The new novel by Kazuo Ishiguro.
As a loyal reader of all of Ishiguro's work, I have been looking forward to the publication of this novel since I read the last pages of his previous novel The Buried Giant in 2015. Since Ishiguro won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2017, he has been even more in the spotlight, so his newest novel Klara and the Sun has been highly anticipated. In my opinion, it was worth the wait.
Ishiguro is no stranger to futuristic, dystopian elements in his novels. His successful novel Never Let Me Go is widely considered to be one of the greatest contemporary novels dealing with human cloning and the moral issues connected to it. It is therefore not surprising that, after entering a historical fantasy world in his most recent novel, Ishiguro returns to a dystopian setting. The world of Klara and the Sun, however, is very different from that of the school of clones in Never Let Me Go.
Klara, the protagonist, is not a human being but an artificial friend (AF). Her kind are produced as companions for humans, in a way that evokes electronic gadgets are there are new improved models being released regularly. Having such an unusual protagonist always keeps the readers in suspense: How much does Klara really understand? What does she feel? Are there limits to her capabilities? This creates a very interesting reading experience.
The novel follows Klara from the shop where she is sold to the house of a girl whose mother buys her. She is very observant, and the readers get an exceptional insight from an outsider perspective into a world which is not so very different from our reality in 2021. Some technical and medical advances have certainly influenced the world in the novel, and led to questionable changes. Klara doesn't only face the challenge of needing to figure out this world and how to be of help to her owner Josie, but also needs to keep tabs on her own energy level and the health of Josie - and both of these seem linked to the sun.
Ishiguro writes in a beautiful language as in his other novels, making it easy for the reader to empathise with Klara and Josie, which also creating an uncanny suspense about some elements of this world. The novel is filled with impressive imagery and moments which linger even after reading. Whether Ishiguro can fully resolve all the complex questions he raises, is the object of debate among readers. Personally, I enjoy his novels enough without needing to scientifically dissect all elements. This novel was just as haunting as some of my favourite other novels by this writer, and will certainly remain on my mind for a while.
(Images taken by me)