Audiobook Review – Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro, Narrated by Sura Siu (3/5 stars)
Reading Level:Adult
Genre: Science Fiction
Length: 10 hours and 16 minutes
Publisher: Random House Audio
Release Date: March 02, 2021
ASIN: B08BCPV1G7
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: Borrowed Audiobook from Library
Rating: 3/5 stars
“Here is the story of Klara, an Artificial Friend with outstanding observational qualities, who, from her place in the store, 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. Klara and the Sun is a thrilling book that offers a look at our changing world through the eyes of an unforgettable narrator, and one that explores the fundamental question: what does it mean to love?”
Series Info/Source: This is a stand alone book. I borrowed this on audiobook from my library.
Thoughts: This was okay. I ended up finishing it but found this to have a very deliberate pace and be a bit boring. I also felt like the ending was unfinished and not as impactful as I had hoped. This is yet another story about an artificially intelligent robot that helps out humanity but is then forgotten.
The story follows Klara, an AF (Artificial Friend). Klara is purchased by Josie’s family to be a companion to Josie. Josie is often sick and this puts a lot of stress on Josie and her mother. Klara helps in whatever way she can and for Klara that means petitioning the Sun for help with Josie’s sickness. Klara is strangely insightful for an AF and her observations help her human family even more than they realize.
There were glimmers of intriguing things here. Like the possibility of this AF (artificial friend) completely replacing a human child, or Klara’s mission to stop pollution. There are also glimmers of humanity being feed-up with the corporate, lifted culture. All of these ideas were glimpses and, unfortunately, they weren’t fully developed.
A number of themes in this story are glimpsed by Klara but never explored or explained. For example, I never figured out what the idea of being “lifted” really was. I never really figured what it meant for Josie’s father to be part of the splinter group he was part of. These intriguing issues are briefly glimpsed, never explained, and then forgotten. There wasn’t any follow through. It left this feeling like a sketch of some unique ideas rather than a complete story.
I was hoping for some surprising end to this, something that would really make me think. However, the ending felt very tired and like a million other stories about artificial intelligence out there. I think the main difference in this story is how Klara deifies the Sun and how subtly Klara helps the family she is with via her unique insights.
I listened to this on audiobook and the audiobook was easy to listen to and well done.
My Summary (3/5): Overall this was okay but not great. I enjoyed Klara as a character but found a lot of the story felt more like a sketch than a fully developed story. The story feels unfinished and has very typical AI themes and ends in a very typical way for this type of sci-fi story. It is a very calm and deliberately paced story about an AI’s faith and the way the AI uses that to help her people. If that sounds interesting to you I would recommend. If you are looking for a faster paced or ground-breaking sci-fi novel about AI I would look elsewhere.
