The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro

Date Read: March 18 to April 16, 2019

Rating: 4 (of 5) stars

Although it took me a painfully long time to get through this one, I actually quite enjoyed it. The story unfolds slowly, with the past and present interspersed. The narrative is a sort of stream of consciousness, a trail through present circumstances and reflections on the past as our narrator, Stevens, drives himself through the countryside. It is beautifully written, and the style was striking to me– the type of mind wandering is very much like the train of thought that I often find myself in when driving alone for a length of time.

Stevens is intriguing as a narrator, in that he is both extremely reliable, and completely unreliable. He recounts events themselves with extreme precision, but with no acknowledgment of emotion. He talks at length of dignity, but never truly defines it for himself. His definition, it seems, is that dignity means detachment. He separates himself from reality, making himself into what he believes his employer wants him to be. As he gets closer to his meeting with Miss Kenton, we start to see some small cracks in this shell. Although he does not yet admit it, he denies his connection to his former employer. While he will defend Lord Darlington to readers, he will not do so publicly. He begins to admit that perhaps he was misleading himself to believe Miss Kenton wants to return to Darlington Hall with him.

The ending we get is both tragic and hopeful. While his reunion with Miss Kenton is heartbreaking (he even admits this himself!), he seems to get some closure he was lacking. At that moment, Stevens becomes a bit more understandable as a character. His conversation with a stranger on the pier gives us a little hope for his future– perhaps he will seize upon the remains of his day, even if it is simply in his mastering of bantering with his new employer.

Boris’s thoughts: “You need to start reading some happier books. 2 paws.”