An Artist of the Floating World

Publisher details

Author
Kazuo Ishiguro
Publisher
Faber & Faber
Genre
Fiction
Released
01 January, 1986

An Artist of the Floating World

Buy now

Retail partners

    Synopsis

    It is 1948. Japan is rebuilding her cities after the calamity of World War II, her people putting defeat behind them and looking to the future. The celebrated painter Masuji Ono fills his days attending to his garden, his house repairs, his two grown daughters and his grandson, and his evenings drinking with old associates in quiet lantern-lit bars. His should be a tranquil retirement. But as his memories continually return to the past - to a life and a career deeply touched by the rise of Japanese militarism - a dark shadow begins to grow over his serenity.
    Kazuo Ishiguro
    About the author

    Kazuo Ishiguro

    Kazuo Ishiguro was born in Nagasaki, Japan, in 1954 and came to Britain at the age of five. He is the author of six novels: A Pale View of Hills (1982, Winifred Holtby Prize), An Artist of the Floating World (1986, Whitbread Book of the Year Award, Premio Scanno, shortlisted for the Booker Prize), The Remains of the Day (1989, winner of the Booker Prize), The Unconsoled (1995, winner of the Cheltenham Prize), When We Were Orphans (2000, shortlisted for the Booker Prize) and Never Let Me Go (2005, Corine Internationaler Buchpreis, Serono Literary Prize, Casino de Santiago European Novel Award, shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize). Nocturnes (2009) was awarded the Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa International Literary Prize.Kazuo Ishiguro's seventh novel, The Buried Giant, will be published by Faber in March 2015.Kazuo Ishiguro's work has been translated into over forty languages. The Remains of the Day and Never Let Me Go have also been adapted into major films. In 1995 Ishiguro received an OBE for Services to Literature, and in 1998 the French decoration of Chevalier de L'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. He lives in London with his wife and daughter. 

    Books by Kazuo Ishiguro

    Related articles

    PODCAST: Victoria Purman on Journalism, Publishing and Vintage Books

    Podcast

    15 June 2026

    PODCAST: Victoria Purman on Journalism, Publishing and Vintage Books

      Q&A: Maya Linnell, Author of Sunrise at Sunny Cross Farm

      News | Author Related

      8 June 2026

      Q&A: Maya Linnell, Author of Sunrise at Sunny Cross Farm

        PODCAST: What Are You Reading? The App with Caroline Overington

        Podcast

        8 June 2026

        PODCAST: What Are You Reading? The App with Caroline Overington

          PODCAST: Francesca Albanese on War and Power

          Podcast

          1 June 2026

          PODCAST: Francesca Albanese on War and Power

            PODCAST: Dervla McTiernan on Ruthless Editing and Finding Home in Australia

            Podcast

            25 May 2026

            PODCAST: Dervla McTiernan on Ruthless Editing and Finding Home in Australia

              What Should You Read Next? Let WAYR? The App Decide

              News

              19 May 2026

              What Should You Read Next? Let WAYR? The App Decide

                The Best Podcast Episodes You’ll Find on WAYR? The App

                News | Events & Festivals

                19 May 2026

                The Best Podcast Episodes You’ll Find on WAYR? The App

                How to Download What Are You Reading? The App

                News

                19 May 2026

                How to Download What Are You Reading? The App

                PODCAST: Antoinette Lattouf on Books, Battles and Breaking Barriers

                Podcast

                18 May 2026

                PODCAST: Antoinette Lattouf on Books, Battles and Breaking Barriers

                  3 Reasons Why You Should Read The Farmer's Pyjamas by Ruth Paul

                  News

                  11 May 2026

                  3 Reasons Why You Should Read The Farmer's Pyjamas by Ruth Paul

                  COMMENTS

                  Leave a Reply

                  Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *