Klara and the Sun - Kazuo Ishiguro

Published by Faber & Faber Limited: London, 2021.

A few years ago I heard that Taika Waititi was developing this novel to be his next movie. It was filmed, and then delayed, and delayed again, and then nothing was heard about it. Recently, I wondered what had happened to the film, and then became curious about the book, which led to me getting it out from the school library last week.


Perfect timing, right?!

The book itself surprised me, in good ways. I didn't know much about it, and resisted the urge to find out, even when the book seemed to be headed in some fairly dark directions!

Klara and the Sun is told from the perspective of the titular Klara, an "Artificial Friend" (robot) who is eventually sold to become the friend of Josie, a girl who is sick from some undefined (in the beginning) illness. Klara is innocent, though not naive. She sees much and takes in a lot, but her thoughts and feelings are always slightly 'foreign' - Ishiguro does a good job of having us be inside Klara's head whilst never fully feeling that she is thinking in traditional human ways. This is a robot, and the book never loses sight of that, even when the reader is tempted to.

In her innocence, Klara believes that the sun has the power to heal Josie - she is solar powered, so this makes sense to her! - and she seeks to find ways to 'communicate' with the sun, and subsequently, 'earn' the right for the sun to heal Josie. Like the Giving Tree, Klara is utterly devoted to her role of 'protecting' Josie, and she is willing to go to extreme lengths to do so - ones that would be 'sad' if could feel in the way we do.

The ending will be polarising. I can imagine some readers will leave the book feeling underwhelmed or confused. For me, however, it was beautiful, bittersweet, and truly moving. I didn't know where the story was going, but after I wiped away a few tears, I realised that the ending made sense for the story that was being told.

I really liked this book. I'm not sure whether the trailer has sold me on the tone of Waititi's film version, but it is certainly a book that could fit his sensibilities well.

Cautiously optimistic for the movie.

Completed 28 June 2026.

Previous Book ~ Next Book

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