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The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
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The Remains of the Day (original 1989; edition 1990)

by Kazuo Ishiguro (Author)

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingConversations / Mentions
16,268475315 (4.2)2 / 1370
I found this very disturbing, although I was reading it to get inside the mind of a devoted servant. Told from the point of view of the butler himself, it was harrowing to go through is mind, his justifications, his devotion to his employer, his blindness to the emotions of other humans. ( )
  lisahistory | Aug 2, 2021 |
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Showing 1-25 of 429 (next | show all)
“After all, when one thinks about it, it is not such a foolish thing to indulge in—particularly if it is the case that in bantering lies the key to human warmth.”

Ishiguro knows how to craft a damn character. One restrained man’s road trip-turned-introspection, steeped in pride, regret, and realization...all while he remains reluctant to introspect? Relatable. A slow build, but my heart broke on page 239, when Mr. Stevens admits to his own breaking. ( )
  hannerwell | Feb 24, 2024 |
An incredibly earnest and wholesome reflection on age and retirement and the insecurities and wonders that can come from any life that is lived, whether spent in servitude to some task or person, or filled with recklessness or love. The mix of historical fiction with Lord Darlington's involvement in WW2 and romance with Mrs Kenton was wonderful. The story is told through Stevens memory of events that took place in the historical manor told while Stevens travels his way to see Mrs Kenton. I use the term romance lightly because it isnt a typical cliche happy ending with eloping and marriage, and rather a soft and bittersweet blow to the heart that left me content with the way it was told. Stevens defense of Lord Darlingtons actions as a puppet of the Nazi's during WW2 served as a defense of his insecurities in a life spent in servitude aswell as a defense of a life spent nobly and filled with mistakes.

"He chose a certain path in life, it proved to be a misguided one, but there, he chose it, he can say that at least. As for myself, I cannot even claim that. You see, I trusted. I trusted in his lordships wisdom. All those years I served him, I trusted I was doing something worthwhile. I cant even say I made my own mistakes. Really - one has to ask oneself - what dignity is there in that?"

A brilliant look at the defining of a life well lived and how its created and critiqued through our hardships, mistakes, loves, passions, and efforts. ( )
  MalkMan | Feb 10, 2024 |
Heart wrenching, beautiful, emotional but restrained writing. A message of live your life now and not be a slave to your job. A tearjerker at the end. ( )
  jtsolakos | Feb 9, 2024 |
Slow but interesting story about a parochial English butler, Stevens, who served Lord Darlington at Darlington Hall for 35 year and then in, the dying days of the British Empire, the manor house acquires a new owner: a wealthy American, Mr. Farraday, who, in Stevens’s view, has no conception of the class-based proprieties of servant and served. Stevens figures out that he has to learn to “banter” with Mr. Farraday and takes him up on his offer to use the car for a motor trip while Farraday is away. Although the story ostensibly takes place over the course of a week in July 1956 as Stevens travels to visit a former housekeeper whose services he is hoping to enlist again, it is more rumination about his decades of service. Stevens is a stuffed shirt who believes he can never step out of the character of butler—he reminded me of Carson in Downton Abbey—and it was hard to feel sympathy for his disappointments. Part of his ruminations were focused on what makes a great butler: Dignity and serving a great gentleman, who in turn serves mankind. I assume the voice of this rather sad man and his bleak outlook was authentic. ( )
  bschweiger | Feb 4, 2024 |
I've had a used copy of this book sitting on my bookshelf for years. There were multiple times in the past that I've tried to read it. I lost count of how many times I'd read the first chapter and then set it aside for another book.

Set in the post WWII era, this is a quiet and reflective story about an aging butler who has spent most of his professional career at Darlington Hall, first serving Lord Darlington and then a new American owner of the estate. In the summer of 1956 Stevens decides to take a six day motoring vacation, partially with the objective to convince a former staff member, Miss Kenton, to return to her post. As Stevens drives he recollects and eventually comes to some realizations about his father, Lord Darlington and also about Miss Kenton.

Throughout most of the book Stevens is emotionally stunted, burying himself in his work and quest for perfection. His biggest pride is having a sense of utter devotion to Lord Darlington and also striving for professional dignity.

I must say I struggled some with the slow pacing of the story and Steven's unemotional demeanor. At times he almost seemed like a robot given his verbal responses during incredibly sad or difficult situations. It wasn't until the end of the book that he let down his guard and actually allowed himself to have a display of emotion.

