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I like Kazuo Ishiguro's writing. It's so "simple", tranquil and contemplative.

"But I now feel it is time for me to progress to other things. Sensei, it is my belief that in such troubled times as these, artists must learn to value something more tangible than those pleasurable things that disappear with the morning light. It is not necessary that artists always occupy a decadent and enclosed world. My conscience, Sensei, tells me that I cannot remain forever an artist of the floating world."

Like "The Remains of the Day", the main character reminisces about the not-so-proud past. He used his talent to serve the wrong purpose, i.e. painting the pleasure district. But he could not change the past. All he could do was to leave and finally be content that he made the right decision.

I bought this book in a museum in Florence!

The whole book is a brief history of people who made Renaissance period so interesting. I wish it had more details on Leonardo, Michelangelo and Galileo; but we can always find them in another books.

Some history part is just listing dates and events which are quite dry. But overall 3 stars!

Thanks to this book, I have switched my habit from multitasking to doing one thing at a time.

Even though I'm not an artist, I do learn a lot from this book to apply to my career. I also learned to take a bit of my time each day to enjoy art (practicing music and doodling) for the sake of my mental health.

Several important lessons are: having a routine (morning pages), protecting your artist dates, creating a safe environment to produce art without fearing mistakes, doing physical exercises is also important as your artistic career, etc. I don't want to spoil anything so you can now grab a cup of tea and enjoy the journey!