Ishiguro

I recently read two novels by a man from Japan who writes science fiction in English about female characters and has won the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Not too many of those around.   

The man is Kazuo Ishiguro. Born in Nagasaki, Japan, Ishiguro moved with his parents to Great Britain when he was five years old, and he has lived there ever since, writing brilliantly.

The novels I read, moving and bizzare, are Never Let Me Go and Klara and the Sun. With both books, oddly, I didn’t realize they were science fiction until I was partway through.

Never Let Me Go  

Three friends, Kathy, Tommy, and Ruth, attend a boarding school that seems odd but in undefinable ways. They explore the school, trying to discern what’s going on and why.   

Little by little they realize the nature of the world they inhabit and what it means, or doesn’t mean. They find lies, pledges, betrayals, and, above all, deep love.  

Klara and the Sun  

In the near future, humans have learned to construct androids. People with enough money can window shop and choose androids for various purposes at home and in the family. An exceptionally bright, intuitive android named Klara is selected and purchased to become the companion of fourteen-year-old Josie.   

Klara draws closer to Josie as they grow, until Josie’s failing health leads to shocking results.