Reviews with content warning for Misogyny - An Artist of the Floating World

This is an interesting book about an artist of war propaganda from Japan in WWII - he is dealing with rectifying his past as a fairly well known artist with his past with the war, and his present as a man that the average person blames for the war and American occupation.

It’s slow and reflective, repetitive because of the narrators unreliable nature, but it’s for a reason. He presents his points of view as the utmost height of polite Japanese society, and cannot see how Japan is changing around him after the war.

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pandemonicbaby's review against another edition

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reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

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risemini's review against another edition

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hopeful lighthearted reflective relaxing fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

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sbnptwrn's review against another edition

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hopeful mysterious reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

real master-class in unreliable narration

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booksjessreads's review against another edition

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challenging mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

Honestly, I really didn't enjoy this as much as I thought I would. I found the plot line to really drag in parts and I found the characters hard to follow. I read the Remains of the Day a few weeks ago, and this felt like a version of that book, but set in Japan. I felt like the themes were really well thought out and they were explored fairly well, but it could have been more engaging and effective.

I usually enjoy Ishiguro on audio, but I actually think in this instance, that didn't help. I just found it a really hard audiobook to engage with and also follow. Perhaps the print copy would have been better.

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