Recently, Kazuo Ishiguro, Japanese-born British writer and winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2017, published his eighth novel, Klara and the Sun. Set in the nearish future, the book draws readers into the quest for human values through the perspective of Klara, a robot companion to children: What is humanity? What is love?
In an interview with Chinese media, Ishiguro said that his conception of Klara and the Sun dates back to 2014, and originally, he wanted to write a simple picture book for children aged 4 to 5. He told the idea to his daughter, who works in a bookstore, but she said the story was too sad for young readers. Therefore, Ishiguro turned the idea into a science fiction novel for adults instead.
The narrator of the novel, Klara, is an Artificial Friend (AF) – a solar-powered and AI-endowed robot with keen observation, reasoning and empathy, designed as a companion for children and teenagers. Klara is a B2 model, quickly becoming obsolete. Klara waits with anticipation to be bought from a store, until a girl named Josie excitedly chooses her as her AF.
Kazuo Ishiguro is a celebrated fiction author who has covered the span of past and future and demonstrated extraordinary diversity and versatility in his writings: A Pale View of Hills centres on the life of a Japanese war widow; An Artist of the Floating World highlights an ageing Ukiyo-e painter; The Remains of the Day depicts the fading English aristocracy after WWII; and Never Let Me Go discusses the issue of self-identity of a clone…Klara and the Sun, to some extent a continuation of Never Let Me Go, explores human nature and raises questions about faith. Klara’s reverence for the Sun echoes man’s awe of religions and gods from time immemorial. The juxtaposition of natural beings and supernatural “gods” in a sci-fi work prompts readers to contemplate issues on humanity and the future of human society.
Though a story on the future and within the framework of sci-fi, the theme of Klara and the Sun remains focused on “how people cope in changing times”: What would happen if a person realized the set of values that he devoted so much effort and emotion to, has become outdated and discarded with the end o f the old times?
Klara the AF is designed to make children feel less lonely. But then again, “loneliness” lies in the nature of humans and is what makes us independent individuals rather than mass-produced robots. Therefore, is the fear and evasion of loneliness in fact dissolving this unique trait of humanity? It’s a big world out there, for sure, but most of us mortals are confined in our little bubbles and seldom think and reflect at a higher level and from a longer and wider perspective. That’s where science fiction comes in – it stirs our imagination and lifts us from our small, enclosed worlds to explore a much broader universe.
