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Summary: Perhaps the most beautifully written book I have ever read.
Review: Remains of the Day is beautiful. It is simulateouly heartbreaking and hilarious, but as with everything Ishiguro writes, its depth creeps up on you unseen
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Summary: A Truly Wonderful Book
Review: I've read "The Remains of the Day" three times now and am writing my first Amazon review to praise this wonderful book. As you've probably gathered from the other reviews, "The Remains of the Day" is the story of Stevens, an English butler, who journeys across the English countryside to meet with Miss Kenton with the hope of recruiting her back to Darlington Hall. As Stevens ventures away from Darlington Hall, he finds himself reminiscing about his former employer, an unofficial English diplomat who worked to dispel European tension during the period between the two world wars, and records his recollections in the form of a journal. These journal entries comprise "The Remains of the Day".Stevens is a haunting character, unforgettable for both his obsessive desire for perfection and for the devastation that this obsessiveness ultimately causes him. Kazuo Ishiguro examines the question of what it means to "inhabit" the role of butler, a necessity if Stevens is to perform his job properly. To be a good butler requires Stevens to show practically no emotion and to cater to Lord Darlington's every need. Stevens lives at Darlington Hall and is never off-duty, however, meaning that he never gets the chance to "disrobe" and consider his own needs. Consequently, when afforded the opportunity to leave home by his new employer, an American businessman, Stevens allows the role of butler to fall away ever so slightly. The result is a conflicted account of the major events of Stevens' employment, recollections of Lord Darlington both sure of his "greatness" and tinged with uncertainty. Ishiguro also examines the question of "dignity": whether working for a man of apparent "greatness" makes one great, or whether it is simply pathetic to surrender so much control. Stevens confronts this question head-on in the book's final pages, in a scene on a pier that will stay with you indefinitely. Then there is, of course, Miss Kenton. A maid at Darlington Hall during most of Stevens's tenure there, Miss Kenton is the person we want Stevens to be: committed to her work but willing to assess the actions of her employer. Through their mutual responsibility for the operations of the household, Stevens and Miss Kenton develop feelings for one another. Miss Kenton reveals her affection through teasing and gentle nosiness, and Stevens responds with social awkwardness and, more often, strictness. When Stevens meets with Miss Kenton (now Mrs. Benn) toward the end of the book, his new self-awareness allows us to finally understand the vitality of their relationship and to feel the devastation of its lost potential. "The Remains of the Day" is my favorite present to give, and I find myself jealous of my friends reading it for the first time. Kazuo Ishiguro is a masterful author, and you will wonder why it took so long for a book like this to be written. Buy this book and you won't be disappointed; its major scenes will stay with you vividly and its narrator will too.
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Summary: Worthy
Review: The word dignity that concerns Stevens so in this novel comes from the latin dignitas < dignus, worthy. This novel by Ishiguro is worthy of the Booker prize it recieved and much praise from all quarters. Like his previous two novels there is a strong theme here of realization of having backed the wrong horse ,so to speak, and how to proceed from there. This, Ishiguro's third effort, reaches masterpiece quality in form, prose, restraint, and narrative. A previous reviewer's comparison to Chekhov is very apt. Steven's the samurai slash english gentry butler of Darlington hall has spent his life serving what he thought was a great man, Lord Darlington. Darlington , it turns out was an unwitting pawn of the Nazi's in diplomacy between Nazi Germany and England. Steven's realizes this along with his missed romantic chances in his past and it breaks his heart. He must decide a worthy way to spend the remains of his day. Stevens although not a perfect human is a refreshing literary character with his selfless devotion, civility, and ideals. His struggle to learn how to banter and joke is the most touching and humorous part of the book. This is a modern day classic!
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Summary: The Confessions Of A Mask
Review: I was lured into reading this book from the motion picture based on this novel starring Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson.
The author was born in Nagasaki and he has lived in England since he was 5 years old. Despite his specutacular achievement
it never become huge news in Japan.
Even though it is the story in England and narrates on the very British tradition and pride the Butlership, it reminds me of pure Japanese classics I can think of such as Mishima, Kawabata, and Natsume.
Japanese literature is quite talented in such area of describing "unsaid intentions" as the fans of Yasujiro Ozu movies know really well. And we treasure some beauty facing diminision as our expression mono no awa-re implies.
