Klara and the Sun
“Until recently, I didn’t think that humans could choose
loneliness. That there were sometimes forces more powerful than the wish to avoid loneliness.”
Author:Kazuo Ishiguro
Genre: Literary Fiction
Publication Date: March 2021
Number of Pages: 304 pages
Geographical Setting: The United States
Time Period: An Unspecified Time in the Future
Series: Stand-Alone
Plot Summary:
Klara is an AF, or Artificial Friend, who spends most of her early weeks observing the outside world through the front window of a store. She is spotted in the front window of her store by Josie, a sickly little girl. Again and again, despite Josie's worsening sickness Klara continues to be hopeful and put her faith in the healing power of the sun. Klara will do anything and sacrifice anything to make sure that Josie makes it to adulthood.
Subject Headings:
Robots; Artificial Intelligence; Existentialism
Appeal:
Language/Style: Since Klara is learning about the world around her through observation, she creates terms for objects and ideas. For example, there is a giant machine that puts out pollution which she calls the Cootings machine based on the marks on the side.
Characterization: Klara is very much herself. She is distinct from other characters as she is so aware of the world around her. Readers will not identify her but they will find her likable and easily understandable.
Story Line: Klara and the Sun looks at a distant future where children are genetically modified. Much of the book deals with sickness and the possibility of losing a child and the grief around that. It explores the lengths to which parents will go to staunch the grief.
Tone: As Klara is inquisitive, the book takes often takes on a curious and probing tone as she discovers the world around her.
3 terms that best describe this book:
Introspective; Reflective: Character-Driven
3 Relevant Non-Fiction Works
How to create a mind: the secret of human thought revealed by Ray Kurzwell: Explores the idea of reverse-engineering the brain and the ethical implications of human consciousness.
Life 3.0: being human in the age of artificial intelligence by Max Tegmark: This book explores the future of artificial intelligence and the prospect of them doing human jobs.
AI Superpowers: China, Silicon Valley, and the new world order by Kai-Fu Lee: Takes a look at the big players in developing AI technology.
3 Relevant Fiction Works
Instructions for a Funeral by David Means: A collection of stories that contain musings of grief and death.
Machines Like Me by Ian McEwans: Two lovers create a robot that ends up tangling them in a love triangle.
Bubblegum by Adam Levin: In an alternate present where the internet doesn't exist, a writer struggles to write their memoir.
Kazuo Ishiguro is a gem of an author. I remember reading The Remains of the Day for an undergrad class and really enjoying the narrative. I think a story on an Artificial Friend is especially on point as we are currently facing the implications of AI.
ReplyDeleteDid you see that article about how an AI predicted that a woman would get breast cancer four years before she developed it? The implications of AI are, quite frankly, staggering.
DeleteWow, this sounds like a kicker of a book. I've mostly read and watched AI stories that were more focused on the AI becoming free, so Klara's apparent hope that Josie makes it through her illness is a little unexpected. I've heard of Ishiguro as an author, and this book in particular, but I didn't actually know what it was about. I would not have predicted AI as the subject matter! Thanks for sharing this.
ReplyDeleteIshiguro is one of those authors that you never quite know where the story is going until you get there. If AI isn't your thing, I ALWAYS recommend "The Buried Giant" which is a medieval epic.
DeleteHi Dany,
ReplyDeleteWhen I initially looked for literary fiction novels for this class, Klara and the Sun was one I came across. It was a contender because of the strangeness of the plot, but ultimately, I chose not to read it.
Interestingly, the book I chose for this week, The School for Good Mothers, also contains artificial intelligence, though they were human-presenting robots. Like Klara, these robots were interested in learning about how the world works and why the world works in that way.
With a focus on artificial intelligence and the concept of genetic engineering, would you classify Klara and the Sun as adopting elements of dystopian novels or crossing the boundary into a dystopia while still staying within the literary fiction genre?
I think your nonfiction read-alikes sound quite informative and like good choices for readers who want to become more educated on artificial intelligence and genetic engineering; these topics can be difficult to comprehend because of their intricacies and use of complex technological jargon. Perhaps a book would be more palatable and understandable than a scholarly article.
Reading the summaries for your three fiction read-alikes, I noticed that each seems to share a particular strangeness Klara and the Sun embodies with its plot, which I imagine for readers who enjoyed Klara and the Sun, would be a point of intrigue.
Great job and full points!
ReplyDelete