An Artist of the Floating World

by Kazuo Ishiguro

First published 2019

Masuji Ono, a once-esteemed artist, confronts his past as he prepares his daughter's marriage in postwar Japan. Forced to reckon with his wartime complicity, Ono must navigate shifting social tides and the lingering consequences of his artistic choices. As he grapples with family dynamics and societal expectations, Ono's quest for redemption reveals the delicate balance between individual identity and collective memory.

Genres: art, historical-fiction, 20th-century, biographical-fiction, 21st-century, japanese-literature, asian-american, family-drama

Vibes: atmospheric, intimate, thought-provoking

Tropes: redemption, unreliable-narrator

Setting: Japan, Postwar Japan

Period: Postwar

224 pages · Paperback · Faber & Faber

More by Kazuo Ishiguro

• The Remains of the Day
• Never Let Me Go
• The Summer We Crossed Europe in the Rain
• The Buried Giant
• Nocturnes
• When We Were Orphans
• Klara and the Sun
• MY TWENTIETH CENTURY EVENING AND

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