Klara and the Sun

 by Kazuo Ishiguro

This book is by the Nobel Prize for Literature winner of Never Let me Go.  I was really impressed with Never Let Me go but not his later book about a Giant.,

This book got good reviews but I have to say I found it disappointing.  It is about an Artificial Intelligence Robot but it was not anywhere near as interesting at the book Machines Like Me by McEwan.

This one is about an AF (Artificial Friend) Klara who is chosen to be the companion of a young girl Josie.  Josie has been "lifted" not sure what that involves but supposedly it is some type of genetic modification. However, due to being uplifted Josie is in poor health.

There is only one other neighbour near Josie's house.  The neighbour's are Rick and his mother.  Rick as not been uplifted but his mother hopes he will be able to get into an exclusive university because of his intelligence and with coaching from Klara.

Klara does have some other "uplifted" kids visit one day.  They are self-centred and cruel to Klara.   Josie falls in with their behaviour rather than defending Klara and Rick who is also there and feeling very uncomfortable.

Josie had a sister who died, possibly she also had been uplifted.  Josie's mother has been traumatized by the loss of her one child and doesn't want to lose Josie.  She is in contact with an "artist" who has proposed having Klara adopt the persona of Josie, should she die.  Totally Bizarre!!  Josie's parents are divorced and not on good terms.  Josie's father does not agree with this idea.

Klara gets her power from exposure to the sun.  One day she sees a large machine in front of the store she is in spewing smoke and blocking the sun.

Josie's health starts to decline severely and Klara gets the idea that if she can communicate with the sun, as it sets in a barn in a nearby field she will be able to convince the sun to heal Klara.  She promises to stop the smoke making machine and that that will placate the sun. I think an artificial intelligence robot which would be learning how to behave around people would have the ability to check out a crazy idea like this and realize it was untrue.

One day while Josie's family including her father are in town Klara tells  the Josie's father of her plan to stop the smoke machine.  It turns out she has to sacrifice some of the special fluid from her own body to affect damaging the machine. This seems to impair her ability somewhat.  She is devastated to find that there are still other smoke making machines around....

While Josie and her family are in the city Rick and his mother are meeting a man who was formerly his Mother's lover.  Rick's mother hopes the man can use his influence to get Rick into a good university. The man and Rick's mother have a big fight over how she has wronged the man in the past and how dare she ask that the man intervene.

Eventually Klara does get better, one day when the sun shines on her.  Rick goes to a different university.  I think this book was about the love between Josie and Rick, a true innocent love unlike the  warped behaviour of the adults... Rick's mom and Josie's mom.  At one point in the book Josie's father discussing Klara taking on Josie's "persona" if she dies and they talk about knowing someone's heart.  This I found disappointing too, our personalities are in our brains, not our heart.

In the end Josie and Rick go their separate ways and Klara finds herself in a junk yard where she cannot move but can look around.  The former store manager comes to her and asks her if she was a good AF, was treated well, and enjoyed her life.  She says yes to all this.

Sad, one of the only characters in the book who was willing to make a real sacrifice for the one she cared about ends up on the junk heap.... she could teach the adults a thing or two.  She remained optimistic, even if her solution was misguided, even when everyone else gave up on Clara's health improving.

An interesting story but not as good as it could have been.