Klara and the Sun Reading Guide & Discussion Questions

Book Club Discussion Questions

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For supplemental discussion material see our Beyond the Book article, Gene Editing and our BookBrowse Review of Klara and the Sun.

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

1. The setting of Klara and the Sun is sometime in the future, when artificial intelligence (AI) has become more integrated into human society. Which elements of the novel felt familiar to you at the time of reading, which felt hard to imagine, and which were easy to imagine as a possibility for your lifetime?
2. Klara is prized for her observational qualities as an Artificial Friend. How do the tone and style of her first-person narration help to convey the degree of her attention to detail?
3. Does the term "Artificial Friend" resonate at all with you now, as a contemporary reader in the age of social media and the internet? What's the difference in the level of interaction between children and their "artificial" versus their real/human friends?

Unless otherwise stated, this discussion guide is reprinted with the permission of Vintage. Any page references refer to a USA edition of the book, usually the trade paperback version, and may vary in other editions.