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A review by jgverrero
The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
How is it that Ishiguro can write that relentlessly loyal character more than once? Behold, "The Remains of the Day", my second novel read by Ishiguro followed by "Klara and the Sun."
At the decline of British aristocracy in the end of WW2, we follow Stevens on a six day vacation outside of Darlington Hall proposed by his new employer, an American. As he moves further away, flashback by flashback in a formal stream of consciousness catch glimpses of the truth, and how unsettling they are! How do we frame the past? How do we define purpose? Bit by bit, mostly not through what he tells us but instead precisely through what he does not tell we come to see that poor Stevens is perhaps the most unreliable narrator there ever was.
The most fascinating thing about characters like Stevens is how dubious they are. Although he is a devoted butler, and even remains loyal to the memory of Lord Darlington, he never fully admits that the man he had spent his life serving and admiring was in fact not so great. It reminded me a lot of Klara, which was one of the few books to make me cry. I mean it really takes a literary genius to manage it.
You have to be very comfortable with a laborious read to get the most out of Ishiguro's quiet messages that are hidden within a prose of high proficiency. Reading his work is like a compressing wrapped around your chest that slowly, almost unnoticeably, gets tighter and tighter. When you finally reach your moment of clarity the compressions unconstructs itself from you and you take your first breath. If you're like me, it'll be a gasp and some tears will follow.
At the decline of British aristocracy in the end of WW2, we follow Stevens on a six day vacation outside of Darlington Hall proposed by his new employer, an American. As he moves further away, flashback by flashback in a formal stream of consciousness catch glimpses of the truth, and how unsettling they are! How do we frame the past? How do we define purpose? Bit by bit, mostly not through what he tells us but instead precisely through what he does not tell we come to see that poor Stevens is perhaps the most unreliable narrator there ever was.
The most fascinating thing about characters like Stevens is how dubious they are. Although he is a devoted butler, and even remains loyal to the memory of Lord Darlington, he never fully admits that the man he had spent his life serving and admiring was in fact not so great. It reminded me a lot of Klara, which was one of the few books to make me cry. I mean it really takes a literary genius to manage it.
You have to be very comfortable with a laborious read to get the most out of Ishiguro's quiet messages that are hidden within a prose of high proficiency. Reading his work is like a compressing wrapped around your chest that slowly, almost unnoticeably, gets tighter and tighter. When you finally reach your moment of clarity the compressions unconstructs itself from you and you take your first breath. If you're like me, it'll be a gasp and some tears will follow.