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+date = '2025-07-27T10:49:23+02:00'
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+title = 'Klara and the Sun'
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+
+![klara-and-the-sun-book-cover](/images/klara-and-the-sun-book-cover.jpg#floatright)
+
+_Klara and the Sun_ is a novel written by Kazuo Ishiguro. 
+Set in a far dystopian future, it tells a story about the relationship between Josie, a home schooled, genetically modified child and Klara, an artificial friend (AF) and companion to Josie. 
+It's a remarkable tale that tries to answer some of the most important questions we often ask ourselves:
+_What makes us human?_, _What does it mean to be human?_
+We encounter multiple themes throughout the book, but there are two which I would like to write about.
+
+The book starts with Klara standing in the middle of the store where AF's are sold. 
+She is an android-like product designed to provide company to real human children, and the narrator of the book.
+Curious, observant, and intelligent, Klara tries to learn as much as she can about the world around her: 
+_Unlike most AFs, unlike Rosa, I’d always longed to see more of the outside – and to see it in all its detail._
+
+Josie is a pale and thin girl, fourteen years old and very intelligent. 
+In the future, most children are home schooled and genetically modified to be smarter. 
+However, this sometimes comes at the cost of their health - Josie is suffering from an unknown illness, which could be fatal. 
+In the store she specifically picks Klara to be her personal AF. 
+_Know what? Your friend will make a perfect friend for someone out there. But yesterday, we were driving by and I saw you, and I thought that’s her, the AF I’ve been looking for!_ 
+
+Once Klara finally moves in to live with Josie, we learn that not everyone in the household appreciates Klara's presence. 
+Melania, the housekeeper, is opposing from the start, and treats Klara with suspicion and hostility: 
+_[...] but then Melania Housekeeper came between us, and before I was fully aware, had taken Josie’s arm, tucking it under her own_. 
+Moreover, Josie's best friend Rick doesn't like Klara either. _'Rick, this is Klara.' Rick went on concentrating on his remote and didn’t look my way.'You said you’d never get an AF,' he said._
+However, with time Klara becomes a part of the family. 
+Rick sympathizes with her during the party at Josie's house, and Melania entrusts her with taking care of Josie during the trip to the city. 
+Although an artificial being, Klara soon becomes as important as Josie herself.
+This made me wonder: _How easily do we allow technology to enter our daily lives?_
+I really liked this part of the book, because it relates a lot to my work field. 
+Computer systems are becoming increasingly ubiquitous, and I think it is worth to stop and think how much online systems take from our daily lives. 
+
+Klara relies on the energy from the Sun to function - being in the light re-charges her batteries.
+As a result, she treats the Sun like a deity, and believes it nourishes and takes care of everyone around her. 
+_I could understand that for all his kindness, the Sun was very busy; that there were many people besides Josie who required his attention._
+This is a recurring theme throughout the book, with Klara's unwavering faith displayed through her brave actions to help Josie get better. 
+However, this gives rise to the questions: _What does it mean for an android to believe in a god?_, _Can an artificial robot believe in a god in the first place?_
+Towards the end of the book we learn Klara's true purpose - to replace Josie in an event of her death. 
+Mr. Capaldi, who is preparing an android body resembling Josie, argues that since there is no soul, Klara not only can replace Josie, but she can fully _become_ her. 
+I particularly like the contrast between Klara's faith in the Sun's nourishment and the agnostic approach of Mr. Capaldi.
+It's a paradox which makes the reader question the nature of faith itself. 
+
+Overall, I really liked the book, and I hope Kazuo Ishiguro will continue to write novels as great as _Klara and the Sun_.
+