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Klara and the Sun


A magnificent novel from the Nobel laureate Kazuo Ishiguro--author of the Booker...
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Who would have benefited most from Josie being able to "live" on in another form? Would you have made the same choice for your child or a loved one?

Created: 02/24/22

Replies: 13

Posted Feb. 24, 2022 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
davinamw

Join Date: 10/15/10

Posts: 3442

Who would have benefited most from Josie being able to "live" on in another form? Would you have made the same choice for your child or a loved one?

What was your opinion on the plan to turn Klara into an avatar of Josie? Who would have benefited most from Josie being able to "live" on in another form? Would you have made the same choice for your child or a loved one in the same situation?


Posted Feb. 24, 2022 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
jamiek

Join Date: 11/21/17

Posts: 53

RE: Who would have benefited most from ...

It seemed a selfish desire on the part of Josie's mother and a definite lack of empathy of what Klara means to Josie. It would negate Klara's existence and wouldn't really bring Josie back. And what happens when Klara's light goes out. Will the mom put Klara/Josie out to pasture or find another AI to host her memory of her daughter?


Posted Feb. 25, 2022 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
rebajane

Join Date: 04/21/11

Posts: 320

RE: Who would have benefited most from ...

In Josie’s moms defense any parent would do whatever they could to save their child especially after losing a child. Perhaps not the best way to save her because it really wouldn’t be Josie but I can certainly understand her desperation


Posted Feb. 25, 2022 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
beckyd

Join Date: 07/31/19

Posts: 92

RE: Who would have benefited most from ...

Not knowing what the other form entailed, i would say the mother would benefit the most.I guess, living in the futuristic time she does, and not being of the medical background (where she might consider risks versus benefits) she would grasp at anything she thinks would save her daughter's life.
rebajane had a good point about a parent's desperation and what it might lead to.


Posted Feb. 25, 2022 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
Maggie

Join Date: 01/01/16

Posts: 434

RE: Who would have benefited most from ...

Josie’s mother would be the person that benefited. I would never make this choice.


Posted Feb. 27, 2022 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
somanybooks...

Join Date: 04/02/17

Posts: 22

RE: Who would have benefited most from ...

Definitely this was for the parents' benefit. I was caught off guard when I realized what was planned...the whole concept seemed like taking your beloved pet to a taxidermist in hopes keeping them somehow alive.


Posted Feb. 27, 2022 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
celiaarnaud

Join Date: 04/18/12

Posts: 73

RE: Who would have benefited most from ...

The mother would be the one that “benefitted”, but I’m not sure she would actually have benefitted. She would ultimately have been disappointed, because while Klara could learn to mimic much of Josie’s mannerisms and she would look like her, she would never really be Josie. I don’t have children, so it’s hard for me to know whether I would do something like this. Intellectually I know Klara would never be able to truly embody Josie, but I don’t know how I would react emotionally if I were in the same situation.


Posted Feb. 27, 2022 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
tmmarti

Join Date: 03/12/20

Posts: 17

RE: Who would have benefited most from ...

I think the Mother would have benefited the most. The Father seemed shocked and appalled at the idea. The scientist leads them to believe this will work because there’s no corner of Josie’s heart or mind that Klara can’t explore, learn and mimic. And yet at the end, the scientist wants to do a sort of robotic biopsy on Klara because the AF’s were not well understood. So I’m not sure the plan for Josie to live on through Klara would have worked as hoped. IMO, I would never choose such a fate for a loved one or for myself if the option were available. Reminds me of shades of Pet Sematary.


Posted Feb. 28, 2022 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
Jessica F

Join Date: 05/23/20

Posts: 165

RE: Who would have benefited most from ...

The mother's desperation and guilt led to the plan. She would have never truly accepted the new AF as Josie and therefore may have ended up in more sorrow. We all know death is not easy, but it is part of life and we can not avoid it. Perhaps the mother should have spent more time with Josie while she was sick; treasuring the moments and preparing for her possible death.


Posted Mar. 02, 2022 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
triciat50

Join Date: 02/26/22

Posts: 54

RE: Who would have benefited most from ...

I agree with many other reviewers--the only person who would perhaps "benefit" from trying to incorporate Klara into the Josie-style AF would have been Josie's mom. This was berserk: it's really genetic engineering gone horribly wrong. Klara is a machine, and the "new" Josie would also be a machine. This would be saving a copy of Josie to appease the guilt Mother had for subjecting both her daughters to lifting, killing one and almost killing the other. Did anyone else pick up that the Sal-style AF escaped the house once (Helen saw her out the window) and was apparently locked in a cupboard thereafter? Capaldi called the Sal version a "bereavement doll"--perhaps because he failed at making a good enough version? Paul (Josie's father) was right to try and stop the entire process.


Posted Mar. 02, 2022 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
jeannew

Join Date: 04/23/11

Posts: 118

RE: Who would have benefited most from ...

Clearly Mother thought she would benefit and I don't think she ever considered anyone else. I found this idea unsettling. Mother will know that it's not really Josie. I would think that would eat away at her eventually. Also, would Josie have been frozen forever at age 14? I can't see any way to age her. Wouldn't that in itself be a weird enough experience that you could never forget that that really wasn't Josie?


Posted Mar. 02, 2022 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
mceacd

Join Date: 07/03/18

Posts: 132

RE: Who would have benefited most from ...

Mother would clearly benefit but temporarily. She would still have the ‘prestige’ of a lifted daughter. She would have the parent experience that was important to her. I’m not troubled by Klara not changing because Josie would leave for school in the near future so Mother would no longer have the daughter.


Posted Mar. 03, 2022 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
tamih's Gravatar
tamih

Join Date: 03/03/22

Posts: 17

RE: Who would have benefited most from ...

The Mother seems to think she would benefit, but I think her emotions would be constantly torn between grief at the differences and live for the familiar


Posted Mar. 08, 2022 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
kimk

Join Date: 10/16/10

Posts: 889

RE: Who would have benefited most from ...

I think the mother thinks she'd benefit, but in reality I don't think she would. Certainly the scientist who created the "portrait" would benefit - I'm sure there'd be others out there who'd give it a go. I'm not sure what decision I'd make, since the technology isn't available right now. It'd have to be a darned good replica for me to go that path. I'd consider it more for a pet than for a loved one.


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