rnbhargava 's review for:

The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro

3.5

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative lighthearted reflective relaxing sad tense slow-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

---

This is rightfully considered a modern classic. However, it’s intentionally slow paced, almost monotonous. That said, I mostly quite admire it. The protagonist, Stevens the Butler, is reconciling his past and whether he fully engaged with life, friendships and potential loves, and whether his employer is a good person given who he associated with during war time and whether those he sympathized with were worthy of admiration. The idea of what’s appropriate while working as a Butler. Miss Kenton is quite the character that highlights that grey line between close friendship and romantic love for Stevens. Stephens’ fixation and recollections of her form the core of the plot. There are some comedic bits as well. A lot of this book is about what was said or left unsaid. Though I’m giving this a 3.5, honestly I will probably think about this book for a long time.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Antisemitism, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, War, Classism

A lot of the content about the plot of this book is about what’s unsaid and the biases of Stevens the Butler. It’s told through recollections. It’s possible I’ve missed some triggers so be aware.