An Artist Of The Floating World

Rating:
Summary: A quiet novel about art and war and good intentions
Review: "An Artist of the Floating World" is a beautiful little novel, written in typical Ishiguro style, with the calm surface waters belaying the rapid current that flows beneath. It is an interesting style that attempts to ape classical Japanese literature, infusing it with Ishiguro's innate Brittishness, coming from being born of Japanese parents but raised in Britain.

As with his other novels, and part of his style, a knowledge of historical events is taken for granted on the part of the reader. Allusions are made to once-famous or infamous events and people, and names are dropped with the understanding that everyone is intimately familiar with WWII and the cultures of Japan and England.

The title is a bit misleading, as the "Floating World" is usually associated with the Edo period of Japan, and not with the Fascist era of Showa. Anyone expecting Geishas and Samurai will be disappointed.

A very quick and quiet read, "An Artist of the Floating World" is something than can be read over a weekend with a cup of green tea. It contributes a viewpoint, and a necessary one, to WWII Japan and paints a human face onto a troubled period of history. Love and family and duty are on display here, along with good intentions leading down dark paths, and the righteousness of actions and re-actions.

Like "Remains of the Day," "An Artist of the Floating World" is an intimate, beautiful character sketch. Very much worth the limited time needed to enjoy the book.

Rating:
Summary: A quiet novel about art and war and good intentions
Review: "An Artist of the Floating World" is a beautiful little novel, written in typical Ishiguro style, with the calm surface waters belaying the rapid current that flows beneath. It is an interesting style that attempts to ape classical Japanese literature, infusing it with Ishiguro's innate Brittishness, coming from being born of Japanese parents but raised in Britain.

As with his other novels, and part of his style, a knowledge of historical events is taken for granted on the part of the reader. Allusions are made to once-famous or infamous events and people, and names are dropped with the understanding that everyone is intimately familiar with WWII and the cultures of Japan and England.

The title is a bit misleading, as the "Floating World" is usually associated with the Edo period of Japan, and not with the Fascist era of Showa. Anyone expecting Geishas and Samurai will be disappointed.

A very quick and quiet read, "An Artist of the Floating World" is something than can be read over a weekend with a cup of green tea. It contributes a viewpoint, and a necessary one, to WWII Japan and paints a human face onto a troubled period of history. Love and family and duty are on display here, along with good intentions leading down dark paths, and the righteousness of actions and re-actions.

Like "Remains of the Day," "An Artist of the Floating World" is an intimate, beautiful character sketch. Very much worth the limited time needed to enjoy the book.

Rating:
Summary: An Artist of the Floating World
Review: "An artist of the Floating world" is about the nostalgic indulgence of a delicate artist struggling to do soulsearching
forced on him by the turn of events. But for the traditional style of his daughter's marriage he would not have made numerous trips to his students and colleagues apparently with the mission of "silencing" so that the dubious past is kept away from view.
Its simply the psychological convulsions of a man who finds comfort in his own therapeutic remembrances. The marriage takes place without protests and the man is free of worries.

Rating:
Summary: Great
Review: Brilliant. An Artist of the Floating World describes in a way no other novel has done the blame and contempt heaped upon a generation of Japanese who fought and lost the war. Subtle, with layers of cultural detail, this is a terrific book.

Rating:
Summary: Ishiguro ranks on par with the Hemingways and Greenes
Review: Certainly, the best of his 4 ( I think ) books to date. Ishiguro's mastery of the use of the English language amazes me. He has added new twist and turns to what would have been a very boring story, if written by others. The story is about a Japanese trying to readjust himself in Japan after the war. I suggest anyone embarking on a writing career to read this book

Rating:
Summary: Fills the senses with post-war Japan scenarios.
Review: Everybody has a story, no matter how famous or ordinary the individual is. This great work by Ishiguro gives us the inner workings of the minds of young and old in post-war Japan. The lives of young people living and working toward their dreams are the same with any generation--during a war and after a war. Ishiguro deserves a lot of praise for this work. This would make an excellent film that would appeal to the international audience

Rating:
Summary: Intimately interesting
Review: I had to read this short novel for an English literature course, only to have it pulled off the reading list halfway through me reading it. That I finished reading it anyway may be testament to the fact that I refuse to leave a book half-read but at least some credit has to go out to the book itself. Written by Remains Of The Day author Kazuo Ishiguro, An Artist Of The Floating World is basically a story about a retired artist trying to adjust to post-war life in Japan. As the main character's family return to visit him and he begins preparations for his daughter's potential wedding after a disastrous fall through last year, his mind keeps returning to the decisions he made during the war, his collegues and his flowering career.

