Remains of the Day

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Kazuo Ishiguro: Remains of the Day (1990, Turtleback)

English language

Published June 1, 1990 by Turtleback.

ISBN:
978-0-606-14304-2
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4 stars (2 reviews)

In the summer of 1956, Stevens, the ageing butler of Darlington Hall, embarks on a leisurely holiday that will take him deep into the countryside and into his past . . .A contemporary classic, The Remains of the Day is Kazuo Ishiguro's beautiful and haunting evocation of life between the wars in a Great English House, of lost causes and lost love.

57 editions

A deeply sad character study

5 stars

Content warning spoilers for the ending

Review of 'The Remains of the Day' on 'Storygraph'

3 stars

I didn't start getting into the story until around the 40% mark and even then, I felt like I had to make myself read it. If it hadn't been a book club pick, it'd probably be a DNF. I'm glad I stuck with it until the end. It was worth it from a literary and historical standpoint. But that ending felt incredibly depressing to me and I'm not sure it was meant to be? Was there meant to be little to no growth of the main character? Did he grow, but my own views are just so vastly different I can't see it? I have a lot of feelings to think about before my book club's discussion. 

Subjects

  • Man-woman relationships, fiction
  • Fiction, historical, general
  • British and irish fiction (fictional works by one author)
  • England, fiction