Reviews - Was vom Tage übrig blieb

10.4k reviews for:

Was vom Tage übrig blieb

Kazuo Ishiguro

4.08 AVERAGE

macierules's review against another edition

4.0

The writing is beautifully understated just like the English countryside.

alina_marcoci's review against another edition

4.0

informative reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

nickburdick's review against another edition

3.0

I think I may have known too much about this book before I started. No real surprises, which is, I think, what makes so many people love Ishiguro's books. Well crafted, but it lacked the depth I was hoping for. There's also something I don't like about his dialogue in both of the books I've read by him. I might give one more a try just because so many people (especially those whom I respect) rave about him.

patrick94's review against another edition

5.0

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

lauren_may's review against another edition

5.0

challenging emotional reflective fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

pippa_w's review against another edition

4.0

'Well, whatever awaits me, Mrs Benn, I know I'm not awaited by emptiness. If only I were. But oh no, there's work, work and more work.'

This book is unbelievably dull. So, how, Kazuo Ishiguro, am I finishing it absolutely stunned with tears in my eyes?

I'm not going to sit here and tell you that this short novel isn't a slog. It is. Ishiguro is a very strong writer who here has perfectly written an utterly dry, unconsciously pompous, repressed to the point of nearly sociopathic, and humourless man (he's all too aware of the latter). The guy talks at length about what makes a good butler, how he runs Darlington Hall, and the intricacies of polishing silver to distract himself from his own emotions, and it is not interesting. Much of this book is pretty torturous to read, and that is the point, but that does not make it any less torturous.

But somehow, somehow, as Ishiguro forces Stevens to peel back the layers of unreliable narration, he manages to play out a story that is moving and devastating.

There is a tension here (helped both by the book's flashback interwar setting and by Miss Kenton, who is both delightful and heartbreaking) that almost carries the reader through the book without requiring an audiobook. (Almost.) The wall that Stevens has built against that tension is frustrating, and witnessing it crumble to ruins over the course of the book is deeply compelling and upsetting.

This book is remarkable in many ways - it's one of those stories that does not reveal just how remarkable it is until you get to the end. There is no shame in using for this book whatever crutch you depend on to get through nearly impossible books.

The great butlers are great by virtue of their ability to inhabit their professional role and inhabit it to the utmost; they will not be shaken out by external events, however surprising, alarming or vexing.