#kazuo-ishiguro — Public Fediverse posts

Looking at Ourselves Through Klara and the Sun

Recently I read Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro. It was not an easy read for me. The story unfolds slowly and thoughtfully, and at times I found myself pausing to reflect on what was happening beneath the surface. Yet the book opened up new ideas that connect directly to something I have been thinking about lately. How humanity is beginning to face the reality of artificial intelligence and the many technologies that will continue to emerge in the years ahead.

Much of today’s conversation about AI is filled with fear. People speak as though artificial intelligence is some outside force that is overtaking humanity. We hear phrases such as “AI is taking our jobs” or “AI is taking over our lives.” But this way of thinking overlooks something fundamental.

Artificial intelligence is not an invading presence. It is something we are creating ourselves. Every advance in robotics, machine learning, and intelligent systems comes from human curiosity and human ingenuity. Whether we celebrate it or criticize it, these technologies are part of the long story of human invention. This is why Klara and the Sun feels so prescient. Ishiguro is not really writing about machines. He is writing about how humans respond to what they create.

Klara, the Artificial Friend at the centre of the novel, observes the world with patience, loyalty, and a kind of hopeful devotion. She studies human behaviour carefully, noticing kindness and contradiction alike. Yet the society she lives in treats Artificial Friends as temporary objects, devices that will eventually be replaced by something newer.

That idea brought to mind a striking image of car junkyards we see scattered across the landscape. Rows upon rows of machines that once represented innovation and pride now sit quietly rusting. Each car once carried people to work, to family gatherings, to journeys and memories. Yet in time it becomes simply another object discarded when something more modern arrives. Human beings are remarkably creative, but we also have a long history of throwing things away when they are no longer useful to us.

Reading this novel left me feeling something unexpected: a sense of sadness, and even shame, about how easily humanity may treat its own creations as disposable. And perhaps that feeling goes beyond technology. When we look honestly at the world around us, we can see similar patterns in other areas of human life. Too often people are pushed aside when they are no longer productive. Animals are treated as resources rather than living creatures. The natural world itself is frequently used without careful thought for what will remain afterward.

Klara and the Sun quietly suggests that the future of artificial intelligence will reveal less about machines and more about ourselves. Our choices, our values, and our willingness to take responsibility for what we bring into the world will shape that future. Instead of asking what technology will do to us, perhaps we should ask a more difficult question: What will we do with what we have created?

For me, Klara and the Sun felt less like science fiction and more like a mirror held up to humanity. And it left me hoping that as new technologies arrive, we will meet them not with fear or blame, but with a deeper sense of responsibility, and perhaps even compassion, for the world we are shaping.

Rebecca

A Note from Rebecca’s Reading Room

From time to time the Reading Room grows quiet while I step away to travel and explore. Travel, for me, is simply another form of reading. The landscapes we walk through, the people we meet, and the quiet moments of observation often become part of the reflections I later share here.

While I am away, a post will appear as scheduled, but the comments will be closed until I return. This allows the Reading Room to remain a peaceful place while I gather new experiences and thoughts along the way. When I return, I look forward to opening the conversation again and sharing the reflections the journey has offered. Until then, may your days be filled with good books, quiet moments, and the small discoveries that remind us how wide and wonderful the world truly is.

Guillermo Del Toro Teases His Adaptation Of Kazuo Ishiguro’s ‘The Buried Giant’ At BFI Career Talk: “A Fascinatingly Difficult Stop-Motion Movie For Adults”
#News #BFI #BFIFellowship #GuillermoDelToro #KazuoIshiguro #TheBuriedGiant

https://deadline.com/2026/05/guillermo-del-tor-kazuo-ishiguros-the-buried-giant-bfi-1236888463/

I finished #NeverLetMeGo by #KazuoIshiguro this morning, and honestly have been thinking about it all day.

The strangest thing, is that I'm usually able and willing to understand how I feel about a book, but I just don't know with this one. I can't say I really _enjoyed_ it, but then I'm glad I read it. It could have ended differently, but then that wouldn't make it better, or even more satisfying.