The way in which Ishiguro so cleverly manipulates the dialogue so that any character digressions into the past never seem forced is masterful. In addition to this, the gentle dialogue and intricate descriptions give a perfect impression of a mannered Japan that is treading carefully after the events of the second world war. Although the persistent references to the overflow of western culture into Japan can become a little tiresome, they don't distract from the overall picture of things. Like any good book that consists of memories the narrative presents them as a way in which the characters can impose order on their own lives in a 'floating world'. Though the pace isn't as fast as some readers might like, this is a very intricate novel that deserves kudos for letting you into the characters' psyches and explaining, or intentionally not explaining, what they did and why.

Rating:
Summary: Intimately interesting
Review: I had to read this short novel for an English literature course, only to have it pulled off the reading list halfway through me reading it. That I finished reading it anyway may be testament to the fact that I refuse to leave a book half-read but at least some credit has to go out to the book itself. Written by Remains Of The Day author Kazuo Ishiguro, An Artist Of The Floating World is basically a story about a retired artist trying to adjust to post-war life in Japan. As the main character's family return to visit him and he begins preparations for his daughter's potential wedding after a disastrous fall through last year, his mind keeps returning to the decisions he made during the war, his collegues and his flowering career.

The way in which Ishiguro so cleverly manipulates the dialogue so that any character digressions into the past never seem forced is masterful. In addition to this, the gentle dialogue and intricate descriptions give a perfect impression of a mannered Japan that is treading carefully after the events of the second world war. Although the persistent references to the overflow of western culture into Japan can become a little tiresome, they don't distract from the overall picture of things. Like any good book that consists of memories the narrative presents them as a way in which the characters can impose order on their own lives in a 'floating world'. Though the pace isn't as fast as some readers might like, this is a very intricate novel that deserves kudos for letting you into the characters' psyches and explaining, or intentionally not explaining, what they did and why.

Rating:
Summary: Very Subtle and Nuanced
Review: I love all of Kazuo Ishiguro's novels and I've read everything he's published. AN ARTIST OF THE FLOATING WORLD is probably my least favorite of his works and that's perhaps only because I don't understand it as well as I might if I had had more contact with the Japanese culture and the mindset of the book's narrator, Masuji Ono.

Like all of Ishiguro's novels, AN ARTIST OF THE FLOATING WORLD explores memory and the effect of time on memory, perhaps even the way our memories deceive us or the way in which we choose to remember things to suit our present purposes.

Ono is the artist of the "floating world," the world of nightclubs, bars and various other pleasures that kept the artistic community of pre-war Japan entertained. Ono began life as an artist with a clear vision of what he wanted to paint but, when the war descended on Japan, he used his artistic gifts for other purposes, more specifically, for propaganda in the service of the imperial government. At the time, he was able to rationalize what he did and make sense of it. Now, he is not so sure.

AN ARTIST OF THE FLOATING WORLD is set in a fairly large Japanese city (but not Tokyo) in the 1940s, but after the war has concluded. As the book opens, Ono is reflecting on his actions during the war years and wondering if what he did was right or wrong and wondering how and where he "fits" into Japanese society now.

Ono spends his days wandering through the rooms of his very large (especially by Japanese standards) house. Much of the house has been damaged during the war and has yet to be repaired. Ono's wife was killed during the war, as was his son, but these losses don't seem to bother Ono as much as does his own possible betrayal of his talent.

Despite his losses, Ono is not alone in the world. His students revere him and he has two daughters that demand much of his time and attention. His younger daughter has just become engaged (a lengthy and complicated process) and his elder daughter, who is already married with a young son, is concerned that her sister's finace's family may break the engagement if they discover Ono's connection to the imperialist government. Much of the book concerns itself with Ono's visits to characters from his past in order to assure himself that his own past will remain hidden. However, as Ono journeys through his past and revisits his memories, he becomes more and more aware that what he did was the wrong thing and he comes to regret it. He also comes to see Japan's future in the eyes of his own children and his grandson.

AN ARTIST OF THE FLOATING WORLD is a beautifully written novel, a delicate tapestry of loss, regret, memory and perhaps hope. I think it might be Ishiguro's most difficult novel for Westerners like me who are not well-versed in the culture of either pre-war or post-war Japan. I found some of the set pieces a bit puzzling, not only because of my lack of knowledge of Japan, but also because of the book's extreme subtlety, something that is very beautiful, but confusing to a Western reader like me.

Despite the fact that I had some problems identifying with the characters in this book, I certainly don't regret reading it. It's a beautiful book and one that is well worth any reader's time and effort.

Rating:
Summary: Masterfully subtle writing
Review: I love Ishiguro. Both this novel and Remains of the Day are spectacular. They are set in different countries, and portray very different characters and customs, but they share the exacting observation and emotional subtlety which Ishiguro masters. Read them both.