PART TWO, Klara and the Sun: “The Mother’s quick coffee was, as I say, an important moment every morning, and it was one of my tasks to wake Josie up in good time for it... I understood that if she failed to join the Mother for the quick coffee, there was the danger of loneliness creeping into her day, no matter what other events filled it.” - Kazuo Ishiguro, Klara and the Sun There is something so human and relatable about this passage and the significance of the “quick coffee.” Don’t many of us structure our days around these little rituals that keep the loneliness from creeping in? One of the things I find most striking about Klara and the Sun is the way that it depicts a “dystopian” future, of robots and genetic modification and social unrest, but it feels almost ordinary, not so far separated from our present anxieties. The book is not driven by sensationalized science fiction flights of fancy but by age-old, tender, and relatable human desires: for our children to flourish, to avoid death, to not be lonely. This year for my online summer book club, we’re reading Klara and the Sun by Kasuo Ishiguro. The book is narrated from the perspective of a robot created to care for children. It is about the effect of technology on society and the possibility of transhumanism, but most of all it about what it is to be human. Last night I released the second episode in my summer book club series on Klara and the Sun. I so enjoyed getting to discuss Part Two with doctors Sarah and Jeremiah Coogan, a formidable and friendly married academic pair. If you want to join the book club, grab a copy of Klara and the Sun, read part one and two, listen to the podcasts through the link in my profile, and then join in on the discussion questions I’ll post here on Thursday. Can’t wait to read your thoughts!