The Remains of the Day
by Kazuo Ishiguro
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Book Summary Information
Author: Kazuo IshiguroEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Format: Unabridged
Published: 1990-09-12
ISBN: 0679731725
Number of pages: 256
Publisher: Vintage
Product features:
- 1993 - Vintage International Books - Paperback
- The Remains of the Day
- By Kazuo Ishiguro
- Winner of the Booker Prize
- New - Collectible
Book Reviews of The Remains of the Day
Book Review: The Painful Elegance of Longing ~
Summary: 5 Stars
When climbing into Kazuo Ishiguro's, "The Remains of the Day," one feels as if they have stepped out into the manor of a great and romantic landscape; winding vales and flowering trees among green hedges, a scenic pond in the countryside that begs attention; it is as if the verdant air rises from the pages fermenting the reader in a haze of beauty, longing, and the great undertow of dignity within this life; such large planets of questions orbiting; the way that Stevens voice literally melds like a sunset so easily into the mind, his inner dialogue, so succinct, so clear; so refined and with such great desire to succeed; that I can hear him now talking to himself about the validity of his witticisms, and whether or not he showed enough attention to Miss Kenton during their evenings with cocoa and conversation. The International upheaval and the moral implications of siding with the Germans during WWII; such an unforgivable error, this costs the Lord Darlington dearly, and even Stevens whom it is obvious, is more bound up in his Lordship than even his poor and trying father. The images of Stevens father trying so hard in his old age to do the simple tasks, is quite heartbreaking; and that he is referred to in conversations so removed; stills the soul, I say.
Sureness of tension rises to shake the dust from their rugs and bats the drapes with fierceness. Stevens puts all else aside for the sake of his profession, rather, he denies his own life; the validity and importance of events taking place in his life, in order to eclipse and follow the needs of his Lord. He has become the epitome of Butler in such a way that he falls into an ocean of other people's needs, regrettably, the lower staff, or even the equal staff become invisible to him and he pushes their lives, and sufferings aside in order to concentrate on his job; yet, internally, he is quite a mess of all this pushing aside.
On the night of losing his father, one gives a sudden gasp, when the reality of the event is upon Stevens and he turns throughout the evening with such a terrible grace; a great ease in suffering, as if he were a member in a silent dance troupe and following a set number; he keeps turning and turning away from the reality of the situation, his father is dying - - his father has died! - - Stevens is crying and doesn't even know it; such heartbreak in stepping over the lives of our loved ones in order to pretend and put away reality as if it were simply silver to be shined and set in place; and rather, Stevens only source of hope is his pride on pretending or rather carrying on; and this is the stoic role that so many men are made to play within their lives; he believes he is sacrificing for others; and tells himself that he is sacrificing for his Lordship, and ultimately for the sake of world affairs; yet, this is such a lie. If he had only prepared himself a bit more, and trained someone else to step in should an emergency arise, then he could have pulled himself away for just a few moments to help his father. Such a thought would not be entertained for Stevens would n'er have someone else step in to do his job; "My Lordship needs me," I can almost hear him say.
One of the most heartbreaking of scenes is when Stevens is trying to figure out how to see his father and the Frenchman says he needs his feet attending to; this is the crux of the situation; and Stevens, I do feel his soul was torn in great sections of despair, without missing a beat tells the Frenchman that the Doctor is on his way; a death has occurred in the house, his father has died and look what is being attended to, the feet of a noble man. Such heartbreak.
It is Miss Kenton who tries to pry him out of his little shell and force him to pay attention to the rest of the players around him. This is not a solo, Stevens. Life, is not a solo affair; though he has made it out to be as such. Not necessarily that the other people do not matter; not at all, moreso, that Stevens and his feelings do not matter. He has spent his entire life serving others that he cannot serve his own life. This is the tragedy. And it is only in such great pockets of life that seem to withhold themselves until almost the very end; that the past comes out from behind a cloud and beckons to Stevens; he finally snaps out of his life long stupor and grants his heart one wish: Miss Kenton.
One does not come away untouched from this novel. And rather, like the swell of a defiant wave moving stealthily towards the shore, with a deliberate undertow set on taking out at least one inhabitant from their cherished island; this story moves up and over the very deliberate workings of a life; and washes him out to sea, tearing him to shreds at the end; and Miss Kenton, in her defeat, turning away from someone she loves so dearly, in order to simply go on.
I do not want to let the grand masse of superlatives out of the gate to come and crash upon Mr. Ishiguro's novel, for he over writes such pretensions with finesse; a novel so simple in its complexity that it lands atop a wiser branch; creating a standard all its own.
Summary of The Remains of the Day
The Remains of the Day is a profoundly compelling portrait of the perfect English butler and of his fading, insular world postwar England. At the end of his three decades of service at Darlington Hall, Stevens embarks on a country drive, during which he looks back over his career to reassure himself that he has served humanity by serving ?a great gentleman.? But lurking in his memory are doubts about the true nature of Lord Darlington?s ?greatness? and graver doubts about his own faith in the man he served.A tragic, spiritual portrait of a perfect English butler and his reaction to his fading insular world in post-war England. A wonderful, wonderful book.
The novel's narrator, Stevens, is a perfect English butler who tries to give his narrow existence form and meaning through the self-effacing, almost mystical practice of his profession. In a career that spans the second World War, Stevens is oblivious of the real life that goes on around him -- oblivious, for instance, of the fact that his aristocrat employer is a Nazi sympathizer. Still, there are even larger matters at stake in this heartbreaking, pitch-perfect novel -- namely, Stevens' own ability to allow some bit of life-affirming love into his tightly repressed existence.
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