When I was in Switzerland in 2022, I loved visiting bookstores and getting lost in new stories. One of the books I picked up was Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro—a beautiful and deeply emotional sci-fi novel that made me cry like never before.

In this post, I want to share what this novel is about, the themes it explores, and the mark it left on me. With the film adaptation of Klara and the Sun on the way, I’d genuinely recommend reading the book first so you can experience Ishiguro’s world.

Let’s begin.

Klara and the Sun: A Novel That Will Awaken Something in You

Klara and the Sun is a science fiction novel by Kazuo Ishiguro, the Nobel Prize–winning author also known for Never Let Me Go. This was his first novel after receiving the Nobel Prize, and it’s nothing short of moving.

The story explores themes like humanity, love, artificial intelligence, and devotion. Through a subtle yet vividly detailed narrative, Ishiguro crafts a story that feels quiet on the surface but carries profound emotional weight—one that may even bring you to tears by the end.

The novel is told from the perspective of Klara, an “Artificial Friend” designed to accompany a child. As the story unfolds, Klara begins to understand human relationships, gradually revealing both the beauty and the pain of being human.

The First Book That Truly Made Me Cry

When I finished this book, I was deeply moved. I sat there, overwhelmed, and ended up crying for quite a while after turning the final page. It was the first time a book had ever made me cry—and honestly, it felt like a deeply human experience.

Part of why I connected so strongly with this story is that it made me reflect on what it really means to be human. Even though the protagonist is an artificial being, I saw parts of myself in her—especially in the way she learns to feel, to care, and to make sense of the world.

That’s when something shifted for me. The book didn’t just tell a story—it helped me better understand my own humanity. It impacted me so much that I even talked about it in therapy, sharing what it made me feel and the questions it raised. That conversation led to a deeper reflection on what truly separates us from machines—and what, perhaps, doesn’t.