Kazuo Ishiguro: The Remains Of The Day

[saliotthomas]

The remain of the days-Kazuo Ishiguro

I guess most of you read it,(i though i did).I enjoyed it but not has much as i hoped i would.Somehow this all story of the hight standard in butlering left me a bit cold.It is very well writen and the atmosphere is charming but i kept try to figure out what hiden meaning laid out of my reach.The only thing i could get is the very similarity betwin this English decency and the Japanese sense of honor and unselfishness.Something that occured to me in earlier readings.
I shall try others of his books it might help me to see the bigger picture.

[Stewart]

Originally Posted by saliotthomas

Somehow this all story of the hight standard in butlering left me a bit cold.It is very well writen and the atmosphere is charming but i kept try to figure out what hiden meaning laid out of my reach.

The Remains Of The Day is probably my favourite novel and, yes, it's full of hidden meanings. Whether they are actually there, or are just read into, that's part of its pleasure.

I've dug out my old Amazon review on the book:

A short monologue (about 250 pages) with Stevens, the Butler of Darlington Hall in the 1950s who, on the recommendation of his new American employer takes a trip out to the English countryside.

Of course, priding himself on his professionalism, he uses the trip for work purposes in the hope of recruiting a former worker back to Darlington Hall after he had convinced himself that, from her letter, she wanted to return.

So off he goes and all the while he recalls the major events of Darlington Hall during the 1930s as his employer, Lord Darlington, dabbles in politics and demonstrates Nazi sympathies - a man more influenced by others than someone to aspire to. All the while, of course, Stevens is the consumate professional and his attitude to his master is one of love and respect, a man whom he would obey without question.

The prose is sweet. Stevens voice is smooth, well constructed, and so utterly natural, and his musings over trying to come to terms with the world via such minor quibbles as perfecting the art of bantering demonstrate a wonderful character. Polite the whole way through his language only falters when it almost seems his emotions are about to better him and tears are ready to gush.

Written in the late 1980s this Booker Prize winner from Ishiguro is an interesting look at professionalism and I think, at least to me, it demonstrates how we need to find a balance between achieving our goals and being true to ourselves.

I think what I loved about the book was that there was so much going on, not just in Stevens' life, but around him. And, beyond that, there's the even more subtle touches that show just how sad the ending truly is. For example, over on Trevor Barretts' recent blog posting on the book, the ending is seen as sad enough as it is, but there's a grammatical tic in there that, almost unnoticeable, suggests even greater tragedy.

If you take Ishiguro's first three books as a loose trilogy, then The Remains Of The Day is such a powerful closer.

[Heteronym]

I should have read it originally for University; I acquired the novel but, never one to read what others tell me to read, I left it unread for a few years. When curiosity lead me back to it again I discovered one of the best novels of my life.

Poor blind Stevens, living such a stoic existence of self-sacrifice and supressed emotions to achieve professional perfectionism, debasing himself because he thought he was part of something great, while his employer has secret dinners with Nazi sympathisers and Jewish maids are fired out of prejudice. And when he reminisces about it in old age, when Darlington Hall is a symbol of shame, Stevens still clings to the belief something noble and important was going on inside those walls and that he was part of it. The 20the century passed through that house and he missed it.

[Sybarite]

In a country that still looks, with rosy-eyed nostalgia, at the concept of 'duty', Ishiguro's novel highlights the limits of such a view.

Stevens's clutching at straws, as he fights to avoid the conclusion that his life has been wasted, is heart-rending. The subjugation of self to 'duty' – to the service of others and, though them, of ideas – is emotionally crippling for him. And the idea that we should not question what our 'betters' say and do, since they know 'better', is as timely as ever.

In many ways, this is a novel about the 1960s and why the 1960s were so important – why the end of the age of deference was so vital.

It's a super, very poignant piece of writing. And remarkably, the film was a very good adaptation too.

Thanks for the link, Stewart. That's an interesting point about the tic at the end. I think that, even if you don't read it quite like that (and that seems a perfectly good reading), it suggests an insecurity; an uncertainty and an hiatus in conviction – as I said, Stevens is fighting to convince himself that it wasn't a pointless sacrifice.

[Stewart]

Apparently Ish has given permission for The Remains Of The Day to be adapted into a musical. An interesting premise indeed.