Kazuo Ishiguro Turns 70 - A Spoiler-Full Book Review of Klara and the Sun (A Great Book but not His Best) by the Love of My Life
- thefearlessfrock
- Nov 7, 2024
- 7 min read
CAREFUL! THIS REVIEW DISCUSSES HEAVY SPOILERS!
8 November - and we (well, I, for sure) know what that means: It's Kazuo Ishiguro's birthday. So, let's recap. Is he beautiful? You bet! Is he funny? Sure he is! Is he a dream? Hell yes! Is he The Love of My Life? Indeed he is!
He is the Nobel-Prize winner Kazuo Ishiguro, unceasingly the Pretties Brain of All Time - now, at the age of 70. (Not to objectify him, but what can we do when he is so very charming indeed?)
Last year I ranked his books - also on his birthday - and now, after having read Klara and the Sun as well, I didn't only have to update my ranking with a new contender (against all of his books I've read so far...all, except for two!), I also ended up reorganising my original list a tad bit. Lesson learned: things do look different in retrospect.
Find my ranking here: https://thefearlessfrock.wixsite.com/bunny/post/happy-birthday-to-the-prettiest-brain-of-all-a-birthday-ish-ranking-of-kazuo-ishiguro-s-novels
Before we dive into today's topic - Klara and the Sun - I wanted to share a few general and also more specific (oddly specific) facts I've learned about Ishiguro: facts that are just staples of his career or I found utterly adorable. Ahh, Mr. Ishiguro, stop being so damn cute! (Can we even call a Nobel Prize winner cute? I hope so.)
Let's refresh our memories on Kazuo Ishiguro - and his incredible life - once again. (And may we be able to celebrate his life for many-many more years!) Mr. Ishiguro's first language (strictly speaking) was Japanese, as he was born in Nagasaki, Japan. His family emigrated to the UK when he was at the tender age of 5, where he has been living ever since. He's won all the most prestigious prizes possible - from the Booker Prize to (obviously) the Nobel Prize. In addition, in 2023, he was nominated for his first-ever Oscar as a screenwriter for the screenplay of Living (directed by Oliver Hermanus, starring Bill Nighy). He's been married for many-many decades and has one daughter, Naomi Ishiguro who's also a writer. What I find the most endearing about Ishiguro though - something I've realised while writing these lines - is that he comes across so very down-to-earth. He talks a lot about his process of writing but always emphasises the incredible driving force her wife, Lorna, brings to the table. (A harsh nonetheless incredibly supportive presence.) While listening to Ishiguro's plenty of interviews, I've grown to wonder what kind of person Lorna might be. - A topic I may explore in the future? I hope so. Lorna. I kinda love you too. We only love a Confident Queen.
In an interview with Southbank Centre, Ishiguro talks candidly about his process of finding the most suitable book title. Instead of mystifying the process, he shares how he likes opening up random books on random pages to point at random sections. Some of his findings may sound like a good choice for a book - which he then adds to a long list of potential book titles - for later use. An oddly endearing little tip from a very down-to-earth author.
Find the clip here:
If you want to read about him more - or find resources on the information I mentioned here, you may want to check out the following links:
Alright, and now, let's talk about Klara and the Sun:
1.) In Keywords:
genre: (I'd say) literary science fiction
year of (first) publication: 2021
publisher: Faber & Faber
number of pages (in my paperback edition): 340
2.) About the Premise of the Book:
Klara is an AF (artificial friend) in the (supposedly not so far) future. She narrates the story of her owners purchasing her, her journey of supporting Josie, a teenager and consequently her challenging relationships with people in her life as well: Josie's mother, father and her best friend (boyfriend-of-a-sort), Rick. Klara's endearing mixture of intellectualism (unlimited capabilities of AI) and childlike naiveté make her excavating of dark secrets surrounding Josie's life and the general society of this fictitious (although not altogether impossible) future will come for you like a meteor and may shatter your heart.
3.) The 'Incredibilities' of Ishiguro's World (As Per Usual):
Socially sensitive, not at all demure (when it comes to forcing us to question our stand on... basically anything and everything), Ishiguro is apparently very concerned about (and if not concerned, well, then fascinated by - to say the least)... the future. The science of it, that is. Still, all of Ishiguro's fictitious explorations of the future of our science lead to the same topic: humanity. As Never Let Me Go has already proved (and distressed us with it), humans' desire to play around with modifying their fellow humans (only in theory - for now) is clearly a sci-fi theme, but when we try to understand humans' intention at a deeper level - and consequently realise how that doomful part of us may never go anywhere - we must conclude that his fiction may easily become reality one day...
