Product Description

An elderly butler is on a five-day motoring trip through the West Country in the 1950s. The climax of his journey is to be a reunion with his former housekeeper. This 1989 Booker Prize-winner attempts to capture a period in British history and draw a portrait of a man in old age.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #80556 in Books
• Published on: 1999-07-19
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
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, beautifully crafted novel-- namely, Stevens' own ability to allow some bit of life-affirming love into his tightly repressed existence.

Customer Reviews

A beautiful book - surely among the best
I bought this book a long while ago for a reason I don't remember, it must have been a recommendation, but it has been sitting on my bookshelf ever since. The other day I was looking for something to read and I went for The Remains of the Day. This book is a masterpiece. Beautifully written with intriguing characters I could have started this book over the moment I finished the last page. What I find most interesting is how the emotions of the repressed central character Stevens are only revealed by others reaction to him, he remains stoic and "dignified" to the end, despite ultimately coming realise he has wasted his life serving the misguided Lord Darlington. Kazuo Ishiguro has the most amazing grasp of the upstairs/downstairs England of yesteryear and I cannot recommend this beautiful and moving novel highly enough - fully deserving of its Booker Prize (not something to be said about them all!)

One of the 20th Century's best novels
This book has the ability not only to make you feel deeply moved by its main protagonists but to re-evaluate your own life, relationships and values. It explores the break down in communications between individuals of "opposite" sex, social class and nationality and the pressure to conform to moral, social and political standards at the expense of natural feelings. The hero Stevens, a butler, represses his feelings so much that he cannot or will not admit his attraction to housekeeper Miss Kenton. His obsession with the "role" of butler and archaic notion of "Dignity" creates a barrier between them which neither is able to break down. The frustration for the reader is that the truth is there so plain to see, narrated by Stevens himself, and there are many opportunities for them to connect; when Steven's father dies; when Miss Kenton receives a proposal of marriage, but the hard shell of reserve the butler builds around himself never cracks. Tradition and reputation remain more important than his happiness. Meanwhile this small drama is played out against the backdrop of the British government appeasement of Hitler's burgeoning German Nazi party just before WWII, where, paralleling the difficulties in communication within the domestic staff, His Lordship tries to bring European leaders together for the best, but misguided, reasons. There are so many powerful episodes and touching scenes - when Stevens' demeanour causes him to be mistaken for His Lordship, when he is asked to his embarassment to explain the facts of life to His Lordship's betrothed nephew and when he is quizzed by one of his employer's politician guests as a representative sample of the working classes. Each of these confirm that he is a dying breed of dinosaur from a feudal age, an unquestioning and naive bond slave in a world turned sour and cynical and how ineffectual as a human being. As storm clouds gather over Europe, political lies and intrigue mirror the confusion in Stevens' household and relationships and both he and his employer ultimately and tragically suffer from an inability to recognise the truth. Behind the facade of dignified gentility, and a veneer of unwavering formality, the inner turmoil within the political arena, the house, the staff and Steven's own conscience make this an intense and absorbing read on many levels. He is an intensely maddening and yet touchingly likeable character. Absolutely fascinating and totally realistic. A top ten novel of the 20th century.

beautiful
This must be the most desperately sad and beautiful book that I have ever read. I was absolutly hooked from the first page right until the end, and even found myself crying once i had finished.
It is a story of hopelessness, a journey of self discovery and a love story, told simply. At the end, you are both exasperated with the narrator as well as desperately sorry for him.

an exquiste read