Beautiful, sombre, and touching. Often touted as Ishiguro’s most sincere and top-quality release, The Remains of the Day certainly earns that title.
The story itself is unassuming, following Stevens, a long-serving butler at Darlington Hall, as he takes a short summer trip in his employer’s Ford. Despite being set in 1956, much of the story is focused upon Steven’s recollections of the estate’s golden days across the 1920s and 1930s.
The interspersing of Steven’s trip with his memories is the perfect recipe to make this novel such a fine work. What the story lacks in stakes and scale, it makes up for in a bittersweet combination of Stevens’ nostalgia and regrets; a man who valiantly followed his father’s example and married himself to his role as a butler, remaining so even as he grows older and less capable.
Characters are everything in this novel, as is context. Stevens is a straightforward and polite man, one who is easy to respect and like, but still always feels as though he is locking something away. His true feelings and outlook crop up, but never feel as though they displayed to the reader in their entirety. For all that we learn about Stevens and his time at Darlington Hall — his previous employer and his tension-filled relationship with Miss Kenton, or even his bond with his late father — it’s still possible to come away feeling like Stevens was a passing face. One that possesses so much still to tell about his time at the estate and his life before it, or the occasional times when he was not working and was staying elsewhere.
In addition to that, Ishiguro accurately captures a snapshot of what post-imperial Britain was like. Mannerisms, technology, as well as Stevens’ awareness of how time has progressed and passed him by, all make the story that much richer than many other fictional works. It was a time of politics, discussion, with some cigars and drinks for good measure.
If it wasn’t apparent, I highly recommend The Remains of the Day. It’s a patient read, slow and purposeful. Stevens, between his sincerity, wit, and experience, is a character that becomes almost like a companion to the reader. Ishiguro clearly grasped that less is more, especially with regard to this layered and touching character.
I adore this novel and its affable narrator. I hope to convince anyone, even with only the slightest of interests, to give it a chance. A masterpiece, through and through.
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