An Artist of the Floating World

About

Masuji Ono was once a celebrated artist in imperial Japan — a man who put his talent in service of the nationalist movement that led his country into war. Now, in the rubble of defeat, he negotiates his daughter's marriage while his memories drift back to the "floating world" of prewar pleasure districts, mentors, and choices he can no longer justify. The people around him have conveniently forgotten their own complicity; Ono cannot forget his. Ishiguro's second novel perfected the technique he would carry through his career: an unreliable narrator who reveals himself through what he omits. Ono's careful, dignified prose is the sound of a man constructing a version of his life he can live with. A novel about the stories nations and individuals tell themselves after the catastrophe — and the dangerous comfort of selective memory.

Awards

• ★Booker Prize(1986 - Shortlist)