Goodreads Choice Awards Book Club discussion

Voted by members for Science Fiction additional read


Klara and the Sun

From her place in the store, Klara, an Artificial Friend with outstanding observational qualities, watches carefully the behavior of those who come in to browse, and of those who pass on the street outside. She remains hopeful that a customer will soon choose her, but when the possibility emerges that her circumstances may change forever, Klara is warned not to invest too much in the promises of humans.

In Klara and the Sun, 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?

I have read the first section and find Klara to be an unexpected and wonderful narrator. I am eager to have the time to read some more of the book.

I finished this book on audio earlier this year and was heavily reminded of the movies [spoiler in case this is too revealing] (view spoiler)[AI with Haley Joel Osment and Jude Law, as well as Bicentennial Man with Robin Williams. (hide spoiler)]

I would also go further to say that in addition to the novel answering/asking "What does it mean to love?" that a different question might be (and the one I found myself thinking about after the book) "What does it mean to be human?" Curious what questions others think Ishiguro is asking (and do you think they are answered?)

Hallie, I definitely think Ishiguro is asking "What does it mean to be human?" because (view spoiler)[Klara has feelings, Klara has faith, Klara has flaws...and yet, when Josie is replicated*, her parents and Rick move away from her, finding her different and not the girl they once loved.

*This is what I believe happened in the book, but you never can tell with Ishiguro, which is why I always like his books. (hide spoiler)]

I started this yesterday and I’m loving it so far. Klara is a very interesting and endearing character.

Lea wrote: "Hallie, I definitely think Ishiguro is asking "What does it mean to be human?" because"
ooh, a fascinating interpretation. I understood that to be something that was planned to happen, but not what actually happened because (view spoiler)[ Josie seemed to get better, and Klara lived in that little room up on the stairs, and was no longer needed. If she had been replicated as Josie, wouldn't she have gone away? She wouldn't be "rotting" in the garbage heap. I would love to hear more about why you think she was replicated! I love diff interpretations (hide spoiler)]

I think it actually happened sometime during (view spoiler)[ the six days of arguments between Josie's mother and Dr. Ryan as to whether Josie needed to go to the hospital or not, Josie gets immediately well, upon being touched by the sun. Just like Klara, who is solar powered, the new Josie is also solar powered. New Josie did not replace by Klara's mind, but was infused with all of Klara's knowledge of Josie through her data dump in taking the "survey."

The replacement Josie is so good that Klara is fooled. Klara doesn't even realize that by filling out the survey, she is essentially downloading her entire knowledge of Josie. Klara doesn't notice a difference in new Josie, but those who love Josie do. Melania Housekeeper, who warned Klara about Dr. Capaldi, tries to stop the sun activating New Josie and she is swiftly replaced. maybe to keep her from voicing her suspicions? Father only stops by one time in the six years following. But Capaldi continues to come around, no reason to except that his "Portrait" is now operational. When Capaldi tells Mother that there is no need for her to be mad at him all the time, I think it is because, after all she went through to create a continuation of Josie, Mother cannot connect with the new Josie, and is angry that she wasted her time and money to create something she cannot love. Josie treats Klara differently too, But Rick's reaction is perhaps the most telling - saying that he will always keep searching for someone just like Josie, at least the Josie he once knew. (hide spoiler)]

I do think that there is a solid basis for your thoughts as well. That's what I love about this book. It's so subtle, there are clues for more than more than one interpretation. It's very clever. :-)

Lea wrote: "I think..." Lea, I LOVE this interpretation. Now I genuinely can't decide which I think happened. Thank you so much for sharing this!

Is his other work good and interesting? I enjoyed but didn't love Klara, so I'm curious from his other work what you recommend?

Hallie wrote: "Is his other work good and interesting? I enjoyed but didn't love Klara, so I'm curious from his other work what you recommend?"

I have read five of his books, and they are all very different, yet all have a subtlety to them beneath the surface, that might or might not be to your taste.

I've read the following:

Never Let Me Go
The Remains of the Day
A Pale View of Hills, and
An Artist of the Floating World

The first two books are his most popular and I might suggest you try one of those two and see what you think. There's always something he's not telling you, I like that, but some people don't enjoy it.

I absolutely loved this book and read it in 2 days!

I just finished this book and loved it. It was thought-provoking and I was left not feeling sure how to feel. (view spoiler)[ I was sad by how it ended for Klara. She definitely had a lot of qualities that we think of as human and for her to "live" out the rest of her days in that yard, along with her thoughts, just seems so lonely and sad. At the same time, if you think of her as just a machine, it is a typical end. I also felt sad that Jessie and Rick grew apart although I'm glad they each found their way.

I am a bit confused by what it means to be lifted though. From what I inferred, it's to make you smarter but it also carries risks. I'm guessing Sal died from being lifted and Jessie almost did. I wonder how common the death rate is and if it's quite high, why people still choose that path. Jessie and the other kids didn't appear more intelligent than Rick, at least not to me. (hide spoiler)]

So many questions. This is a book that will stay with me for a long time.

Michelle wrote: "I just finished this book and loved it. It was thought-provoking and I was left not feeling sure how to feel. I was sad by how it ended for Klara. She definitely had a lot of qualities that we thi..."

You spoiler is actually one of the things I didn't like about this book. Too many unanswered questions for my taste.

Objectively I know that author is a good writer and I can totally understand why people enjoyed this book. But for me it was a miss.

Lynn wrote: "You spoiler is actually..."

It was the same for me. The missing overview of the world was my main issue, the why, which led me not to enjoy the book as much as I expected.
My high expectation could also have been the reason for the disappointment.


Lea wrote: "I think it actually happened..."

Wow, Lea! That is a beautiful interpretation, it makes so much sense :)

Anusha wrote: "Lea wrote: "I think it actually happened..."

Wow, Lea! That is a beautiful interpretation, it makes so much sense :)"

Thanks, Anusha. I thought about re-reading the book with those thoughts in my head the entire time and see if it totally works or not, but I'm not that interested in re-reading. And I think the ambiguity and the unanswered questions are a hallmark of this author, so I wouldn't be sure even if I re-read the entire thing, so moving on! :-) :-) :-)