Klara and the Sun

 It's rare that I read a book and think ‘this is perfect' but I had that thought multiple times while reading this masterpiece by Kazuo Ishiguro.  I don't think there's a single misplaced word in the entire book.  Everything from the characters to the prose to the plot to the themes is just... immaculate.  And these individual components interweave to form a truly outstanding tale about love and humanity.    For me, a book's quality is most dependent on its characters and Klara's characters really form the backbone of this story.  There aren't very many characters here (for the majority of the book it's really only four of them: Klara, Josie, Mother and Rick) but each one is so real and well-written that I absolutely adore them.  Klara is a really excellent protagonist, and making the entire novel told from her POV is a great choice from Ishiguro.  She's written in a way that makes it clear she's not quite human, but she's still able to make legitimate observations on her subjects.  This is done while making her lovable and relatable all the same.  She's certainly one of my favorite protagonists I've read in recent memory.  Josie, Mother and Rick are also wonderfully complex for how short the book is, with Mother in particular standing out as being exceptionally well-written.  There are a few supporting characters that also leave their mark on the story in their own way.  This is just a wonderful cast of characters that allows the book to explore its ambitious themes with ease.    Speaking of those themes, I applaud Ishiguro for not being afraid to ask deep questions in a story that is quite small in scope.  For most of the novel, Ishiguro uses Klara merely to observe her surroundings.  The story is merely being told through Klara's eyes without any meaningful commentary.  This shifts about 2/3 through the book when other characters start trying to make Klara human, and this is when the book becomes truly spectacular.  Through the last 1/3 of the book, Ishiguro asks what it means to be human and what the metaphorical heart really does.  He brings up these themes in a quite natural way that leads the readers to their own conclusion rather than forcing any specific perspective.    Klara and the Sun is a beautifully-written book that does everything it sets out to do and so much more.  I can say without hesitation that it's one of my favorite books of all time.