As ever, when something puts a splinter in your mind, that's probably a good thing.
#bookstodon

Jenna Ortega’s ‘Klara and the Sun’ Gets Release Date and Emotional First Trailer
#MovieNews #Movies #AmyAdams #CinemaCon #JennaOrtega #KazuoIshiguro #NatashaLyonne #SonyPictures #TaikaWaititi

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/klara-and-the-sun-trailer-jenna-ortega-amy-adams-release-1236563376/

25 Modern Classics That’ll Actually Wreck You (In the Best Way)

https://findsbydavidblog.wordpress.com/2026/03/30/25-modern-classics-thatll-actually-wreck-you-in-the-best-way/

𝑳𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝑵𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒔 - 𝑼𝒕𝒐𝒑𝒊𝒂’𝒔 𝑺𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝑷𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒔: 𝑺𝒕𝒂𝒓 𝑻𝒓𝒆𝒌 & 𝑰𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒈𝒖𝒓𝒐 -

The “Hideous Bargain” moves from metaphor to the operating table.

https://waywordsstudio.com/podcasts/waywords_podcast/utopias-spare-parts-star-trek-ishiguro/

#podcast #literature #books #bookworm #book #read #readreadread #bookpodcast #literarylovers #bookboost #booklover #bookclub #necropolitics #bioeconomy #clinicallabor #organharvesting #startrek #startrekstrangenewworlds #liftuswheresufferingcannotreach #kazuoishiguro #neverletmego

Thousands of authors publish ‘empty’ book in protest over AI using their work https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/mar/10/thousands-authors-publish-empty-book-protest-ai-work-copyright #AiArtificialIntelligence #Books #Culture #IntellectualProperty #KazuoIshiguro #PhilippaGregory #RichardOsman #MarianKeyes #DavidOlusoga #MalorieBlackman #Law #Computing #Technology #UkNews

Anime may have dominated the charts in 2025, but the real surprise was a kabuki drama that shot to No. 1 and stayed there for weeks. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2025/12/04/film/demon-slayer-infinity-castle-kokuho-festivals/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #culture #film #japanesefilm #2025inreview #kokuho #demonslayer #anime #chiehayakawa #kazuoishiguro #keiishikawa #shomiyake #tatsuyanakadai

Kei Ishikawa On Adapting Kazuo Ishiguro’s ‘A Pale View Of Hills’
#News #APaleViewofHills #BreakingNews #Japan #KazuoIshiguro #KeiIshikawa

https://deadline.com/2025/11/kazuo-ishiguro-japan-a-pale-view-of-hills-kei-ishikawa-adaptation-1236629441/

"Was vom Tage übrig blieb"

(engl. Originaltitel: The Remains of the Day) ist ein Roman des britischen Schriftstellers und Literatur-Nobelpreisträgers #KazuoIshiguro aus dem Jahre 1989 in der deutschen Übersetzung von Hermann Stiehl, für den #Ishiguro noch im Jahr der Erstveröffentlichung mit dem Booker Prize ausgezeichnet wurde. 2015 wählten 82 internationale Literaturkritiker und -wissenschaftler The Remains of the Day zu einem der bedeutendsten britischen Romane.
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Was_vom_Tage_%C3%BCbrigblieb?wprov=sfla1
Schlecht einzuordnen, gut zu lesen. Viel #Politik
#Buch #Bücher #Lesen #Hören #horbuch #Klassiker

Je viens de finir Klara et le soleil de #KazuoIshiguro, qui m'a plu autant (= beaucoup) et de la même façon que "Auprès de moi toujours". Je ne connais pas les autres textes de l'auteur mais dans ces 2 romans orientés #sciencefiction il y a un style et une idée communs: prendre le point de vue d'un être non ordinaire et tenir ce point de vue jusqu'au bout, sans tunnel explicatif. Il me semble que c'était plus audacieusement mené dans "Auprès de moi toujours"; dans "Klara et le soleil", quelques moments avec des humains ordinaires sont traités manifestement de façon à clarifier les identités.

