Kazuo Ishiguro
An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro takes place a few years after the end of World War II. The narrator is an elderly artist, Masuji Ono. As a young man, Ono was praised for his art, receiving accolades and awards. He worked hard and played hard, spending time with colleagues in the “floating world,” a euphemism for the neighborhood pleasure district. But then Ono shifts focus. Rejecting art portraying ephemeral beauty, he paints propaganda art to promote Japanese imperialist ambitions. Now, as an aging grandfather, he struggles to come to terms with his past and his role in promoting the patriotic fervor that led to Japan’s devastation and loss of life as a result of the war.
The novel is divided into unequal four sections: October 1948, April 1949, November 1949, and June 1950. Ono’s first-person narration is replete with digressions, flashbacks, flashforwards, commentary, and analysis. We learn he lost wife and son in the war. He has two daughters, one of whom is married and has a child; the other is on the verge of getting married.
Ono’s recollections of past events reveal him to be an unreliable narrator since his recollections are at odds with the perceptions of his daughters and acquaintances. His assessment of the past is flawed. His recollections are fuzzy. For example, he seems genuinely surprised when a former pupil rebuffs him. It is only later we learn he had once acted as a police informant and was responsible for the beatings and torture of this same pupil.
His childhood flashbacks reveal the emotional and psychological abuse he experienced at the hands of his father who belittled him if he didn’t conform to rigidly high expectations. His father’s treatment contrasts with Ono’s current treatment of his daughters and grandson. He tolerates their objections, is influenced by their words even though he may disagree with them, and allows them to express their opinions—something his father would never have allowed him to do. He makes serious attempts to adjust to changing times, behaviors, and surroundings while expressing concern about a post war Japan falling increasingly under Western influence.
Ono frequently addresses the reader directly with words such as, “You may remember . . .” It is as if he is reminiscing with an old acquaintance. This generates a tone of intimacy with the reader. We watch with compassion as Ono struggles to come to terms with his past and present circumstances. In the process, he reveals more about himself than he may be aware.
In typical Ishiguro style, there is an undercurrent of something festering beneath the surface. Clues, hints, suggestions of something troubling pepper Ono’s narrative. He emerges as a complex character. On the one hand, he tries to justify his past actions by contextualizing them; on the other hand, he harbors guilt about his involvement in the propaganda machine. He does what most of us do as we age: he looks back on his life with a nostalgic fondness for things that have passed while simultaneously harboring remorse for some of his earlier decisions.
A sensitive portrayal of an elderly man reflecting on his life.
Recommended.