Klara and the Sun

A Novel

By: Kazuo Ishiguro

Narrated by: Sura Siu

Length: 10 hrs and 16 mins

Publisher's summary

Long-listed, Booker Prize, 2021

Short-listed, Prometheus Award, 2022

New York Times best seller

Once in a great while, a book comes along that changes our view of the world. This magnificent novel from the Nobel laureate and author of Never Let Me Go is “an intriguing take on how artificial intelligence might play a role in our futures...a poignant meditation on love and loneliness” (The Associated Press).

A Good Morning America Book Club Pick

“What stays with you in Klara and the Sun is the haunting narrative voice - a genuinely innocent, egoless perspective on the strange behavior of humans obsessed and wounded by power, status and fear.” (Booker Prize committee)

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?

©2021 Kazuo Ishiguro (P)2021 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK • A BOOKER PRIZE NOMINEE • GOOD MORNING AMERICA Book Club Pick • ONE OF PRESIDENT OBAMA'S FAVORITE BOOKS OF THE YEAR • ONE OF BILL GATES'S FAVORITE BOOKS OF THE YEAR • ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New York Times, Time, NPR, Washington Post, Vogue, USA Today, Town & Country, The Guardian, Vulture, and more

“One of the most affecting and profound novels Ishiguro has written….I'll go for broke and call Klara and the Sun a masterpiece that will make you think about life, mortality, the saving grace of love: in short, the all of it.”—Maureen Corrigan, NPR

“A delicate, haunting story, steeped in sorrow and hope.”—Ron Charles, The Washington Post

“What stays with you in ‘Klara and the Sun’ is the haunting narrative voice—a genuinely innocent, egoless perspective on the strange behavior of humans obsessed and wounded by power, status and fear.”—Booker Prize committee

Beautiful book, excellent narration

Couldn’t wait for this new book to come out! It’s beautiful and heartbreaking, just like all Ishiguro.

Seamless, detailed, simple though complex

Halfway through the telling, I experienced a moment of astonishment. I was in the middle of a very strange and poignant tale, yet accepted without question Klara’s observations and capabilities. I will miss her robotic narrative. Ishiguro’s brilliance triumphs again.

the performance by Clara was 6 Stars outstanding

that performance by Clara was six stars outstanding subtle and in character all of the time

Klara ranks tops with Artoo & C3PO

The narrator is so endearing! Always amazed by inventiveness of authors. Sorry to reach end.

Codependant Pinochio

I read a few of the reviews below but I don't think the core of this book is about plot or the prospects of artificial intelligence. I found it to be far more about emotional life, dynamics in family, our expectations of others and the kind of obedience and consistency we grow to expect and often demand. The book seems to be more about loneliness, loss, obedience, purity and how a kind of intellectual and emotional nutrition can reinforce or corrupt an individual. There's such an overtone of avoid difficult and unpleasant emotions and the desire to replace or fill in what's missing. In addition the binary class division strikes me as something Ishiguro encountered quite clearly growing up in the UK while maintaining his outside status he could reveal what he sees in the society.....but I have a sense the division exists in his emotional self too. Bottom line though is I didn't love the book Maybe it's better to read than have narrated. I mostly felt kinda gross and disconcerted hearing it.

Wasn’t in the right space

I think I needed to read this book, rather than listen to it, for it to have its full impact. I feel like I grasped lightly some of the difficult questions Ishiguro offers to his readers here, but I didn’t engage as deeply with them as I could have if I were reading the book. I want to try again in the future. I also appreciated the narrator’s ability to perform the book in the voice of an AI, but it made it hard for me to focus my attention for long intervals.

a different perspective

Very creative theme, viewing the world through the eyes of a non-human, but humanlike, consciousness. I felt it took a few pages to get some traction, but once it did it was hard to put down. It is not surprising Ishiguro has a Nobel prize in literature.

Insightful and perceptive of human nature

This book investigates the human consciousness, emotions and relationship with an evocative science fiction that is achingly loving. It gets to the heart of the matter with beautiful fluidity. It's a page-turner full of suspenses and keen observations, and a cast of characters one cannot stop caring.

Just not enough meat.

There just wasn't enough detail to keep me interested and the story rolling smoothly. This was not a normal pick for me. I usually go for trilogies or sagas so maybe that's why it felt so flat to me

I expected more

I do enjoy this author and appreciate the way he presents his stories. However, this one did not work for me. The characters were not interesting enough to sustain me for the duration of the story. I feel like this would have been a better short story. The reader was good though.