Klara and the Sun

We have never been great fans of Kazuo Ishiguro, born in Nagasaki in 1954. His first major achievement: becoming, a few decades later, a consummate British novelist. "The Remains of the Day" won the Booker Prize in 1989. The Nobel Prize would follow in 2017; in the meantime, the writer had begun to explore science fiction. Never Let Me Go (2015) told the story of the tragic fate of boys and girls raised as organ donors.

The plot is identical to Michael Marshall Smith’s "Spare Parts", published almost 20 years earlier. "Klara and the Sun" also follows the trend of ‘a great, academically qualified writer trying his hand at science fiction’. Clones, once again, in a world where they are no longer needed as spare parts, but as friends. However, technology is advancing rapidly, and old models are being phased out as new ones arrive. In short, a ‘Toy Story’ for adults.

Literature is not a competitive sport, and every now and then the ‘minor’ genres deserve closer attention. However, Ishiguro had already disappointed readers more than once. Director Taika Waititi, by contrast, has yet to do so. The series "Vampire Life", followed by the film "Jojo Rabbit", were both very well done. The same holds true for the film set in Samoa, which boasts the world’s worst qualifying team. In this case, however, nothing works: the good robots powered by solar energy come across as cloying. They stumble about, stare with wide eyes, and although their intentions are good, they ultimately create chaos.