Imagine this, you’re sat in a cosy independent coffee shop with a lovely slice of cake, the sun is shining through the windows as you go to grab a book from your bag, Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro. It’s going to be a lovely day of reading, don’t you think? This could be your reality on the 2nd March 2021, as Nobel Laureate Kazuo Ishiguro is set to release his new novel, Klara and the Sun.
Legendary author of the dystopian sci-fi Never Let Me Go, that shattered all of our hearts with its gripping tale of love, jealousy and betrayal, is back to make us cry all over again. This time he combines human feeling with AI technology, as the novel asks: what does it mean to love?
The narrative will follow Klara, “an Artificial Friend with outstanding observational qualities, who, from her place in the store, watches carefully the behaviour of those who come in to browse, and of those who pass in the street outside… She remains hopeful a customer will soon choose her, but when the possibility emerges that her circumstances may change for ever, Klara is warned not to invest too much in the promises of humans.”
Klara and the Sun is described as a “thrilling feat of world-building, a novel of exquisite tenderness and impeccable restraint…a magnificent achievement and international literary event.” As with Ishiguro’s previous work, the novel will infuse realism with dystopian fantasy and will no doubt have us reading into the early hours of the morning. The novel is also set to come five years after Ishiguro received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2017, thus the expectations are high from the book community.
The international bestselling author has also received four Man Booker Prize nominations, with his books described by the novel committee as “novels of great emotional force” as he has “uncovered the abyss beneath our illusory sense of connection with the world.” This message of Ishiguro’s talent is reiterated by Angus Cargill, Editorial Director of Faber, who stated “Klara and the Sun is stunning, a novel about the human heart that speaks urgently to the here and now, but from another place…As ever with Ishiguro’s writing, it managed to be both thrillingly surprising yet consistent with his whole body of work. I can’t wait for readers to discover the character of Klara and her world.”
So far, all we know is that Klara and the Sun will explore the impact of AI technology on human interaction and relations. However, considering the popularity of his previous work, which has been translated into over fifty languages, alongside two novels having been adapted into critically acclaimed films, we can only expect the best. Of what to expect? We will soon find out on 2nd March 2021.
You can pre-order the novel from all e-retailers now.
Words by Lucy Lillystone
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