I think that there will always be a disconnect between Klara and her ability to truly convey those around her, simply because she is a machine. Many other readers critique this book for it’s flat characters, but I choose to believe this is by design.

In my understanding, although Klara could narrate the lives of her owners and their friends, she is not capable of truly sharing the “heart” of these secondary characters. The book alludes to the “heart” that humans possess that truly makes them who they are. Thus, there is a bit of a disconnect in her descriptions of the other characters in the book, Josie included. Although she is highly observant, she still does not possess the ability to truly understand the complexity of human emotions and motivations. The remaining characters are more peripheral and are only understood through Klara’s ability to observe and comprehend them. Klara’s “heart” is big and her capacity to demonstrate feelings of affection is large. She’s designed that way, both for the reader and her new owner, Josie. Although her speech can be stilted and forced–a product of her artificial nature no doubt–she is warm, caring, and compassionate in her actions. She has her own feelings, emotions, ability to learn and adapt, and even her own deity. Klara, due to her nature, is more human that we’d expect an AI to be, and her learning and understanding grows every day. She is able to make quick study of Josie to anticipate her needs and keep her as safe as she can. There is something particularly special about Klara: she is much more observant than her counterparts–a feature that makes her the ideal companion for Josie. Klara and the Sun is an interesting novel, told from the perspective of an AF, or Artificial Friend. There are variations of this cover, but I’ve selected my favourite for the feature image of this review, specifically because it had such a draw for me. I came in to buy a totally different book and left with this one instead.

I absolutely could not walk away from this cover. However, I was visiting indie bookstore, The Bookkeeper, and I saw Klara and the Sun on their featured reads page. He’s a big name, but I was jaded by my last read. I’d kind of avoided any more of his works since then, I’ll admit. The last Ishiguro that I read was The Buried Giant, a novel that I wasn’t a huge fan of. 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. 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.

Book review klara and the sun