The Remains of the Day | Kazuo Ishiguro | A reminder of the dangers of rationalizing away one's...

The Remains of the Day | Kazuo Ishiguro | A charming, multi-layered classic

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The Remains of the...

	The Remains of the Day Kazuo Ishiguro Vintage, 1990 - 256 pages average customer review:based on 194 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

A tragic, spiritual portrait of a perfect English butler and his reaction to his fading insular world in post-war England. A wonderful, wonderful book.

A reminder of the dangers of rationalizing away one's feelings

I love this book. I read one of Ishiguro's other novels, Never Let me Go, and I liked it. But I don't know if I loved it. The story was compelling, and very original, but I don't know how much I identified with the main character.

The Remains of the Day is a different story. The protagonist Mr. Stevens is the epitome of the professional butler- always prepared, composed, diligent, loyal. And he possesses the combination of dedication to and pride of his profession that he fondly refers to as dignity. The book places you as the reader of about a week's worth of entries in his journal which follow him on a sort of professional-errand-turned-cathartic-journey through the country. At first, I formed a deep respect for Mr. Stevens, and was completely taken by his deep expertise, superhuman work ethic, and rational mindset. Not to mention his charming manners.

However, there are subtle hints that he is not being wholly honest in conveying his thoughts and feelings. Not that he intends to deceive the reader; his dishonesty is completely internal, rooted in his tendency to rationalize and suppress all traces of emotions and doubts which would be detrimental to his profession. This becomes evident only because he recounts faithfully his dialogues with others. They are charged with emotions and intentions which go completely ignored by his explanations. At some points, he had me cringing with sympathy. But we must at least give him credit for not altering the dialogue in any conscious way.

As the journey progresses, the fresh air, kind strangers, and beautiful landscapes allow him to become more honest with himself-- to, for once in too long a while, put aside his profession to remember his humanity. It's a somewhat relieving development. However, it reveals the somewhat tragic reality of a life spent in total, blind dedication to one's work. He finally allows this reality to come crashing down on him at the end of his trip. Fortunately though, the book ends with some hope as he regains his composure and a renewed motivation for his profession.

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A charming, multi-layered classic

I'd heard of the movie but only decided to read the book after reading a blurb about it in a magazine recently. The start of the book is rather slow, meaning there's not a lot of action drawing you into the story, but once you reach the middle and end of the book there is a wonderfully subtle anticipation created. Only a truly talented author could weave a story with so many layers.

You get a multi-dimensional character portrait of the narrator, Mr. Stevens, as you move through the books various memories and Stevens' inner dialogue. This book leaves you both satisfied and grateful for such a magnificently subtle story. The imagery is great and the dialogue both funny and poignant. I loved it.

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Bantering and Dignity

Kazuo Ishiguro was born in Nagasaki in 1954 and moved to Britain at the age of five. He was awarded the OBE in 1995 and the Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 1998. "The Remains of the Day" is his fourth novel, was first published in 1989 and won that year's Booker Prize.

Opening in July 1956, the story is told by Mr Stevens - a butler approaching the end of his career. He has been based at Darlington Hall for many years and, for most of his time there, had served Lord Darlington. While the outside world has changed dramatically since Stevens started out as a butler, the changes within the walls are proving a little more difficult for him. Following the death of Lord Darlington a few years previously, the stately home is now in the hands of an American called Farraday. Unsurprisingly, Farraday is a great deal less formal than Lord Darlington and Stevens isn't quite sure how to relate to his new boss. Furthermore, when once there were twenty-eight members of staff at Darlington Hall, there are now only four. Sections of the house have now been put 'under wraps' - effectively closed down - with fairly radical alterations to what would have been each person's 'traditional' responsibilities. Stevens has become rather worried when some small errors creep into his own work - these, he feels, stem from the slightly flawed staff plan he developed.

Stevens is taken by surprise when his new employer suggests he takes some time off and borrows the car - to the point he, initially, doesn't take the suggestion seriously. However, he starts to change his mind when he receives a letter from Miss Kenton, Darlington Hall's former housekeeper - the first time in seven years he'd heard from her. Technically, Miss Kenton has been Mrs Benn since she left Darlington Hall in 1936 - though it seems, her marriage has recently ended. In her letter she spoke of her time at the Hall as the happiest period in her life and, reading between the lines, Stevens believes she may be willing to return as a member of staff - an appointment, he believes, that would iron out the kinks in his staff plan. Accordingly, having organised a meeting with his former colleague, Stevens takes a road trip to the West Country. "The Remains of the Day" follows Stevens on his trip and, as he looks forward to his meeting with Miss Kenton, he looks back on their shared times together at Darlington Hall.