Ishiguro's novel aptly uses some of the key elements classic Japanese literature are well capable of. He is borrowing the theme from Mishima's "Confessions of a Mask", in which introvert author speaks about himself. In Remains of the Day Ishiguro let the old butler who is not supposed to disclose what he had been found during his servicemanship talk about his feelings and recollections.
Recommended for wide variety of bookworms particularly Japanese classic literature appreciators.
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Summary: A Warped But Mesmerizing Meditation on Duty
Review: Stevens, the narrator of this mesmerizing book, is an elderly (60+) English butler who has managed the same great English house for more than 20 years. In expression and action, Stevens is restrained, precise, articulate, and dignified, as well as masterful in crisis. These are all attributes that, in his own mind, make a butler "great."
Throughout his narrative, Stevens explores this question of greatness in his profession. This exploration can be summarized as the questions: To achieve greatness, does the family a butler serves have to be noble? Does that family have to take a public stand on the great moral issue of the day? What happens if that family takes a misguided stand for moral reasons and ends on the wrong side?
In exploring these questions, Stevens tells us about the events, both great and small, at Darlington Hall that illuminate his battle for professional greatness. In doing so, he makes clear that the cost of this so-called greatness is impersonality, the suppression of emotion, and, ultimately, isolation and life as an artifact. Whatever the cause of this trade-off, the narrative shows Stevens choosing the security of relentless duty over family and love.
Ultimately, Stevens tells a sad, compelling, and surprisingly touching story. And, it's clear Stevens is unlucky, with moments of greatness in his profession coinciding with turning points in his personal life. Clearly, the momentum of great events kept him from making good choices.
"The Remains of the Day" is a tremendous literary achievement, without a word out of place until the very end. But then, Ishiguro has Stevens, in interaction with his old flame, acknowledge that his heart is breaking. And, the final paragraphs show Stevens accepting a role in life for rapport and emotion. Ishiguro, clearly, believes life without emotion is empty. But these positions represent a sentimental sea change for the troubled Stevens. Nonetheless, a great book!
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Summary: The other reviewers have written most of what I could say
Review: The other reviewers have written most of what I could say about this book so I will just add some extra perspectives I don't already see covered.
I read "When We Were Orphans" before this book and I haven't seen the movie. Both books have "unreliable narrators". This one is much more believable and realistic. Memory truly does alter as the brain tries to reconstruct some sense from life. I think dreams also tend to confuse us about what really happened. By comparison to this "When We Were Orphans" is just crazy and doesn't have any really deep messages IMHO. It is too far from reality to be great literature.
Another thought I had is that Stevens strikes me as almost autistic and also is almost like a slave. He has worked all his life as a single person in a position where he was responsible for managing many other workers and yet is thinking hard about whether he can afford to buy new clothes or go on this short trip. He never seems to have taken any time off before despite it being allowed by his employer.
All the same I see lots of parallels between Stevens' life and my own, though obviously I'm aware of those things in a way that Steven's isn't until maybe it is too late.
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Summary: Takes you to the open spaces of the soul
Review: When I was a kid, I read a children's author talking about writing, and he was up to the usual "it's not what you say but how you say it" thing that many people bring up when talking about great writing. What he said was the blunt truth - that in many of the world's greates novels, almost nothing happens. Reading this book made me remember this, as it exemplifies good writing as being about the presentation not just plot. And very little happens in terms of storyline.
The story is about an old British butler, at the twilight of his career. After having worked for a very distinguished lord who was disgraced after his death, the estate has been taken over by an American, who represents a newer, less formal, less butler-y world. The book is essentially the buttle-narrator reminiscing about his life while he takes a short road-trip for several reasons, one of which being to visit a woman who he used to work with when his original employer was still around.
The book lovingly mocks the classed and rigid stereotype of "proper" British society. This is the pre-WWII world that the narrator has lived in and reminisces about. However, during this trip he comes to realise that his life, employer, ethos, calling, professional sense of duty and outlook on life have not been completely fabulous - actually, they have left him a lonely old man who has missed many opportunities to be much happier than he currently is. Obviously, this has much to do with the woman he intends to visit in his trip.
