An Artist of the Floating World is a novel by Japanese-born English writer
Kazuo Ishiguro. Set in Japan during the aftermath of
World War II, the book follows the life of Ono, a prideful artist who seems incapable of changing his ways. And while Ono is rarely portrayed sympathetically, it seems that he has lost a great deal due to the war...The precise nature of Ono's past is only revealed through a series of reminiscences, framed by the efforts of his youngest daughter, Noriko, to find a husband. Greatly suffers (or profits?) from
Unreliable Narrator, to the point that this Trope is
Lampshaded by Ono himself multiple times.
This book provides examples of:
- Dirty Coward: Ono regards the Tortoise as this, because he never took the kinds of "risks" that Ono did.
- Driven to Suicide: Averted, but heavily implied as one way for Ono to escape the dishonor of his past.
- Heroic BSoD: The closest Ono comes to this is during the meeting between Noriko's and her suitor's families.
- Unreliable Narrator: Ono.
