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Title: The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro, Michael York ISBN: 0-394-58673-5 Publisher: Random House Pub. Date: 01 October, 1993 Format: Audio Cassette Volumes: 2 List Price(USD): $17.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.67 (123 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: A true tour de force
Comment: The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro. Highly recommended.
It's difficult to believe how much Kazuo Ishiguro packed into this short (by today's standards), highly praised novel -- a lifetime of work and relationships, the realization of inescapable regret, and the hope it is not too late to join the rest of humanity.
Stevens is a butler for an English house that is no longer great, nor is it owned by the family for which it is named. His postwar employer is, instead, an American named Farraday; as a stranger will point out to him later, "An American? Well, they're the only ones can afford it now." Farraday "affords" Darlington Hall by shutting much of the house down and using a reduced staff, which Stevens can understand, as the staff that would be available would not be up to his own high standards. When he receives a sad, lonely letter from Darlington's former housekeeper, Miss Kenton (now Mrs. Benn), and later is told by Farraday that he can borrow his employer's car for a vacation on the road, he weighs the opportunity and decides to take it for "professional reasons" -- to see if he can lure back the highly qualified Miss Kenton to her former position. During the brief journey, he spends much of his time contemplating what "dignity" in his profession means -- and whether he lived up to it. After a plethora of recollections about the late Lord Darlington during the prewar years and after his meeting with Miss Kenton, Stevens comes to two great understandings: he did not serve a great man as he thought he had, and, in doing so, he had missed a chance for love and fulfillment. His devotion to Lord Darlington has betrayed him, personally and professionally. "I can't even say I made my own mistakes," he laments. "Really -- one has to say -- what dignity is there in that?"
This revelation does not come quickly or easily to either Stevens or the reader. Each anecdote that Stevens recalls to illustrate a point he wishes to make to himself -- the definition of dignity, how he upheld dignity by serving his employer while his own father lay dying -- subtly reveals how much he has shut himself down emotionally in order to serve. With each story, it becomes clearer that Lord Darlingon is an easily manipulated man, out of his league in world politics but insistent on playing the role of peacemaker -- even when it is no longer appropriate or wise. When his friendship with a woman leads him to firing two Jewish maids, it foreshadows his attempts to influence the British government into appeasing Hitler and the Nazis at any cost. He goes so far as to say that the U.K. should perhaps follow Germany's lead. "Germany and Italy have set their houses in order by acting . . . See what strong leadership can do if it's allowed to act. None of this universal suffrage nonsense." Stevens unwittingly proves Lord Darlington's point for him -- he trusts Lord Darlington's judgment as blindly as any German trusted Hitler's, believing that "people like him" are too ignorant to make the decisions that must be made and following the great man contentedly -- and thus making a bad decision.
When it comes to Miss Kenton, here too his perception is kept in check by his need for professionalism and dignity. His repeated emphasis on their "professional" relationship and his desire to reconnect with her as a "professional" only highlight the extent to which he will go to suppress his real feelings -- and the very real possibilities that existed.
In life and love, Stevens realises he has been avoiding both. In the end, however, there is hope. After sending Miss Kenton home, back to her husband, Stevens turns to "bantering"; that is, engaging with people without resorting to pre-programmed professional phrases --in short, truly interacting with his fellow humans. "After all, when one thinks about it, it is not such a foolish thing to indulge in -- particularly if it is the case that in bantering lies the key to human warmth." Indeed it does.
One doesn't have to be a butler in service to others to use the remains of his or her own day to look back and appraise where one went wrong and where there is still room for hope. This is an incredible journey toward understanding, written in a concise, spare manner that fits perfectly with the character of Stevens. Few writers have the gift of saying so much in so little space. More should learn it.
Diane L. Schirf, 18 November 2001.
Rating: 5
Summary: One of the Most Perfect Books I've Ever Read
Comment: The centerpiece of Kazuo Ishiguro's understated, beautiful and perfect novel, THE REMAINS OF THE DAY, is its protagonist, the "perfect" butler, Stevens. Set in 1956, Stevens has devoted the better part of his life to the service of Lord Darlington, the now deceased, former inhabitant of Darlington Hall, one of the great English country manor houses. Darlington Hall is now owned by an American businessman, not really the kind of person Stevens enjoys, but one he serves impeccably, for after all, Stevens and his family have been "in service" for as long as Stevens can remember and he fells that service has its own special place in the world and in shaping history.