Stevens proves to be a very stiff, formal, nearly snobbish character - one who has become quite obsessed with 'dignity'. He (rather ridiculously) believes that only the English are capable of 'emotional restraint' required to being butlers - though, as time goes on, it becomes clear that Stevens' emotional restraint has cost him more than he cares to admit. His memories of Miss Kenton tend to focus on professional matters, and - while it began and ended a little badly - for many years, it seems they had got on quite well. Stevens' memories, of course, only tell half of that story. Lord Darlington, naturally, also features strongly in his memories. Stevens had been blindly loyal to Lord Darlington - under no circumstances would he disagree ever disagree with his lordship's decisions, publicly or privately. Darlington had fought in the First World War, though - being an honourable gentleman - believed the Treaty of Versailles was excessively harsh on the German people. He had become an important figure in the period between the wars - and, having played host to many influential people during this time, had even tried to shape Britain's foreign policy towards Germany. Unsurprisingly, his reputation has been in tatters since the Second World War. Stevens still feels Lord Darlington was a well-meaning man, though perhaps misguided - though still denies having worked for him several times during the book.

Ishiguro's books are definitely better than most you'll find on the bookshelves, and many people seem to rate this as his best to date. Personally, I think he's done better - particularly with "When We Were Orphans" and "Never Let Me Go". However, "The Remains of the Day" is certainly a worth reading and, despite Stevens' stiffness, it was hard not to feel sorry for him come the end of the book.

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Protagonist is too unlikable & storytelling is too heavy-handed. Although promising, the book is disappointing. Not recommended

In 1956, an aged traditional English butler near the end of his career goes on a five day road trip at the suggestion of his new American employer. As Mr. Stevens drives across the country to visit an old female college, he reflects back on his thirty years of service at Darlington Hall, taking comfort in the fact that he has conducted himself with dignity and served, in Lord Darlington, a great gentleman--but lurking within his reflections are growing doubts about Lord Darlington's true nature. The Remains of the Day lacks all sense of subtlety, and so its various aspects--the reflections on how Stevens has lived and should have lived his life, the nature of Lord Darlington--fall flat. However well intended, the protagonist is unlikable and the style is heavy handed, and so this book is disappointing and unsuccessful. I do not recommend it.

The character of Stevens is a relic from an older time, and his old fashion manners and beliefs are out of keeping with the current era. More than this, however, Stevens willfully blinds himself to anything outside of what he believes is proper to the role of a butler. He actively and intentionally limits himself to the confines of his social role until he becomes socially awkward, unable to express or even to feel emotion, unable to carry on personal relationships, unable to judge his previous employer, Lord Darlington. And though the character does, in the very last pages of the book, get an inkling clue about the harm caused by his life long self-fettering, this character growth is too little and too late. The book's protagonist and narrator is a character too unlikable for the reader to embrace. Granted, many of the book's more lively characters are pitiful or humorous, but Stevens is no better. He is awkward to read about, and left this reader feeling unpleasantly discomforted.

The various tropes by which Ishiguro reveals Stevens's intentional self-limitations and the true nature of Lord Darlington are intended to be skillful and sly, but are instead unrealistic. Stevens will start into a recollection to make one point, only to have the reader--through an access of dramatic irony--take away a completely different point; the coherent series of events emerges too easily from Stevens's supposedly unrelated recollections. Even the writing style, in the form of a diary written in the various cities were Stevens's stops on his driving tour, is contrived: the entries are overlong, the dialog is too precisely worded.

In a way, Ishiguro has noble goals: by creating a character that refuses to engage in independent personal thought and feeling, he in fact emphasizes the importance of each. But, despite all attempts, The Remains of the Day lacks subtlety, and so fails to impact the reader. Stevens's limitations are exaggerated, he is not a sympathetic character but rather an unlikable one, and the "revelations" of Stevens's personal life and Lord Darlington's nature are both heavy handed and predictable from a long ways off. I do not dislike this book as much as it may sound--I think the premise is promising and the message is true, and the very readable narrative voice has a convincing old world sound to it. However, I cannot recommend the novel. It does not live up to its potential, it is heavy-handed where it needs to be subtle, and ultimately reading it felt like a waste of time. Stevens remains too self-limited to see the error of these limitations, and the reader is provided with no other admirable characters. In the end, the novel offers nothing more than the exaggerated retrospective of one man's attempt--and failure--to live a life of dignity.

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