It's a masterstroke that Klara the humanoid robot, who is as much in the dark as we are as to what is going on, is the narrator. The absorbing plot prompts all sorts of reflections about what it is to be human with our imperfections and compromises and what happens to the robot throws up thought provoking parallels with human life. In the background, a future and not very sympathetic society is sketched in. A deceptively simple story, straightforwardly told, turns out to be something more.
(Tony Pratt - bwl 100 Spring 2021 ) |
