Klara and the Sun

On to the review!

Klara and the Sun was admittedly controversial in book club discussion this month. @cherreadssharereads and I loved it, while some others didn't like it quite all that much. During the discussion, I realized that many of the things that people disliked about the book, were also some of my favorite aspects about the book lol

I would say probably the main disagreement(s) the group came to were Klara's “youthful” perspective and many questions about the human world. Klara is an “AF” or Artificial Friend, and her first time ever seeing the world beyond the storefront was when she was purchased by Josie and her family. Understandably, Klara has many MANY questions about the world and its inner-workings. Ishiguro introduces the reader to this crazy post-apocalyptic(?) world through Klara's perspective. And, like Klara, the reader is likely to have many MANY questions about the world (many of which remain unanswered until the very end).

Personally, I found this type of world-building / introduction to the world to be very refreshing; I find that all too often sci-fi/fantasy books “tell” the reader as opposed to showing them the world itself. In this case, Klara's discovery of the world is also OUR discovery of the world, so the many questions feel organic. Other group members, however, understandably found the countless unknowns to be exhausting and uninspiring (why do I have to read about an “oblong” AGAIN when I don't even know what it is?!?). So really, I think it comes down to reader preference!

I think we all agreed that Ishiguro's writing is fantastic, but also that it was difficult to connect with any of the characters (which is likely the point).