Book: The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
I haven’t had a reading experience like this in a long time. Every minute I spent with these pages was a pleasure. I would look up sometimes and just shake my head at Kazuo Ishiguro‘s guts and writing achievement.
The Remains of the Day
Mr. Stevens is the quintessential British butler. We probably all have that prototype in our heads, and this guy is he.
The main action of the story has him going on a motoring trip (vacation) away from his great house. This is the first journey.
During his trip, he is also remembering his history with this great house and how he got to his present state in time. This is the second journey.
The first journey is significant because the era that he once knew is fading. His post at Darlington Hall still exists but Lord Darlington has passed. Lord Darlington’s friends have passed. Mr. Stevens’s profession, really, has passed.
Now, Mr. Farraday is head of Darlington Hall. We don’t get to know too many specifics about Farraday’s past, but I get the sense that he made his money through business. He’s not landed gentry. He is just rich enough to buy a souvenir of that class.
And to top it all off, Mr. Farraday is an American. I know, right?
Within the confines of Darlington Hall, Stevens knows and is known. Lord Darlington or Mr. Farraday may own the property but Mr. Stevens is the master of it.
This motoring trip takes the king out of his realm. Without the rules and security of his house, Stevens finds himself more vulnerable and unsure than he has been for years.
His interactions with strangers are not defined. His days are not defined. He is not defined.
This state sets him up to think about the past.
We start to see the rewards and consequences of being one of those perfect butlers. We learn about the choices he’s made to become so.
And all of this takes place in the first person.
And this is why I shake my head at the achievement of Kazuo Ishiguro. He builds a protagonist completely through what is essentially dialogue. He builds the surrounding characters all through the words of Mr. Stevens yet these other characters are fully formed. They are not the one-sided perspectives of the narrator.
Plus, I was never bored. I listened to a guy talk uninterrupted for hours and loved the experience.
Each event recounted is well chosen and serves its purpose. The novel comes off as very lean with only the necessary elements included. As a character study, it is pitch perfect.
Even Ishiguro’s choice of the title is so remarkably adept. It makes my literary heart so very happy.
Click here for another 1% Well-Read Challenge review of this book.