Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro

Title: Klara and the Sun

Author: Kazuo Ishiguro

Publisher: Knopf 2021

Genre: Scfi

Pages: 303

Rating: 2/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Summer TBR

Here is the story of Klara, an Artificial Friend with outstanding observational qualities, who, from her place in the store, watches carefully the behavior of those who come in to browse, and of those who pass on the street outside. She remains hopeful that a customer will soon choose her. Klara and the Sun is a thrilling book that offers a look at our changing world through the eyes of an unforgettable narrator, and one that explores the fundamental question: what does it mean to love?

It’s the second Ishiguro that I’ve tried and he is definitely not for me. Overall, my big thought is that Ishiguro is just retreading sci-fi tropes and ideas but without adding anything new or interesting. I never found any part of this book to be new or fresh. I found no real message about humanity or identity. I definitely did not connect with any of the characters. Klara has the mindset of a 5-year-old and never really changes. Josie is a brat throughout the entire book. Ishiguro never really explains much of anything about the larger world or being “lifted.” The reader is left in the dark for most of this story and I just didn’t appreciate it. Is this supposed to be our future? If yes, then I need a actually discussion of how we are going wrong and how we can avoid it. We don’t get any of that. It’s just a superficial story. And don’t get me started on Klara’s insistence that the sun will bestow some blessing on Josie. Just ugh!

Next up on the TBR pile:

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

Title: Never Let Me Go

Author: Kazuo Ishiguro

Publisher: Vintage International 2005

Genre: Dystopian fiction

Pages: 288

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: T4MC -- Child on cover; Dystopian; Monthly - June; TBR Pile; Book to Movie

How I Got It: I own it

From the Booker Prize-winning author of The Remains of the Day comes a devastating new novel of innocence, knowledge, and loss. As children Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy were students at Hailsham, an exclusive boarding school secluded in the English countryside. It was a place of mercurial cliques and mysterious rules where teachers were constantly reminding their charges of how special they were.

Now, years later, Kathy is a young woman. Ruth and Tommy have reentered her life. And for the first time she is beginning to look back at their shared past and understand just what it is that makes them special–and how that gift will shape the rest of their time together. Suspenseful, moving, beautifully atmospheric, Never Let Me Go is another classic by the author of The Remains of the Day.

I so wanted to like this novel.  I heard amazing things about the story and the style and the entire concept.  However, I did not enjoy the book.  My biggest complaint is with the style.  The book is narrated by Kathy who is 31-years-old.  A lot of the story is told by her relating a story from her childhood.  I felt that Kathy was relating this stories as if she was 13.  I just didn't buy the fact that she was an adult.  Maybe this was intentional.  Given who Kathy is and how the story progresses, it could have been done on purpose.  But I felt myself being constantly distracted by the sentence construction and word choices.  I just couldn't actually get behind the story.  As to the plot and characters, I have mixed feelings.  I liked Kathy and Tommy, but loathed Ruth.  Ruth is meant to be a sticky character, but I wanted to punch her every time she appeared.  Also, I figured out the big plot reveal about 30 pages in (way before the author says anything).  It seemed obvious and not really that exciting.  I've seen other books and movies do the idea justice.  This just wasn't one of them.  Although a highly recommended book, it just wasn't for me.  On the next selection...

Movie:

Since, I didn't love the novel, I didn't think I would like the movie.  And I was correct.  I felt that the movie didn't even get into the relationship between the three leads.  We seen to get an abridged version of the plot.  Things happen but we don't know why or the motivation behind the characters.  As such, I liked the movie less than the book.  It just didn't do anything for me.