For the most part, I enjoyed Ishiguro's descriptive writing but I'm not sure if I'll seek out another book by this author. ( )
  Ann_R | Feb 3, 2024 |
A deceptively quiet and moving novel, The Remains of the Day is the story of Stevens, an English butler coming to the end of his service. And that service has been his whole life, his identity wrapped up in devotion to duty, loyalty, and dignity. It's a sad story, really. Stevens' life has not been his own, and as he makes a journey to the west of England, we learn just how empty that life may have been. The discomfort of realization, the justification for self-deception, the sense of wasted time - it's all beautifully evoked by Ishiguro in elegant, austere prose. After a slow beginning, as the layers of the story were peeled away, I settled in nicely to this thought-provoking and heartbreaking read.

4.25 stars ( )
4 vote katiekrug | Jan 25, 2024 |
Among the many things I loved about this book was the author’s ability to move the attention of the reader around the room bringing novel insights to life, to people, to events, and to relationships. And he does it with economy. ( )
  MylesKesten | Jan 23, 2024 |
Another poor, modern Japanese book. As with most books, the prose was fine.
Reminded me a lot of my favourite book "Being There" by Jerzy Kozinski. The character is flat, thinking only of their career and altogether missing too much from important interpersonal interactions. Luckily, a bit in the ending did clarify that for me.
Absolutely, not recommended. ( )
  MXMLLN | Jan 12, 2024 |
The genius of this story is that it's told between the lines. How talented do you have to be to do that? Pretty freaking talented. I can't think of any other writer who gets to the heart of his main character by making that character an untrustworthy narrator. I'm sure it's been done before, but never so well. The Remains of the Day is more than a story. It's like having this flesh and blood person sitting on your bookshelf, who (because of the movie) in my head looks like Anthony Hopkins. ( )
  LibrarianDest | Jan 3, 2024 |
What a well-drawn character is Stevens! This is a bit of a somber, reflective story of a man in the twilight of his career who sacrificed everything to serve as butler in the house of a great man. As he takes an unusual vacation to reconnect with a former housekeeper, Stevens reflects on matters of dignity and greatness and wonders if it was worth it. This reads like a classic in the best kind of way. ( )
  yourotherleft | Dec 31, 2023 |
I mostly read this one, but also did a bit by audiobook, since both came up from my holds list at the same time. The audio is rather slow -- a good representation of the narrative voice, very British and Butler sounding, but too slow for it to be enjoyable. I was able to read the book at twice or more the speed of the audio. Good thing, or I might have gotten bored with the book too quickly, as the narrator goes on many tangents. Certainly the genius of the book comes partly through these tangents: they do more than create the character of the butler, though they do that really well. To maintain that style of narrative throughout the book must have taken a lot of focus and intention. There's also a lot there, below the surface, on Lord Darlington. We never get a solid perspective from that character, just small glimpses, but they all add up to an interesting man who was also a man derived by his time. My library put a "romance" sticker on this book, which I take offense to. Yes, there's a bit of a love story there, but it's such a hint, so subtle, that it does the book an injustice to categorize it in such a pigeonhole. In fact, if I had seen the sticker first, I may not have read the book. I chose it based on its Booker prize win. A good lesson in labels!
  LDVoorberg | Dec 24, 2023 |
Brilliant unresolved love, history of fascism & memory of a butler! ( )
  ChrisGreenDog | Dec 2, 2023 |
4.75/5 As my first read by Ishiguro, I was stunned by his subtle and elegant prose. It captured perfectly the restraint of our 1st-person narrator, Stevens, who is not only on a physical journey in the English countryside, but an internal one as well. Now in his advanced years, Steven is searching for the overall meaning to his life and if his sacrifices have all been worth it in the end. This journey of both the mind and soul is worth the read. ( )
  crabbyabbe | Nov 30, 2023 |
Deeply bleak and powerful mediation on the nature of Englishness and how English people see themselves and their past - a beautifully constructed nostalgia piece that's also deeply angry about a country in love with its past for all the wrong reasons. Of course there's much more to it than that. It's a story with a sledgehammer subtle point but written in subtle and complex ways while still being consistently clear and easy to read.

