A review by jmullenbach
Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
4.0
This book touches on *so many* topics and themes:
loneliness, human interaction, social stratification
what makes us human, perception, imitation, souls
rationality, faith, intelligence
climate change & technology as savior
risk and reward and parenting
automation, work-as-purpose
It’s a well-made tapestry of all these things, but I wish the book picked a sample of these and went deeper. It’s very similar in concept to The Remains of the Day, plus sci-fi. A lifelong servant reflects on the crucial moments of their life. Ishiguro does this cool thing (at least in the books of his i’ve read, including this one) that’s like the opposite of dramatic irony: the characters know something the reader doesn’t. The narrator and other characters talk about abnormal (to the reader) things plainly and use colloquialisms that you have to decipher. It feels very natural and embeds you in the world while helpfully building your interest, and it works well here with the robot narrator.
I really appreciated the descriptions of Klara’s perception and her calm interpretation of her bizarre computerized input, which relates really nicely to the bits on human connection and imitation and how we understand each other. It’s fun to imagine the author reading a deep learning paper or two in preparation for writing this.
loneliness, human interaction, social stratification
what makes us human, perception, imitation, souls
rationality, faith, intelligence
climate change & technology as savior
risk and reward and parenting
automation, work-as-purpose
It’s a well-made tapestry of all these things, but I wish the book picked a sample of these and went deeper. It’s very similar in concept to The Remains of the Day, plus sci-fi. A lifelong servant reflects on the crucial moments of their life. Ishiguro does this cool thing (at least in the books of his i’ve read, including this one) that’s like the opposite of dramatic irony: the characters know something the reader doesn’t. The narrator and other characters talk about abnormal (to the reader) things plainly and use colloquialisms that you have to decipher. It feels very natural and embeds you in the world while helpfully building your interest, and it works well here with the robot narrator.
I really appreciated the descriptions of Klara’s perception and her calm interpretation of her bizarre computerized input, which relates really nicely to the bits on human connection and imitation and how we understand each other. It’s fun to imagine the author reading a deep learning paper or two in preparation for writing this.