4 stars.
Klara and the Sun, the second novel by Sir Kazuo Ishiguro that I have read, was very good, though not the novel I was expecting. I knew that it was narrated by a robot who is hired to care for a sick child in an unspecified future, but that was basically it.
Ishiguro's writing, as I could expect after The Remains of the Day, was poignant from the beginning. The narration was filled with touching commentary on many things, for example, "I went on thinking about the Coffee Cup Lady and her Raincoat Man, and about what Manager had said. And I tried to imagine how I would feel if Rosa and I, a long time from now, long after we'd found our different homes, saw each other again by chance on a street. Would I then feel, as Manager had put it, pain alongside my happiness?" (23). This theme is repeated several times towards the end of the novel.
The plot of the novel was slow but not boring, in a very specific way. It always made me want to read more, even in the opening exposition and a very long ending (more on that later, but the slowness is what caused me to dock a star). And the most remarkable thing about Klara and the Sun was that I got lost in it and forgot all else in my life was real for the time I was reading it. This is not uncommon among writers, in fact, it is their job. However, what sets Ishiguro apart is that the content of the novel, in itself, was not that interesting. That ability may be part of the reason that Ishiguro won a Nobel Prize. The only author whose work comes remotely close that I have read is the American Donna Tartt (another story for another time).
I would say a high percentage of the book, in fact much higher than most other books, consists of observed conversations. The emotionally intelligent robot who narrates - Klara, as in the title - does not narrate as much as she observes. Or rather, she narrates what she observes. And most of that is human interaction.
I realized about one-third of the way through that the Klara and the Sun is set in the United States, a departure from Ishiguro's previous work. I noted earlier that it was less British-sounding than The Remains of the Day. There is a reason for that.
The novel is full of good observations, for example, "It's become clear to all of us now, there are many different ways to lead a decent and full life." (228). What that means for robots Ishiguro leaves open, but for humans, it ties into a central debate of the novel (no spoilers). And Klara is a very interesting narrator, in that she knows a lot but not enough. This is demonstrated as she narrates, "At the same time, what was becoming clear to me was the extend to which humans, in their wish to escape loneliness, made maneuvers that were very complex and hard to fathom...." (114).
I promised no spoilers, but without spoiling anything, the ending took me through so many emotional ups and downs. I read the last thirty-eight pages in one sitting, and it just felt like a tug-of-war between happy and sad. I might have teared up at one point.
In sum, Klara and the Sun was a wonderful book, and while it is slow, I recommend it.
Time spent reading: 6 hours, 10 minutes.
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