applekern's review against another edition
4.0
An artist of the floating world explores human memory, guilt and thoughts in a unique way. I was able to get my hands on the 30 year anniversary edition, and reading Ishiguro's intentions and the way this story came about was insightful and gave me a certain way of viewing this piece. Similar to his later work, the novel explores how warped perception is when viewing it from a specific person's view and no one does it quite like Ishiguro. No doubt, when reading his work there's always a need for discussion, for introspection and reflection - exactly what I love most about reading.
kingfan30's review
3.0
This book is quite fascinating from the point of view of the culture, I hadn’t realised about marriage negotiations at all. However this is a small part of this book, a lot of it is the main character looking back on his life. I almost felt like it drip feeds you information though, so it took me a while to work out what it was that was bothering him that might affect his daughters marriage negotiations. I felt like you never find out what has happened to his wife and son, however I have seen another review that says the wife was lost to a stray bomb and his son during the war, so maybe I missed that. It doesn’t really go anywhere as such, but it is a small quick read.
mhewza's review against another edition
4.0
In the space of one sentence, Ishiguro has you trance-like in the middle of one event and then places you in the middle of a completely separate event, without ever letting you notice the transition between the two.
skuzxs's review
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
unreliablereader's review against another edition
4.0
Elegant enough for me. Full of ambition, dignity, guilt, political and generational change.
The unreliable narrator is always a bonus. The Remains of the Day vibes were there.
The unreliable narrator is always a bonus. The Remains of the Day vibes were there.
black_girl_reading's review against another edition
4.0
An Artist of the Floating World was totally classic Kazuo Ishiguro and also felt an awful lot like a companion novel to The Remains of the Day in the best way. About an aging Japanese artist forced into retirement at the end of WWII due to the propaganda he created for regime, Masuji Ono finds himself reflecting on his life, and his new reviled position in society, while largely avoiding honestly examining his own experiences and choices during the war, and the impacts of this on his life (see? Classic Ishiguro). Ono struggles to maintain relationships with his remaining living adult children, who resent him and what his fall from grace has meant in in their lives, he tries to grow close to a grandchild enamoured of American culture, and he largely ignores the emotional implications of the deaths of his his wife and son during the war. Ono also faces colleagues from the pleasure district (the floating world of the title) whom he fell out with over his choice to support the government campaigns with his art, many of whom went to prison for their resistance to the war, and finds himself in the impossible position of needing things from them while also refusing to accept responsibility for his choices. Ono is truly alienated from himself, his now destroyed art, and the world. This book was as foggy and winding as any Ishiguro, and much more of the story was told in what wasn’t said than in what was. This subtlety and ambiguity was emphasized for me as I know so little of pre and post WWII Japan - I would love any balanced reccos for books about this time. I love that Ishiguro always hints at darker things without fully entering the shadows, and that he always dances over the line of what is forgivable and what isn’t, leaving the reader with so much power to shape their own reading of the story, and to decide things for themselves.
eheslosz's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
I really appreciate Ishiguro's writing; it's very sparse and simple and understated but so much is said without being said. Very good at "show not tell". And so good at dialogue – the tension beneath polite comments! There were two moments in particular (which were actually linked and paralleled each other) where I felt physical tension in my body whilst reading.
agathe02's review
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0