Klara and the Sun is a "science-fiction" novel by Nobel-prize winner Kazuo Ishiguro. I think that pretty much summarizes how the book is.

The story is around a robot (Klara), or an AF (Artificial Friend) and the process of observing the world through her eyes. First in the shop, eventually in the house of the Mother/Daughter that purchase her.

The world in which the story is set is not fully developed. There are things that become clear through the reading, like the genetic augmentations that some kids undergo to become better at school (they are lifted). We also learn not every procedure is successful.

There's a perspective that the world is undergoing some changes, some people are losing jobs or rethinking what life is (like the father of the kid.) There's a big social distance between those who were lifted and those who weren't.

Moreover, robots are replacing people at some jobs, although this is a discussion that happens in a very secondary plane.

Part of the story is triggered by Josie being sick, and the mother requiring Klara to fully observe her. Later in the book it becomes clear that the scope is to get a replica of Josie and get Klara to inhabit the body.

As a whole, the book is a story that tried to be deep, to reflect in society and a possible future (like one would expect from a Nobel-prize winner.) But my overall impression is that it falls short in almost every aspect.

The story is not one that hasn't been explored in the past, a future with some labor replacement by robots. Robots that can take the shape of humans, genetic modification on kids. The moral is not fully explored. The future seems to be so distant where these things are assumed as a natural (and perhaps needed) process.

It's a heavy read, sometimes slow. It picks up by the end, when we finally understand what is going on. I wouldn't recommend it.

reading-2024