An Artist of the Floating World

This is my favorite of Ishiguro's novels that I've read thus far. In both its setting (in 1948-1950 Japan) and its themes, it is quite close to A Pale View of Hills, only this novel is primarily concerned with men who are artists, whereas that one dealt mostly with women and motherhood.

The narrator, Mr. Ono, is an old man. As a reader, you're unsure of whether you can trust his memory (and you realize that his perspective is very biased--he admits this). Ishiguro plays a bit with narrative in examining the way that stories get retold and the way other people's memories tie into and influence Mr. Ono's. There is a clever plot twist having to do with memory and the trustworthiness of the narrator.

The book is Mr. Ono's attempt at honesty. He is frustrated with the dishonesty of the Japanese people who surround him as they disown and deny the past. Mr. Ono's art was nationalistic, and after the horrors of the war, this nationalism was disavowed. Ishiguro describes a society that was opening itself to the West (as seen in his grandson's imitation of "Popeye the Sailorman" and cowboys). This openness to the West led to two responses of the Japanese people to the past: some killed themselves as a sort of apology for past wrongs; others hypocritically retold the past, denying certain of the things that they once praised. Mr. Ono is dissatisfied with both of these responses: he sees himself as almost alone in his position that the art that he did was in good faith, even if it had bad results.

There is a contrast in this book between direct and indirect ways of communication that is also present in A Pale View of Hills: Mr. Ono is very tactful and understated. He conveys what he means very properly, by beating around the bush (you get the idea that this is typical of his culture). His daughter and one of his friends, however, are much more straightforward in ways that embarrass him.

Ishiguro also considers the relationship between the student and the teacher. He sees the student as both informed by and differing from the teacher. The student copies the teacher and is left forever with some of the mannerisms of his teacher, on the one hand. On the other, the student is the critic of the teacher and at some point must leave the teacher and find his own artistic form.

The floating world of the title refers, I think, to two things: Most explicitly, the floating world is the world of entertainment. It is the world of geishas and alcohol that Mr. Ono's teacher painted, and which Mr. Ono himself decides is trivial compared to the importance of nationalism. Secondly, and implicitly, the floating world seems to be the world in transition (which is always a theme of Ishiguro's novels--okay, okay, I don't know about always, but in the four of his six novels that I've read thus far). The transition that Ishiguro writes about here is the transition toward democracy in Japan after WW2. The world is changing--Mr. Ono's children and grandchild are less respectful, and American culture is invading Japanese culture. Mr. Ono struggles to respond to these changes.


(picture, picture, picture)