The narration is what makes this such a great read (you can easily read it in a day) - Ishiguro really gets you inside the butler, thinking like him and appreciating and yet being infuriated at his sense of his own place as a butler and person. Unlike many other books which discuss the notion of sacrifice and professional duty and cultures where some are almost expected to give up on the personal, this one does it not in an angry way but in a subtle one, which will truly shake you to the bone if you can relate to the man who was (at least partially) blinded to truth and happiness by professional duty. This makes it an important book. But it's also funny and a great read all round!
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Summary: Buy a copy of this book before you get distracted.
Review: The only reference in this book of the title occurs on its second to last page: "Perhaps, then, there is something to his advice that I should cease looking back so much..." Notwithstanding the above, this book is not at all melancholy or particularly depressing, although Stevens (the butler character/narrator) does look back much. The whole book is a reminiscence actually. Stevens played a role and did so ably, very much obsessed with dignity and continuing on, ala the British since the Second World War, but not to the same successful extent. I suppose you can draw many parallels here: Stevens, the British butler in England, serving an American, trying to uphold his dignity and being beholden to an era that was passing and is now gone, but the book is an enjoyable read without having to "read" anything into the story as it unfolds. The film that is based on this book was excellent too, but seems to make the story very much more political, stressing the "little guys" of society (Stevens included) trusting to British gentlemen to do the "right thing" by them. The book, in contradistinction, seems to stress, in a different manner, that the "little guy" who trusts others winds up being one who cannot say at least that one's own mistakes were one's own; but that to trust "gentlemen" types and ones simple devotion to duty may cost you, that a person should have personal accountability. Stevens trusted Darlington Hall and his role as a part of it, and in so doing believed his work was consequently paramount and of a particular importance; that, in a way, he was part of something good and/or had some part in effecting developements made by those men of politics who peopled the manor he served. So his trust engendered duty and duty negated personal fulfillment. He lived not for "The remains of the day", but for his work. In so doing he consequently missed out on a possible romance---with a Miss Kenton in the story, not owing to his own fault, but because he trusted Darlington Hall, so to speak. The key to human warmth, Stevens ponders at the end, may lie in bantering; just the sort of thing he had no time for while Miss Kenton herself was employed at Darlington Hall. What makes this well told story unique, however, is the author's writing style. A sample: "It seems increasingly likely that I will undertake the expedition that has been preoccupying my imagination now for some days. An expedition, I should say, which I will undertake alone, in the comfort of Mr. Farraday's Ford; an expedition which, as I forsee it, will take me through the finest countryside of England to the West country, and may keep me away from Darlington Hall for as much as five or six days." That's the opening paragraph to this concisely written joy to read; and it goes on thusly for 245 pages as Stevens tells us the story of his devotion to duty during his journey to see Miss Kenton after many years. This is a book that lingers with you and which can be re-read with pleasure. Cheers!
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Summary: Absolutely Engrossing
Review: Having been disappointed by Ishiguro's "When We Were Orphans", I was hesitant to pick up "Remains...", but I loved the movie, and was curious how the book had inspired such a great film. I was more than surprised at how quickly I was immersed in the writing, which is incredibly measured and truly lovely. Where the movie focused more on the unrequited love between Mr. Stevens and Miss Kenton, the book explores the definition of living a life of "dignity", and what defines that type of life. Stevens is a much more sympathetic character here, because of his flaws and misconceptions of how he thinks dignity is attained, and ultimately he lives a quietly tragic life. It is this contrast between perception and reality that makes this story so rich and readable.
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Summary: The Rules we Set. For good or for worse !!!
Review: Mr. Stevens is the last great butler at Darlington Hall, and has been serving their for so many years. With all the experiences he had, people he met, and personnel changes he went through, he was able to maintain his pride, professionalism, and self respect in the most untouchable ways. Then he is encouraged by his american master to go on vacation through the english country side,and to meet with Miss Kenton who has been an old friend and helper at the Hall.
Kazuo Ishiguro describes Mr. Stevens and what is related to him in the most detailed but interesting ways. Ishiguro's "Remains of the day" is beautifully written, simply detailed, and reflects a lot of world history facts. It reprsents a clear statement to how much we get invloved in our duties and commitments that we lose our daily contact and awareness with the other side of our personal life that continues to exist.
Mr. Stevens demonstrates the seriousness that we take life with and when we have a chance to make a break and change our own set rules we struggle making those calls on time, and we find it late to turn back the clock.
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