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gavinofhaynes 's review for:
The Remains of the Day
by Kazuo Ishiguro
Remains of the Day and it's contemporaries that I am not familiar with clearly set the stage for the popularity of massive successes such as Downton Abbey. With a focus on the character of the "downstairs", Ishiguro takes a pointed look at the perhaps overly-fond reflection on the actions and motivations of the "upstairs".
If one were to guess, as I am, our main character Stevens is likely a bit of archetype in literary settings such as this, the stuffy and always professional, if slightly socially bumbling butler. He perfectly understands his lot in life. He has accepted that he gives his life to people in order to see that they are dressed and fed properly. He has also accepted that the only true sense of pride he gets in his work must be self-made and often with a great deal of fondness for the way things used to be. This presents an interesting narrative for people less familiar with the idea of noble houses and the like. Despite many of the more noble characters being repugnant or blatantly stupid, Stevens is happy to serve in order that he may achieve some sort of secondary greatness by the nature of having served them brandy at some point in their storied careers.
Where Remains of the Day really shone for me was it's style and structure. This book is about a butler meandering through the British countryside and to say the prose is a stylistic match is an understatement. Stevens goes off on rants about politics, silver polishing, and the defining factors of a great butler while interspersing stories about his current day traveling. This results in a very wistful and reflective book as I found myself actually feeling as if I was remembering the days long past with him. This style serves the story well, Stevens' emotional journey ends at the end of his real journey as he comes to terms with the reality of his reflections. His parting thoughts on whether or not he has time to change the life he's lived are almost cathartic after almost an entire novel of naivete.
Remains of the Day was a great read that at time was bogged down by it's style. Although the ending wraps it up in a very emotionally resonant package, the wavering nature of the narrative could easily bring some frustration. It's reductive to say that if you like Downton Abbey that you'll like this, but I would recommend anyone interested in noble/working class dynamic to give this a read.
If one were to guess, as I am, our main character Stevens is likely a bit of archetype in literary settings such as this, the stuffy and always professional, if slightly socially bumbling butler. He perfectly understands his lot in life. He has accepted that he gives his life to people in order to see that they are dressed and fed properly. He has also accepted that the only true sense of pride he gets in his work must be self-made and often with a great deal of fondness for the way things used to be. This presents an interesting narrative for people less familiar with the idea of noble houses and the like. Despite many of the more noble characters being repugnant or blatantly stupid, Stevens is happy to serve in order that he may achieve some sort of secondary greatness by the nature of having served them brandy at some point in their storied careers.
Where Remains of the Day really shone for me was it's style and structure. This book is about a butler meandering through the British countryside and to say the prose is a stylistic match is an understatement. Stevens goes off on rants about politics, silver polishing, and the defining factors of a great butler while interspersing stories about his current day traveling. This results in a very wistful and reflective book as I found myself actually feeling as if I was remembering the days long past with him. This style serves the story well, Stevens' emotional journey ends at the end of his real journey as he comes to terms with the reality of his reflections. His parting thoughts on whether or not he has time to change the life he's lived are almost cathartic after almost an entire novel of naivete.
Remains of the Day was a great read that at time was bogged down by it's style. Although the ending wraps it up in a very emotionally resonant package, the wavering nature of the narrative could easily bring some frustration. It's reductive to say that if you like Downton Abbey that you'll like this, but I would recommend anyone interested in noble/working class dynamic to give this a read.