An Artist Of The Floating World (Review)

Autor: Kazuo Ishiguro
Editorial: Vintage International.
ISBN: 0-679-72266-1
Publicación: Septiembre 1989
Páginas: 206

Sinopsis: "This is the story of postwar Japan, as seen through the eyes of Masuji Ono, a retired artist. Ono is proud of his rise to a man of stature and influence in pre-war Japan. He recounts his struggle to become a famous artist; through defying his father, starting his career working in the factory-like painting workshop knocking out 'Japanese' paintings for Westerners, being taken on by a master and trained to paint in his style and to study the 'floating world', the nightlife of Japan, ultimately challenging his master in developing his own style and using his art as a propaganda tool for Japanese imperialism.

However after the war the political climate changes and people blame the imperialists for the disaster of the war. Ono's wife and son are dead, his daughter Setsuko is married and daughter Noriko is finding difficulties in securing a marriage.

Ono struggles to find his place in this changing Japan and in acknowledging that in the political climate his past is now one he should hide. A proud man, Ono refuses to rewrite history as he saw it and bow to the westernization of Japan. Through the preparations for his daughters' marriage he is forced to acknowledge his history's impropriety in the Japan of the day and its affect on his family.

There is a melancholy air as a once important man is now degraded in the eyes of his county and even his family. With neither his work, position of man of influence or as head of his family to occupy him he wanders silently from room to room.

The gently unwinding tale of Masuji Ono is told through his own recounting and dialogue with this family and old acquaintances. Nothing is said outright, the language is formal and polite to the point of not saying anything at all. The actual story floats above the text and is only completely visible to the reader. The manner in which this novel was written shows a great mastery of language and understanding of the human psyche. It teaches much about politics, art and personal histories. A subtle and beautiful masterpiece. The Artist

An Artist of the Floating World was short listed for the Booker Prize and won the Whitbread Book of the Year Award in 1986. Ishiguro also won the Booker Prize for his novel The Remains of the Day".

Muy buen libro de Kazuo, lo terminé de leer hoy. El libro me lo habia prestado Stella hace como mil años y nunca me tome el tiempo de leerlo, ahora se lo voy a poder devolver ya que compre una copia nueva para mi coleccion. Dado que Ishiguro se mudo a Inglaterra a temprana edad, el libro es "very british" por asi decirlo, aunque el tema es meramente japones. Le doy 4 estrellitas de 5 (***)