I think I will love this book forever and ever and recommend it to every single person I meet. I was struggling to find a good book to read after some unsuccessful attempts with “The Whalebone Theatre” and “The Picture of Dorian Gray.” I knew from the very start that this book was going to be something special because the perspective was so fresh, like a child’s, but so wise, like someone nearing their death knowing that they are dying.
As for the experience of reading it, I started by underlining some lines that meant a lot to me, but I think somewhere during Part 3, I was so gripped by the plot that my pencil fell and I never bothered to pick it up. Kazuo is a god for writing something so beautiful and lovely, keeping it extremely relevant and relatable even though the plot is anything but that.
I saw that in a lot of the reviews on the back cover, they mention the word “love” a lot… “what it means to love,” “child learning how to love,” that I wonder if they forgot about hope. Hope was the underlying thread connecting the book all along. Or maybe love and hope are interconnected, and I’m not wise enough to know that now.
Sometimes we worry so much about our decisions and our lives and our futures, and yes, it is overwhelming and yes, it can be paralyzing, but—and it’s not easy for me to say this—hope alone makes the difference. The Sun, I thought, obviously represented her god.. Solar was what Klara depended on, what gave her life—whatever that meant to her. So the Sun is her god or her idea of god, and that’s clear from the very start. Her hope in the Sun to cure Josie, isn’t that so representative of humans? Aaaahh, I love this book.
I’m too sleepy and tired now. I must sleep. Goodnight.