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The Remains of the Day
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.914
EAN: 9780679731726
Edition: Mti Rep
ISBN: 0679731725
Label: Vintage
Manufacturer: Vintage
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 256
Publication Date: September 12, 1990
Publisher: Vintage
Release Date: September 12, 1990
Studio: Vintage
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Editorial Review:
The novel's narrator, Stevens, is a perfect English butler who tries to give his narrow existence form and meaning through the self-effacing, almost mystical practice of his profession. In a career that spans the second World War, Stevens is oblivious of the real life that goes on around him -- oblivious, for instance, of the fact that his aristocrat employer is a Nazi sympathizer. Still, there are even larger matters at stake in this heartbreaking, pitch-perfect novel -- namely, Stevens' own ability to allow some bit of life-affirming love into his tightly repressed existence.
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.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Brilliant ... absolutely brilliant
Shakespeare and Dostoyevsky have long been touchstones by which I measure how in tune an author is to the human condition. To them I would add Kazuo Ishiguro.
In THE REMAINS OF THE DAY, Mr. Stevens' life, like peeling the cell-thick layers of an onion, is revealed ever so slowly. Mr. Stevens had long ago set aside his humaness, emotions, and even intelligence in his pursuit of becoming 'a great butler.' Variously he's laughable, lamentable, absurd, and downright infuriating. More ... Read More
Rating: - Deepest gratitude to my brother
When my brother recommended this book to me more than a decade ago, I perversely avoided it because, living in Japan and immersed in Japanese literature, the idea of Mr. Ishiguro's novel of an English butler struck me as too contrived to even deign to read. Living in a complex and ancient foreign culture, I doubted the ability of anyone not born in a country like England or Japan to assume its persona in a novel.
But the name of the book and the author remained, as something of a reproach ... Read More
Rating: - 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 ... Read More
Rating:  - Like Watching Dust Settle on My Grandmother's Finest China
There is a reason why there are so few books written about the lives of butlers: they're BORING! Indeed, half-way through and I think I shall retire this book in favor of re-organizing my linen closet.
Rating:  - 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. ... Read More
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