The Remains of the Day: A Novel
From AwardAnnals
| Book: | The Remains of the Day: A Novel |
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| Author: | Kazuo Ishiguro |
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| Publisher: | Vintage |
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Reviews
Amazon.com
The novel’s narrator, Stevens, is a perfect English butler who tries to give his narrow existence form and meaning through the self-effacing, almost mystical practice of his profession. In a career that spans the second World War, Stevens is oblivious of the real life that goes on around him—oblivious, for instance, of the fact that his aristocrat employer is a Nazi sympathizer. Still, there are even larger matters at stake in this heartbreaking, pitch-perfect novel—namely, Stevens’ own ability to allow some bit of life-affirming love into his tightly repressed existence.
Related works
This excellent film is probably best described as subtle elegance. Framed in the present, the movie deals with the lives inside an English country home just prior to World War II. Reunited with the filmmakers from Howards End are Emma Thompson as Miss Kenton, the head housekeeper, and Anthony Hopkins as Stevens, the impeccable butler. The bittersweet story centers on Stevens and his dedication to his master, Lord Darlington (a suitably officious and slyly pompous James Fox). Stevens summarizes: “I don’t believe a man can consider himself fully content…
