I was very excited to read this book. I love books about artificial intelligence and dystopia. This was my first Ishiguro book and unfortunately, it left me disappointed. With all the makings for a good book, it truly fell flat. The beginning of the book was promising. I read it hungrily but not quite halfway through, it started losing its flair. It would be days in between before I would pick up the book, which is very unusual for me. Finally, I trudged through and about 3/4 into the book, it picked back up again. Only to have a horribly depressing ending. I closed the book upset and not sure what just happened. If anything, I guess the book got me thinking but it was more out of shock and despair.
There were things I liked about the book. It had some really good characters, especially Klara. It had some good insights and showed how sometimes faith and hope is all we need. There were parts of the book I feel didn't do so well. The supposed dystopian society was barely laid out. The whole world that they lived in was hardly touched on. It was hard to get a big picture on the setting of where they were at. Also, the dialogue at times was really weird. I couldn't see anyone speaking to each other in the manner that they did. It just threw the book off kilter when this happened. This was a good book... not great but not horrible. I will try to read another Ishiguro book in the future.

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A touching modern fairy-tale, with so many possible interpretations, swirling in its depths.

I liked it because I enjoy Ishiguro's knack for channelling an alien perspective -- seeing the world through the funhouse mirror, through the eyes of someone who sees things very differently, who understands and yet doesn't understand. The almost-human, who make us see that, in our own way, we are all almost-human, that we all have blind-spots, misunderstandings, idée fixes, and little private superstitions and mythologies that rule our lives.

I like it because, in my opinion, fiction (and science fiction) is all about the metaphor. And Ishiguro gets that, and makes the most of it. There are so many, many layers that can be unpacked in Klara's story: the meaning of "friendship." The meaning of love, and family. The importance of faith, and hope ... Take your pick: Ishiguro gives you the rich material, and allows you, the Reader, to run with it ...

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Overall the book was interesting. A bit sci-fi for me, but heck we now do have AI and it could be embodied in these machine friends. I never figured out where this took place and always thought it was not the US, but toward the end I read bits that made it sound like it was. Truly - the where does not change the book. I felt sad for most of the characters and couldn't imagine the world they lived in. But, then, I couldn't imagine living the 1500 or 1600's either!

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