The moment when he ignores his dad dying upstairs to take care of guests and then as soon as he's described his dad being dead he says "that was the night I attained Dignity" is again incredibly unsubtle but still a gut punch moment. The slow unravelling of his facade of total certainty over the whole book is so beautifully done and feels very real. It's easy to see our own convictions and justifications for the way we live in it. ( )
  tombomp | Oct 31, 2023 |
Trying to practice my writing by completing reviews so here goes. This is my 3rd book by Kazuo Ishiguro and while not my favorite still stands as a worthy read. This book held my interest through out as it was told as part of a trip/journey diary without being called out as such in the story, you pick this up as you read along based on the timing and cadence of the story. Also as an avid traveler myself I enjoyed the descriptions of the English countryside in summer and how while having an overall journey plan taking detours from time to time to see gems as recommended by the locals. While the main character Stevens, is an obviously an terrible flawed individual, who amongst is not in some fashion or another! The main theme of the book is about what it means to ones life when one does not question authority or critically question the direction in which ones life is going, and make adjustments to better ones life accordingly, sooner rather later in life. The topic of banter as a means to making friends and developing relationship is also covered at length. I enjoyed learning about what goes on behind the scenes in a wealthy aristocrats household which is not often a topic covered in mainstream media. Overall a fascinating read that you can savor as it progresses and very much becomes un-put-downable towards the end. ( )
  thanesh | Oct 15, 2023 |
A beautifully short character study of a hopelessly flawed man. ( )
  emmby | Oct 4, 2023 |
A beautiful book following the memories of a butler at the end of his career. ( )
  Cotswoldreader | Sep 6, 2023 |
an interesting english book which enhance your english alao
  amnalis12 | Aug 23, 2023 |
This was an amazing book: slow, quiet, layered, but so easily readable. ( )
  dcunning11235 | Aug 12, 2023 |
the way ishiguro explores memory in new and different ways in all of his works, in here the merging of stephens' recollections to create and orderliness to his emotions and he's fully aware that he's been mixing and rearranging different events to make sense of the person he became from them.. goddddd
  Deah | Jul 31, 2023 |
The book is very subtle, and at the beginning a little slow. Give it time. The magic is in the layering, the shifting, and the repeated tiny dawnings of understanding that start the process anew. Quiet, delicate, and profound. ( )
  blueskygreentrees | Jul 30, 2023 |
Ay, no sé. No puedo decir que me desagradó, pero ciertamente tampoco me gustó. Ishiguro narra bien, pero a ratos me cuestionaba por qué seguía leyendo. Al principio no entender a dónde me quería llevar y, más o menos a la mitad de la obra, saber, pero sin saber si tenia sentido seguir.
( )
  uvejota | Jul 26, 2023 |
Instantly an all time favorite. This was a book that I intentionally read slowly, because I didn't want it to end. I can't even explain what I liked about it. It just felt so genuine, so human, while being so subtle.

Despite the narrator being a butler from the 1950's, something I know absolutely nothing about, he was so relatable and flawed. Definitely some unreliable narration going on, leading me to believe that this book will be even better on rereads.

The plot, is honestly almost nonexistant. The narrator goes on a short road trip, and reflects on his life. But there is so much there to unpack. The regretful yet nostalgic tone of his reflections is very emotional, even if the narrator will not admit it, and the unspoken bond between him and Ms Kenton is quite touching.

The ending was incredible, and really had a lot of impact, despite not much "happening". ( )
  Andjhostet | Jul 4, 2023 |
Fantastic read. Melancholic, but one of those reads that make you deeply question your life and its choices. It's about butlers and English house servants (and thus something completely alien to me), but I can't help but draw parallels to my own life and career. I can see why this one is an easy favorite for a lot of people... it's the kind of book worth studying and discussing at length about. ( )
  zeh | Jun 3, 2023 |
This was definitely a book that needed to be listened to rather than read. The narrator, Mr. Stevens, has been a butler in a distinguished house almost his entire life and is seeped duty, restraint, and dignity. As the book opens, he is now working for an American man who purchased an English gentleman's estate. He is encouraged to take some time off and is given the owner's car in order to drive to a town several days away to visit with a former housekeeper at the Darlington Estate, Miss Kenton who is now Mrs. Benn. During the six day trip, Stevens reminisces about the times when Lord Darlington held many important meetings at the house but also his relationship with Miss Kenton.

There are times I laughed out loud at the pretension, snobbery, and blind loyalty of Stevens to his employer. Especially touching, however, is the death of his father, where he felt his duty came first. This is really a story about misplaced loyalty, blind duty, and the total inability to "banter" as he speaks about often - sometimes amusingly, sometimes sadly.

I loved this book, and although I probably would have liked it to read, the audio version was absolutely perfect. ( )
  maryreinert | Apr 11, 2023 |
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