The Remains of the Day (1989)

How can a contemporary book feel so much like a Victorian classic? I LOVED this story. I wish more writers treated their main characters with such care and affection. ( )

This modern day classic, the 1989 Man Booker Prize winner, follows the aging butler Stevens as he takes his first vacation from Darlington Hall after decades of service. His trip is a drive to the English west country that he has never seen. As he travels, we are given a startling perspective on life, through his recollections. There’s not really a lot of “action”, but so much happens.

Ishiguro brilliantly captures Stevens’ ‘restrained’ emotions in a voice that is perfectly pitched to the time and circumstance. The facts are made all that more powerful by the understatement.

Read this if: you love Downton Abbey (here’s Carson, perhaps, 35 years on); or you enjoy elegant and understated prose and character-driven books. 4½ stars ( )

I see by the rating that lots of people have enjoyed this book, but it just didn't speak to me. It plodded along, often with the main character digressing into one memory that lead to another. What a sad existence to be so taken up with one's work so as not to have a clue what was happening in the house around you, nevermind the outside world. I kept waiting for the main character to "wake up" so to speak, but that didn't seem to happen until the last couple of pages. Even then I'm not entirely sure that there was an awakening. ( )

I decided to re-read this book recently not only because it's been a while but also because I've been (slowly) watching Downton Abbey lately. Re-reading it this time around, I was able to fully appreciate the complexities and subtleties of what was going on in Stevens' life, especially as we only come to know events through his point of view and key memories of certain events. Once again, I am struck by Ishiguro's ability to just present Stevens in a first-person narrative, which was absolutely flawless both in speech and personality. You could read my full review of the novel on my blog (contains some spoilers!): http://www.rulethewaves.net/blog/?p=3782> ( )

An aging butler reflects on his years of service in the interwar period in England during a road trip to see the sights of the countryside, and visit a former housekeeper.

The Remains of the Day is both very British and very Japanese at the same time. Somehow Stevens crying at the pier (and apologizing) seems more like every Japanese movie I've ever seen than every English comedy of manners I've ever read. ( )