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The Remains of the Day

Kazuo Ishiguro

Start date: November 1, 2021

Finish date: November 30, 2021

Discussion: Current Group Reads

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September 2018 Revisit the Shelf

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What Members Thought

Feb 21, 2024 Maggie rated it it was amazing

Shelves: unreliable-narrator, boxall-1001, fiction, general-fiction, guardian-1000, british

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Stevens, a proper English butler who served Lord Darlington for most of his career till the Lord's death, goes on a motoring holiday, ostensibly to find out if Miss Kenton, a previous housekeeper, is willing to work in Darlington Hall again. Stevens reflects on the nature of a butler's work, the importance of dignity, and what he defines a good butler to be. His reflections reveal that Lord Darlington, through his good intentions to bring about peace in Europe, became a pawn for the Germans who Stevens, a proper English butler who served Lord Darlington for most of his career till the Lord's death, goes on a motoring holiday, ostensibly to find out if Miss Kenton, a previous housekeeper, is willing to work in Darlington Hall again. Stevens reflects on the nature of a butler's work, the importance of dignity, and what he defines a good butler to be. His reflections reveal that Lord Darlington, through his good intentions to bring about peace in Europe, became a pawn for the Germans who used him to get their aims in the lead up to WWII, and that Stevens and Miss Kenton were in love with each other but Stevens never admitted it to himself or to Miss Kenton as it was not professional. The novel ends with a final meeting with Miss Kenton, and reflections on a life lost through blind loyal service.

The book's emotional depth and power come in its stark, unemotional language, narrated by Stevens, who is almost unerringly formal, both when he talks to people around him and when he talks to us. He never expresses his emotions, even when his father dies, and we only see them through the dialogue of others who, for example, ask him if he has been crying. Initially, I thought that Stevens was merely concealing his feelings, but as the book progressed, it became clear that Stevens is so out of touch with his feelings that he doesn't really understands what he feels or why he feels it until it is too late. For example, he feels triumph when he learns that Miss Kenton thinks of him as an important person in her life, but he attributes this feeling of triumph to successfully helping to organise a meeting of important political leaders in Darlington Hall. Similarly, he never really understands how much he treasures Miss Kenton until he loses her.

Stevens' self-worth is built on loyally serving Lord Darlington, whom he believes is nobly making positive change in the world. Yet in the book, set three years after Lord Darlington's death, Stevens repeatedly denies having personally known Lord Darlington, whom he was so proud of serving. He hides his reasons from both himself and the reader, and does not seem to realise that Lord Darlington's life's work is one that he has been ashamed of. He loyally attributes good intentions to Lord Darlington, even refusing to believe that Lord Darlington is anti-Semitic when Lord Darlington fires two maids simply because they are Jewish. Only at the end does Stevens question what the use was of blindly, excellently serving a man with poor judgment, and accepting his judgment in place of his own. The veneer of the perfect butler breaks down, as Stevens reveals himself to be a sad man reflecting on a life in which both his identity and his love has been lost to blindly pursuing professional service.

Early on in his journey, Stevens sees a view of rolling English countryside. It is not as spectaculars other sights from around the world, yet Stevens sees this as the finest landscape. "I would say that it is the very lack of obvious drama or spectacle that sets the beauty of our land apart. What is pertinent is the calmness of that beauty, its sense of restraint." This line perhaps describes the entire book – its beauty lying in understated brilliance and restraint. ...more

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Feb 28, 2021 Cheryl rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 20th-century, historical-fiction, english-history, classic

I loved this book and wish it had been longer than only @200 pages. The writing was splendid and I felt completely transported into the mind of the main character. I kept hearing Carson's voice from "Downton Abbey". I am actually rewatching the series now, so that could also be why!

I thought it was masterful how the events that occurred to the character are filtered through his internal sense of his identity and role in society. I very much enjoy 19th century literature that includes a lot of in ...more

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