Rating: 
Summary: more subtle than rotd
Review: this is essentially the same story as remains of the day, told in the same style. it predates the more famous novel, however, so perhaps that's why i would have to say rotd is the more technically accomplished work. perhaps ishiguro had yet to perfect his style. that having been said i found 'artist' to be far more subtle, profound and affecting. the title is a brilliant metaphor for the ideologies that swept through japan, first facism in the 30s then capitalism in the 50s. a bit slow in the beginning but absolutely recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: The sometimes uncomfortable power of art
Review: What happens when legitimate art turns into propaganda and can propaganda be considered legitimate art? What happens to the artist who ventures into propaganda when his side loses the political battle? Can he still create art for art's sake?
These are some of the questions explored in An Artist of the Floating World, Kazuo Ishiguro's excellent novel of postwar Japan and the musings/fate of a renowned artist who, having served the imperial cause during the war, is now very much suffering for it.Ishiguro writes with an excellent blend of economy and descriptive language that wastes no words or passages on tangents or irrelevance. He creates postwar Japan so vividly it is a true "you-are-there" read. Very rarely are authors capable of weaving such realism into a non-contemporary setting. It's also a very fast moving story, in spite of the fact that in terms of action there is very little. You come to know and understand the characters so completely that it simply adds to the effect of the realism. A classic work by a very talented writer.
Rating:
Summary: The sometimes uncomfortable power of art
Review: What happens when legitimate art turns into propaganda and can propaganda be considered legitimate art? What happens to the artist who ventures into propaganda when his side loses the political battle? Can he still create art for art's sake?
These are some of the questions explored in An Artist of the Floating World, Kazuo Ishiguro's excellent novel of postwar Japan and the musings/fate of a renowned artist who, having served the imperial cause during the war, is now very much suffering for it. Ishiguro writes with an excellent blend of economy and descriptive language that wastes no words or passages on tangents or irrelevance. He creates postwar Japan so vividly it is a true "you-are-there" read. Very rarely are authors capable of weaving such realism into a non-contemporary setting. It's also a very fast moving story, in spite of the fact that in terms of action there is very little. You come to know and understand the characters so completely that it simply adds to the effect of the realism. A classic work by a very talented writer.
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