is the central themes of hope and faith. Fascinating to see Klara develop what is essentially a religion in her head, one that makes complete sense to her but is obvious to the reader to be built on naivety and attributing meaning to coincidence. It's easy to judge, but how different is that when compared to every faith system we have as humans? And the benefits for Klara are significant. Her faith in the sun offers hope and meaning in a world where there is little to go around.