Klara and the Sun: A Novel
By: Kazuo Ishiguro / Narrated By: Sura Siu
Length: 10 hrs and 16 mins
Ah jeez—the disappointment when Hopes were actually Expectations…
I did soooo enjoy the two other Ishiguro audiobooks I reviewed earlier. THAT’S why I was so keen to chuck a credit, like, posthaste as soon as Klara and the Sun was released. Yeh yeh yeh, it’s taken me some time to get around to listening to it, but as Big Sis and I had nothing else on our plates, and I was hoping for a Listen, a calm and quiet Listen, one that only Ishiguro could write: You know, where oooodles of gossamer strands of gloriously prose were set forth, with a premise looming slowly then quickly as the story took shape, with a WhizBang Wallop Over The Head of a cosmic 2-by-4 that sucker punched the Listener with a powerfully human and heartbreaking Gut-Slugged Ending? You know, Typical Ishiguro, and what’s not to LOVE about all that?!
Ahhhh no, fellow Accomplice. No, I must tell you.
We begin with AF (Artificial Friend) Klara in the shop, with the skimmed-surface-relationships she has with the other AFs, with us seeing her for the observer she is, the very thoughtful AF she is. As she is watching the world from her spot next to the shop’s large window, she meets Josie, a young teen who falls for her, and a connection is made. When Josie brings Mom in to see Klara, a sale is made, and it’s on to a new life for Klara, in a decent home with Josie, whom she loves. Loves as much as any AF can love.
And so their life together begins, and soon Ishiguro is doin’ his Ishiguro Thing, where we begin to learn that the society Josie is a part of is quite dystopian indeed. Josie has been genetically Lifted, an intelligence enhancement that her society seems to require so that she might be accepted into grand schools, might be accepted by society in general. All well and good until we learn that Lifting has total drawbacks: It causes the body to fail, and basically: Lifting can kill the youngun. Just ask Josie’s mom who has already had to bury a child, Josie’s big sister. Take note of this, as soon we understand that Mom simply canNOT stand the death of another child, the only child remaining to her.
But Klara has a Plan. She knows how important the Sun is to Life (She’s solar-powered), and she’s seen the Sun bring back the dead. She makes a pact with the Sun, one where, should she accomplish it, the Sun will heal Josie. And things don’t stop with that. Klara has to act, and she has to adapt, and she has to make choices along the way.
As the story progressed, with the usual societal-commentary Ishiguro weaves in, I was kinda sorta reminded of Never Let Me Go, where he does a full In-Your-Face: Who’s to say what is Right? How far will we go as members of Society where it’s okay to take over and Use others? And so, that was my first Ding of this book. Ishiguro usually crafts completely original stories that in no way bring any of his other works to mind. So I was miffed that I was finding stuff to be familiar already. Further, as things progressed, there were the usual gossamer threads of glorious prose that… just didn’t… go ANYwhere by the end. Characters are introduced, thrown in, go nowhere. Situations happen, go nowhere. Grand Social Commentaries are made, go nowhere/are never developed.
And the end? Jeez, nothing emotionally satisfying, indeed, no emotion at all.
Narrator Sura Siu is kinda not very familiar to me even tho’ I’ve listened to an audiobook she had some narration in. You see, it was part of an ensemble cast, without credits given, so I’m unsure whom she was in it. So I’ve only this story, really, to assess her performance. Yikes she sounded WAY young, and her tones were a trifle off. Josie could be quite a toot, and Siu’s voice for her when she was behaving in an unobliging manner came off as Whiny, Manipulative, Stubborn to the point of hurting others. Also, things get a bit dire as the story develops so that Mom is a creepy nutbag, and Josie’s bestiest-best friend’s mom comes off shrill and spastic. I mean, yeh okay, THAT character was indeed shrill and spastic, but oh my ears! An even performance, capable, but with enough odd quirks that made her narration a tad difficult to relate to.
Or maybe it was ALL the writing.
Nope, not Ishiguro’s best, not even middling cuz I was so vastly disappointed. I was reminded once again to NEVER go into ANY work with anything other than Hopes (Which even with them? Nah, wouldn’t recommend having those either… disappointment blows!!!), because, dear friend, Expectations just lead to bitterness and a desperately empty feeling. I was hardly engaged by the story, was certainly NOT feeling it as Klara inspires no empathy, nuthin’.
Shed not a tear, felt nary a lump in m’ throat. Not exactly an I Want My Hours Back.
It’s just that, dude! I want my Awesome Ishiguro story-crafting back. Maybe with the next one? Cuz, you see, I still admire the man and his writing GREATLY, will still chuck a credit, imMEDiately, at a New Release. I just won’t, and this is m’ dearest wish, go in with Expectations.
I don’t want Ishiguro to kill me with despair.
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