Klara and the Sun. A narrative about an AI navigating the human condition from a non-human perspective set in an imagined, highly technological future. Klara, the main AI and narrator of the novel, serves as an AF (meaning “Artificial Friend” in the story) to a girl. A companion, essentially. This girl, Josie, is gravely ill due to undergoing the process of genetic engineering of children for high intelligence that takes place in this world. Klara observes and gives deep thought to the environment and interactions around her, describing things with a poetic and childlike tone.
Opening the first few pages of the novel, I was confused. Ishiguro immediately sets you in Klara’s present moment, having her ponder on her surroundings. For an AI, Klara is quite subdued in intelligence compared to my expectation of how an AI would function. Yet this works perfectly. The modesty of Klara’s curiosity and presumptions forms a sweet but thought-provoking tone. There is not necessarily a negative mindset coming from her during her thought process, however a neutral and open innocence that helps flesh out all aspects of the human experience.
The excess, casual dialogue from other characters in the story as told by an AI is refreshing and challenges my expectations of Klara just being a programmed servant. Settling into the rhythm of the story took time, and I then could finally build a better internal concept of the workings in the writing instead of gazing absentmindedly at the pages. Going into this, I didn’t expect such a poignant story, filled with miserable characters, and a relatively grim atmosphere. But of course, the naïve purity of learning and growing remain relevant by our narrator and author. The unknowing and passionate individuality you can find in all cracks and corners of humanity. I would well consider this a book that students as young as elementary school age could even pick up on and feel for. The naturalness of concepts and ideas in this story are of tales as old as time, and may have been encountered by you in your own life experiences, but packaged differently in this contemporary science fiction creation.
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