Reviews with content warning for Suicide - An Artist of the Floating World

Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro

11 reviews

booksjessreads's review against another edition

challenging mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

Honestly, I really didn't enjoy this as much as I thought I would. I found the plot line to really drag in parts and I found the characters hard to follow. I read the Remains of the Day a few weeks ago, and this felt like a version of that book, but set in Japan. I felt like the themes were really well thought out and they were explored fairly well, but it could have been more engaging and effective.

I usually enjoy Ishiguro on audio, but I actually think in this instance, that didn't help. I just found it a really hard audiobook to engage with and also follow. Perhaps the print copy would have been better.

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eve81's review against another edition

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reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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sophiefreeman's review against another edition

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reflective relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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my_plant_library's review against another edition

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challenging reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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softanimal's review against another edition

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reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I love Ishiguro's gift for capturing a character who's self reflection fails to recognize their own realities or acknowledge their shame. His imagery is always a delight and the macro view of human lives he cultivates is thorough and engaging. I do however feel (and he himself has said this) that Floating World is a lesser telling of a very similar story to Remains of the Day. Although I enjoyed reading this, I feel that I do like Remains of the Day more although it's irritating that the one whose protagonist is an old white guy is the one most prefer despite including myself in that.

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