The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro - Book Reviews

Overall Book club rating - 4.8/5

Col's Book Rating 5/5

This is the closest to perfection in a novel I have ever come across and a 500 word review cannot do justice to this flawless creation; I felt genuinely sorry on reaching the end. The writing is precise, nuanced, wonderfully evocative; characterisation is beautiful, exacting, studied. The narrative is cut to the bone; no padding, nothing is wasted. Dialogue, gestures, even the way people move, are all meticulously observed and this attention to detail sparks the characters to life.

The story is told through the eyes of Stevens, an ageing butler, as he looks back on his life during a six day period in July 1956 and Ishiguro admirably captures what I imagine was the essence, the atmosphere and the way of life in stately homes of that time in England.

Stevens’ lifelong ambition is to be a truly great butler, having ‘dignity in keeping with his position’. He asserts he must never abandon the professional persona he carries: ‘the great butlers are great by virtue of their ability to inhabit their professional role… to the utmost; they will not be shaken out by external events, however surprising, alarming or vexing…’ This obsession with professionalism explains why he finds it impossible to express his love for the housekeeper Miss Kenton and why he feels unable to spend time with his dying father (guests might require him to be available to serve port at any moment). It also explains why his loyalty towards his master Lord Darlington is unquestioning and total, despite Darlington being a Nazi sympathiser and, briefly, an anti-semite.

 I laughed out loud at the superior air I suspect was prevalent at that time, when Stevens tells us authoritatively that ‘Continentals’ and ‘Celts’ are unable to be butlers because as a breed they are incapable of the emotional restraint required “which only the English race is capable of.” Lord Darlington says the notion of being “arm in arm with Frenchmen” for the sake of the war effort makes him “yearn for a good bath.”

In a beautifully sad ending Stevens broken-heartedly admits to a stranger (and to himself for the first time) that he has given all he has to give. He finally realises that his lifelong pursuit of dignity and his devotion to serving others have robbed him of happiness and the chance of a loving relationship. A sorrowful old man sitting alone looking back over his years realising he has wasted his life is always going to be a moment of intense pathos and Ishiguro handles this deftly with real empathy, warmth and even a little hope for the future.

A must read; this will stay with you long after the final page has been turned.

Angie's Book Rating 4/5

Anthony Hopkins's portrayal of Mr Stevens the Butler was a very good enactment of Mr Stevens the Butler in this book. A man of exacting standards, professionalism, lack of emotion and commitment to his profession who thought his employer's conduct and position in society was second to none, right up to the end of his employer's life when he then realised that maybe his employer wasn't as perfect as he thought. It took a new owner/employer of the house to make Steven's come out of his comfort zone of many years to realise how much of his life he had wasted serving a flawed individual and he'd lost an opportunity of love and marriage to his housekeeper Miss Kenton. However, all is not lost as the book ends on an uplifting, enlightening moment for him after a polite conversation with a complete stranger on a bench on a pier by the sea at the end of his much needed and rare to have holiday. The book is a reminder to us all to value ourselves for who we are and set our own goals in life rather than accept someone else's and that it's never too late to change one's outlook on life.