Stevens is a man who has sacrificed personal happiness for a sense of duty and, as he begins a motor trip to England's West Country, he comes to realize just how much he has sacrificed and how little he really knows himself. The reason for Stevens' journey to the West Country contains an outward purpose and an inward one. Outwardly, Stevens says he is making the journey in order to persuade Darlington Hall's former housekeeper, Miss Kenton, to return. But inwardly, Stevens comes to realize that he is making the journey for personal reasons...for reasons that have little to do with Darlington Hall and everything to do with both himself and Miss Kenton.
We learn about Stevens' past (and his former interaction with Miss Kenton), through flashbacks as Stevens writes in his travel diary. I am not a fan of flashbacks, but Ishiguro handles the flashbacks in THE REMAINS OF THE DAY so perfectly that they never seem intrusive and never interrupt the forward thrust of the narrative. This is most definitely a character driven novel as opposed to a plot driven one and one that is quiet, restrained and understated as well. However, this "quietness" doesn't mean that we don't learn a lot about Stevens. We do. As Stevens journeys to the West Country, he also makes a journey inward and we learn who he is is and what he has given up, all in the name of duty.
The background against which the flashbacks (and the then still alive Lord Darlington) is set, is pre-war England. This adds yet another layer to this rich and complex book when we learn what Stevens is loathe to admit to himself...that Lord Darlington was a Nazi sympathizer...perhaps more...but never the "great" and "wonderful" man that Stevens has imagined him to be. This makes Stevens lost youth all the more sad, all the more poignant as he must come to realize that his service to Lord Darlington did little to promote anything that was good.
THE REMAINS OF THE DAY is a perfectly nuanced book, and it does become quite sad when we realize that Stevens must somehow come to terms with the fact that his life "in service" really didn't have the meaning he'd thought it had and that he wasted many years of his life...years he is now desperately attempting to recapture.
For me, THE REMAINS OF THE DAY is a perfect book. Nothing about it is out of place and each set piece, each scene, contributes greatly to the whole. Ishiguro's prose is, as always, perfectly suited to his subject matter...it's cool, it's restrained, it's understated...it's as perfect as Stevens, himself, strives to be. Although THE REMAINS OF THE DAY may seem to be a totally different "type" of book from THE UNCONSOLED, A PALE VIEW OF HILLS, AN ARTIST OF THE FLOATING WORLD or WHEN WE WERE ORPHANS, a close inspection should tell most readers that all of the books share the same theme...the exploration of memory and memory's reliability.
I can't recommend THE REMAINS OF THE DAY highly enough. Although the film was wonderful, people who saw the film should still read the book. They'll get a deeper, richer portrait of Stevens and Lord Darlington in the book and Ishiguro's beautiful prose should not be missed. Recommended to everyone...with no reservations.
Rating: 5
Summary: A Truly Wonderful Book
Comment: 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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Title: The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje ISBN: 0679745203 Publisher: Vintage Books USA Pub. Date: 01 November, 1996 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: Kazuo Ishiguro's The Remains of the Day: A Reader's Guide (Continuum Contemporaries) by Adam Parkes ISBN: 0826452310 Publisher: Continuum International Publishing Group Pub. Date: 01 September, 2001 List Price(USD): $9.95 |
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Title: An Artist of the Floating World (Vintage International) by Kazuo Ishiguro ISBN: 0679722661 Publisher: Vintage Books USA Pub. Date: 01 September, 1989 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
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Title: A Pale View of Hills (Vintage International) by Kazuo Ishiguro ISBN: 067972267X Publisher: Vintage Books USA Pub. Date: 01 September, 1990 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
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Title: When We Were Orphans (Vintage International (Paperback)) by Kazuo Ishiguro ISBN: 0375724400 Publisher: Vintage Books USA Pub. Date: 30 October, 2001 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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