Director Kei Ishikawa brings the Nobel Prize-winning author’s novel to the screen as a haunting meditation on memory, loss and elusive truths. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2025/09/04/film/a-pale-view-of-hills/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #culture #film #japanesefilm #suzuhirose #keiishikawa #kazuoishiguro #yoyoshida #fuminikaido

Director Kei Ishikawa felt strongly that he needed to make the film while some members of Japan's World War II generation were still alive to share their stories. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2025/05/21/film/pale-view-of-hills-cannes-kazuo-ishiguro/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #culture #film #kazuoishiguro #keiishikawa #cannesfilmfestival #cannes #japanesefilm

‘A Pale View of Hills’ Review: An Overly Cautious Adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s Haunting Novel
#MovieReviews #Movies #Cannes #Cannes2025 #KazuoIshiguro #UnCertainRegard

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/a-pale-view-of-hills-review-ishiguro-1236219000/

‘I had a chance to pass my mum’s story on’: Kazuo Ishiguro on growing up in shadow of the Nagasaki bomb https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/may/12/kazuo-ishiguro-interview-a-pale-view-of-hills-nagasaki-nobel #Cannesfilmfestival #Filmadaptations #KazuoIshiguro #AsiaPacific #Culture #Books #Japan #Film

‘Meta has stolen books’: authors to protest in London against AI trained using ‘shadow library’ https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/apr/03/meta-has-stolen-books-authors-to-protest-in-london-against-ai-trained-using-shadow-library #Artificialintelligence(AI) #TracyChevalier #KazuoIshiguro #RichardOsman #DaljitNagra #ValMcDermid #Technology #Computing #KateMosse #Culture #Books #Meta

Authors call for UK government to hold Meta accountable for copyright infringement https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/mar/31/authors-call-for-uk-government-to-hold-meta-accountable-for-copyright-infringement #Artificialintelligence(AI) #KazuoIshiguro #RichardOsman #PaulaHawkins #JoanneHarris #ValMcDermid #SarahWaters #Technology #Computing #KateMosse #Culture #Books #Meta

A #book can sit on your #TBR shelf for less than a year or more than a decade (I have both cases). This book was sitting there and I wasn't planning on picking it up this soon, but I've heard it is going to be adapted to #cinema, so I decided to read it now, before it happens.

#KlaraAndTheSun by #KazuoIshiguro

#scifi #bookstodon #FridayReads

Právě dočteno.

Zajímavý román, který je celý vyprávěn robotem (robotkou) jménem Klára, jenž disponuje pokročilou umělou inteligencí. Příběh začíná v obchodě s roboty, kde Klára nějaký čas čeká ve víloze a má tak možnost pozorovat okolní dění na ulici. Po čase si ji vybere dospívající dívka, která trpí nemocí na kterou není lék a Klára tak dostává za úkol starat se o ni.
Klára se postupně snaží pochopit jak lidé fungují a proč se chovají tak, jak se chovají apod.
Minimalistické, psychologické sci-fi v komorním stylu.
Mně osobně se od pana Ishigura mnohem více líbil Pohřbený obr, ale rozhodně se jedná o zajímavé dílo.

@knihy #kniha #knihy #book #books #aaa #Argo #KazuoIshiguro #klaraandthesun #SciFi #psychological #robot #ai

Very nice interview with Kazuo Ishiguro. He talks about Never Let Me Go, his prose, AI, and a hint about his next novel.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/mar/08/ai-will-become-very-good-at-manipulating-emotions-kazuo-ishiguro-on-the-future-of-fiction-and-truth

#Books #KazuoIshiguro

Christmas book haul. Have you read any of these?
- August: Osage County by Tracy Letts
- Parable Of The Sower by Octavia E. Spencer
- Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

#octaviabutler #tracyletts #kazuoishiguro #parabelofthesower #augustosagecounty #neverletmego #books #bookstodon #bookish

Klara and the Sun - Kazuo Ishiguro Review

#KlaraandtheSun #KazuoIshiguro #scifi #scifinovel #dystopia #dystopian #dystopiannovel #novel #book #bookreview

https://popculturemaniacs.com/klara-and-the-sun-kazuo-ishiguro-review/