Klara and the Sun in After the End: A Post-Apocalyptic Book Group

Jul 14, 2022 Mary Overton added it · review of another edition

What is the essence of human nature and who nurtures it? Or is there no core essence, simply a stack of glass plates upon which the “nourishing” Sun casts multiple impressions of brilliant light. And what is the “life mission,” the purpose humans so urgently crave? I believe the following passage, pp 363-366, is the crux and climax of this quiet novel, an exploration of how consciousness invents meaning out of meaninglessness. Camus called that effort “the absurd.”
“The Sun’s evening rays had sta What is the essence of human nature and who nurtures it? Or is there no core essence, simply a stack of glass plates upon which the “nourishing” Sun casts multiple impressions of brilliant light. And what is the “life mission,” the purpose humans so urgently crave? I believe the following passage, pp 363-366, is the crux and climax of this quiet novel, an exploration of how consciousness invents meaning out of meaninglessness. Camus called that effort “the absurd.”
“The Sun’s evening rays had started to fade, leaving the beginnings of darkness inside the barn. Although I’d been trying to remain facing the rear opening, through which his light had been coming, I’d been for a little while aware of some separate light source behind me over my right shoulder. I’d assumed at first it was some further manifestation of the colored bottles display, but as the Sun’s own light in the barn continued to reduce, this new light source had become harder to ignore. I now turned around to look at it, and was surprised to see that the Sun himself, far from leaving, had come right within Mr McBain’s barn and installed himself, almost at floor level, between the front alcove and the barn’s front opening. This discovery was so unexpected – and the Sun’s presence in the low corner so dazzling – that for a brief moment I was in danger of becoming disoriented. Then my vision readjusted, and ordering my mind, I realized the Sun wasn’t really in the barn at all, but that something reflective had been left there by chance and was now catching his reflection during the last moments of his descent. In other words, something was behaving as the Sun’s mirror in much the way the windows of the RPO and other buildings sometimes did. As I walked towards the reflective surface, the light became less fierce, though it remained glowing and orange amidst the surrounding shadows.
“Only when I was standing over it did the nature of the reflective object become clear. Mr McBain – or one of his friends – had left leaning against the wall at this spot several rectangular sheets of glass, stacked one upon the other. Perhaps Mr McBain was finally planning to do something about his missing walls, and perhaps hoping to create windows. In any case, I could see reflected inside the glass rectangles – I estimated seven in all, propped up almost vertically – the Sun’s evening face. I stepped closer still, almost speaking the words out loud.
“‘Please show your special kindness to Josie.’
“I stared at the glass sheets. The Sun’s reflection, though still an intense orange, was no longer blinding and as I studied more carefully the Sun’s face framed within the outermost rectangle, I began to appreciate that I wasn’t looking at a single picture; that in fact there existed a different version of the Sun’s face on each of the glass surfaces, and what I might at first have taken for a unified image was in fact seven separate ones superimposed one over the other as my gaze penetrated from the first sheet through to the last. Although his face on the outermost glass was forbidding and aloof, and the one immediately behind it was, if anything, even more unfriendly, the two beyond that were softer and kinder. There were three further sheets, and though it was hard to see much of them on account of their being further back, I couldn’t help estimating that these faces would have humorous and kind expressions. In any case, whatever the nature of the images on each glass sheet, as I looked at them collectively, the effect was of a single face, but with a variety of outlines and emotions.
“I continued to stare intently, and then all the Sun’s faces began to fade together, and the light inside Mr McBain’s barn grew dim, and I could no longer see even the triangle of Josie’s paperback, or the sheep stretching down their mouths towards the out-of-reach grass. I said, ‘Thank you for receiving me again. I’m so sorry I wasn’t able to perform the service I promised to you. Please consider my request.’ But even within my mind, I spoke these words softly because I knew the Sun had departed.” ...more

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Apr 01, 2022 Gretchen rated it really liked it

Shelves: adult, dystopian, sci-fi, fantasy, after-the-end-book-club

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Mar 16, 2022 Donna Huber rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobooks, post-apocalyptic-book-club

Probably closer to 3.5 stars. I felt 'Meh' about most of the book but really liked the end. I think it will be a good discussion at book club. ...more

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