settling on 4 stars, i think. Ishiguro delivers great storytelling, told from the perspective of a retired artist in post wwii Japan, as he recalls memories from his youth intertwined with his current life in a much different Japan. I went in completely blind here, so I was particularly invested as MC unveils details from his youth and his role during the war.
Really, this is just a story of an aging man in a changed world who deals with his own guilt and pride. He subconsciously has a great deal of guilt that he can’t admit to himself for the minor role he played in the imperial propaganda he helped create as an artist, and for the pain he caused his favorite pupil for declaring him a traitor. This guilt ultimately materializes in MC thinking others view him as a traitor himself.
MC has a lot of pride, and up until nearly the end we have been convinced he was a borderline war criminal whose agitprop partially led to the deaths of many sons. His own son actually died in the war, but he never spends time thinking about it; same with his wife. He thinks of them only in passing. When we get a scene with his daughter, who expresses that nobody has any reason to consider MC anything more than a normal artist, we are faced with the truth that MC was just an ordinary man, wanting to believe his work was meaningful, even if wrong. It’s an unsettling reveal to us that recontextualizes a lot of the story and interactions.
Some of my favorite parts: the callback when MC’s art teacher asks him to bring him his two favorite pieces, which is what his father did to him when he was a boy. Ichiro (grandson) was hilarious.