As Josie's case shows, gene modification might not only become a possibility, but possibly a requirement itself for a lucrative, academic life: entry to a 'high-standard' life (or just equal chances to fellow humans in general). The fact that Josie lost her older sister to the dangers of gene modification - a heartbreak only unveiled around the middle/second half of the novel - and that it so heavily influences her health as well that she almost dies too, doesn't truly seem to concern anyone. Not on an ethical, existential level, at least. Oddly - but very faithfully to our Darling Ishiguro - gene modification is not even the core dilemma of the book, rather whether AFs could possibly arch that very 'crevice' between born humans and AI. Josie's mother - who made the very decision to subject both of her daughters to gene modification - is faced with the dilemma of what to do if she loses Josie as well. Could Klara take over her 'role.' Horrifying? Just as much as Ishiguro's other dear and ethically equally labyrinthine questions. (But yes. Horrifying very-very much indeed.) Although Klara, with her faith in the Sun - of which she expects to heal Josie - has a clear answer to the mother's 'whethers,' the reader may feel anything but convinced. Oddly, and quite unexpectedly, either the Sun rewards Klara's faith in him (in a quite God-like manner) or a very-very odd synchronicity occurs when Josie after being kissed by a massive beam of sunshine magically recovers. A very Ishiguro-esque decision for many other authors would've just 'killed' Josie off - for that one last kick of heartbreak. Ishiguro, on the other hand, loves puzzling his readers and abandoning them at the end with all the confusion. How did all this turn into spirituality? And what is Ishiguro stating exactly?
One more Ishiguro-esque kick he delivers masterfully is that Klara gets dumped with much cruelty after not being useful anymore. After all the incredible loyalty she's dedicated to her family. Who shows the most empathy here, after all? (Who is the 'humanest' of all?) A conclusion of mine I truly did not see coming.
4.) Where the Book Slipped and Kind of Fumbled:
Alright, let's be honest. We are talking about Ishiguro, even his weakest works are excellent - when compared to other works of fiction (even high-fiction) out there. But - luckily, for he has written a few novels and short stories - he's set an absurdly high standard for himself. He kind of lives in this high standard of a paradox of his very own making. Of which, in my opinion, he slightly (but just slightly) missed this time. Why? Klara is a naive, child-like narrator and that affects her style of speaking and writing quite drastically: mainly resulting in very limited language, often resuming to very dry descriptions. A completely reasonable choice but might quickly feel slightly exhausting (well, exhausting might be too strong of a word here - disengaging, maybe?) Especially after 300 pages.
My second point of criticism is slightly tied to the previous point as well: in the case of an overwritten novel, this style problem, the constraints of it, might become just even more prominent. Klara and the Sun could have easily been a good 50 pages shorter (my divisive take shall be that even 100 pages wouldn't we have quite missed). The first part - Klara's settling in her new home - may feel quite sluggish, especially when the presented information is rather scarce and the style (though aimed, sharpened, purposeful) doesn't account for/justify the length. Sometimes, when not much is going on (neither style-wise nor content-wise) tightening up the pacing might be refreshing.
It might all just be my personal taste, of course. I prefer Ishiguro to solely dive into the human psyche and society (like in The Remains of the Day) over world-building and diving into the human psyche and society.
...To be fair, interestingly, if we think about it, he always drives towards the same-ish destinations - he just likes switching up his routes. And who could blame him for that? :))
One additional note: A Klara and the Sun movie is coming in 2025, if I'm not wrong, directed by Taika Waititi and with Jenna Ortega taking on the role of Klara. For more information - and the fascinating casting - here is its IMDb site:
I, for one, cannot wait to see what Taikai Waititi does do with the material. It will be unique for sure, and I'm very happy about that.
Anyway. This was The Fearless Frock for today. You should expect a lot more from me in the upcoming weeks - we're on the fast track to Christmas, and what can I say? I ONLY LOVE Christmas. Christmas is the alpha and omega of life. Oh, you disagree? Well, then, the alpha and omega of this blog, for sure.:)
See you very soon, enjoy your November, Darlings!
Hugs from the Fearless Frock.:)
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