The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
Feb. 16th, 2008 09:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
quippeThe Blurb On The Back:
In the summer of 1956, Stevens, the ageing butler of Darlington Hall, embarks on a leisurely holiday that will take him deep into the countryside and into his past ...
A contemporary classic, The Remains of the Day is Kazuo Ishiguro's beautiful and haunting evocation of life between the wars in a Great British House, of lost causes and lost love.
Told in the first person by Stevens, the butler of Darlington Hall, this is a very quiet, economically written book that's a thoroughly absorbing read.
The story itself revolves around a journey - Stevens has been lent a car by his employer, the American Mr Farraday, and told to take a vacation. He is travelling to the West Country to visit his friend, Miss Kenton (now Mrs Benn) who used to work as a housekeeper at Darlington Hall. His purpose in the visit is to ask her to consider returning to the Hall to take up a position there, as the staff levels at the Hall are so reduced that he's taken on too many duties himself and is painfully aware that he is not meeting his usual standards. As the journey progresses, Stevens starts to tell the reader about some of the background to his relationship with Miss Kenton and also hints at the events that took place in the Hall and which led to the downfall of his employer, Lord Darlington.
Despite being very reserved, Stevens is a fascinating character, driven by his duty to his employer and his desire to be the best butler that he can be. He spends sections of the book musing about what makes a good butler and is devoted to his employer, but at the same time Ishiguro shows us the effect that his desire to be dignified has on the relationships he has with the people around him. For me, one of the most moving scenes in the book is the one between him and his father, after his father has had a stroke - his father is trying to give him a farewell message, but Stevens is unwilling to betray any emotion in front of him. Even when his father dies and the doctor comes to certify his death, Stevens makes a point of asking the doctor to see to one of Lord Darlington's guests afterwards.
For me, the only time where Stevens is a little too reserved is in his relationship with Miss Kenton. For me, Ishiguro's technique of keeping things hidden and trying to show you what's going on doesn't quite come off as there's too little on the page for me to understand why Miss Kenton is drawn to a man who continually rebuffs her and holds her at a professional distance. When Stevens undergoes his inner revelation at the end, it was too little too late. Nevertheless, Ishiguro does give Stevens a sense of vulnerability, for example the way he frets about his inability to banter with Mr Farraday and his small attempts to improve his bantering technique. There is also an amusing scene where Stevens attempts to explain the birds and the bees to Mr Cardinal (at Lord Darlington's request), only to find his words misunderstood.
Ishiguro really captures the political feel of the 1920s and 1930s through the Lord Darlington scenes and you can perfectly understand why this man, who felt so deeply for the treatment of Germany under the Treaty of Versaille, should fall prey to Fascist thinking. I felt that Lord Darlington's descent into Fascist sympathy was perfectly understandable within the confines of the character - this is a man desperate to undo the indignities and injustices that were heaped on Germany after World War I and who sees the rise of the Nazis as a means for Germany to get its confidence back. When he does the unpalatable and sacks two maids purely for being Jewish, you can understand his weakness even whilst disliking him for it because it's set up in the context of a man who does not do his own dirty work, relying on men such as Stevens to do it for him. Described by Senator Lewis as an "amateur", this is a good summary of his character - well meaning, but ultimately out of his depth.
All in all, I thought that it was an excellent read and one that captures the reserved English spirit and an excellent feel for the period and as such would have no hesitation in recommending it to anyone.
The Verdict:
Whilst I didn't quite believe in the romance angle to the book, Ishiguro's prose is beautiful in its economical simplicity and I never ceased to believe in Stevens or his motivation. I can well see why this won the Booker Prize.
In the summer of 1956, Stevens, the ageing butler of Darlington Hall, embarks on a leisurely holiday that will take him deep into the countryside and into his past ...
A contemporary classic, The Remains of the Day is Kazuo Ishiguro's beautiful and haunting evocation of life between the wars in a Great British House, of lost causes and lost love.
Told in the first person by Stevens, the butler of Darlington Hall, this is a very quiet, economically written book that's a thoroughly absorbing read.
The story itself revolves around a journey - Stevens has been lent a car by his employer, the American Mr Farraday, and told to take a vacation. He is travelling to the West Country to visit his friend, Miss Kenton (now Mrs Benn) who used to work as a housekeeper at Darlington Hall. His purpose in the visit is to ask her to consider returning to the Hall to take up a position there, as the staff levels at the Hall are so reduced that he's taken on too many duties himself and is painfully aware that he is not meeting his usual standards. As the journey progresses, Stevens starts to tell the reader about some of the background to his relationship with Miss Kenton and also hints at the events that took place in the Hall and which led to the downfall of his employer, Lord Darlington.
Despite being very reserved, Stevens is a fascinating character, driven by his duty to his employer and his desire to be the best butler that he can be. He spends sections of the book musing about what makes a good butler and is devoted to his employer, but at the same time Ishiguro shows us the effect that his desire to be dignified has on the relationships he has with the people around him. For me, one of the most moving scenes in the book is the one between him and his father, after his father has had a stroke - his father is trying to give him a farewell message, but Stevens is unwilling to betray any emotion in front of him. Even when his father dies and the doctor comes to certify his death, Stevens makes a point of asking the doctor to see to one of Lord Darlington's guests afterwards.
For me, the only time where Stevens is a little too reserved is in his relationship with Miss Kenton. For me, Ishiguro's technique of keeping things hidden and trying to show you what's going on doesn't quite come off as there's too little on the page for me to understand why Miss Kenton is drawn to a man who continually rebuffs her and holds her at a professional distance. When Stevens undergoes his inner revelation at the end, it was too little too late. Nevertheless, Ishiguro does give Stevens a sense of vulnerability, for example the way he frets about his inability to banter with Mr Farraday and his small attempts to improve his bantering technique. There is also an amusing scene where Stevens attempts to explain the birds and the bees to Mr Cardinal (at Lord Darlington's request), only to find his words misunderstood.
Ishiguro really captures the political feel of the 1920s and 1930s through the Lord Darlington scenes and you can perfectly understand why this man, who felt so deeply for the treatment of Germany under the Treaty of Versaille, should fall prey to Fascist thinking. I felt that Lord Darlington's descent into Fascist sympathy was perfectly understandable within the confines of the character - this is a man desperate to undo the indignities and injustices that were heaped on Germany after World War I and who sees the rise of the Nazis as a means for Germany to get its confidence back. When he does the unpalatable and sacks two maids purely for being Jewish, you can understand his weakness even whilst disliking him for it because it's set up in the context of a man who does not do his own dirty work, relying on men such as Stevens to do it for him. Described by Senator Lewis as an "amateur", this is a good summary of his character - well meaning, but ultimately out of his depth.
All in all, I thought that it was an excellent read and one that captures the reserved English spirit and an excellent feel for the period and as such would have no hesitation in recommending it to anyone.
The Verdict:
Whilst I didn't quite believe in the romance angle to the book, Ishiguro's prose is beautiful in its economical simplicity and I never ceased to believe in Stevens or his motivation. I can well see why this won the Booker Prize.
