Klara and the Sun

Did you begin your day by asking Alexa to play your favorite music or radio station? Or, did you converse with Siri over your phone? Our Esplanade book group talked over Zoom for their April book selection, called Klara and the Sun.  This 2021 best-seller, by Nobel Prize winner Kazuo Ishiguro tells the story of an Artificial Friend (AF) who does all the things we expect from Alexa today, and more.  Although Klara is a Version 2 robot, she could be mistaken for an affable, and some would say, emotional teenager. She gives kindness and recognizes it in others. In Ishiguro’s dystopian future, parents eagerly seek out these Artificial Friends to help their biological teenagers. Most parents favor social engineering that will enhance their student’s academic and social performance. Our book group, in human fashion, turned over the implications. After more than a year of meeting online, the Ishiguro novel had great insights into loneliness, human fragility, and our human connection to each other.

Jane Gould