Bibliofemme Reviews
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An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro 
(Published by Faber Fiction Classics S)
This is the story of postwar Japan, as seen through the eyes of Masuji Ono, a retired artist. Ono is proud of his rise to a man of stature and influence in pre-war Japan. He recounts his struggle to become a famous artist; through defying his father, starting his career working in the factory-like painting workshop knocking out 'Japanese' paintings for Westerners, being taken on by a master and trained to paint in his style and to study the 'floating world', the nightlife of Japan, ultimately challenging his master in developing his own style and using his art
as a propaganda tool for Japanese imperialism.
However after the war the political climate changes
and people blame the imperialists for the disaster of
the war. Ono's wife and son are dead, his daughter
Setsuko is married and daughter Noriko is finding
difficulties in securing a marriage.
Ono struggles to find his place in this changing Japan
and in acknowledging that in the political climate his
past is now one he should hide. A proud man, Ono
refuses to rewrite history as he saw it and bow to the
westernization of Japan. Through the preparations for
his daughters' marriage he is forced to acknowledge his
history's impropriety in the Japan of the day and its
affect on his family.
There is a melancholy air as a once important man is
now degraded in the eyes of his county and even his
family. With neither his work, position of man of
influence or as head of his family to occupy him he
wanders silently from room to room.
The gently unwinding tale of Masuji Ono is told
through his own recounting and dialogue with this
family and old acquaintances. Nothing is said
outright, the language is formal and polite to the
point of not saying anything at all. The actual story
floats above the text and is only completely visible
to the reader. The manner in which this novel was
written shows a great mastery of language and
understanding of the human psyche. It teaches much
about politics, art and personal histories. A subtle
and beautiful masterpiece.
An Artist of the Floating World was short listed for
the Booker Prize and won the Whitbread Book of the
Year Award in 1986. Ishiguro also won the Booker Prize
for his novel The Remains of the Day.
April 2004
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