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Title: The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro ISBN: 0-679-73172-5 Publisher: Vintage Books USA Pub. Date: 01 October, 1993 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.66 (121 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: DECEPTIVELY SIMPLE
Comment: There is always the danger of reading too much into a book. That is a danger that I don't believe exists with The Remains of the Day, one of the most beautifully written contemporary novels. The Remains of the Day is the story of Stevens, an English butler in post-World War II England. In beautiful understatement, Ishiguro explores the themes of the novel: What is the meaning of professionalism in today's society? How much should one sacrifice in order to remain true to his own personal ethics? Ishiguro weaves quiet comedy and tragedy in this deceptively simple tale, but always preserves a strong undercurrent of psychological motivation and tension. In beautiful, crystal clear prose, he tells the tale of one man's interpretation of his place in society. The fading class system also serves as a metaphor for the fading glory of the insular world of postwar England. If your're looking for a John Grisham breakneck plot, skip this book. If you want literature at its finest, you can't do better than this.
Rating: 5
Summary: Worthy
Comment: The word dignity that concerns Stevens so in this novel comes from the latin dignitas < dignus, worthy. This novel by Ishiguro is worthy of the Booker prize it recieved and much praise from all quarters. Like his previous two novels there is a strong theme here of realization of having backed the wrong horse ,so to speak, and how to proceed from there. This, Ishiguro's third effort, reaches masterpiece quality in form, prose, restraint, and narrative. A previous reviewer's comparison to Chekhov is very apt. Steven's the samurai slash english gentry butler of Darlington hall has spent his life serving what he thought was a great man, Lord Darlington. Darlington , it turns out was an unwitting pawn of the Nazi's in diplomacy between Nazi Germany and England. Steven's realizes this along with his missed romantic chances in his past and it breaks his heart. He must decide a worthy way to spend the remains of his day. Stevens although not a perfect human is a refreshing literary character with his selfless devotion, civility, and ideals. His struggle to learn how to banter and joke is the most touching and humorous part of the book. This is a modern day classic!
Rating: 5
Summary: A chilling executioner
Comment: Kazuo Ishiguro's butler is a perfect example of, what Nietzsche called, people who employ the wrong conjugation: they don't live, they are lived.
The main character in this book 'Stevens' has but one aim in his life: to become his master's perfect butler, his impeccable servant, the self-effacing loyal executioner of his master's desires. If his master plays the fascist's game, he will excuse him and protest that he is not an anti-Semite, but he will fire the Jewish household personnel without the slightest regret. If his master changes his ideas, no problem, he goes with him. That's what he calls 'dignity' or 'carrying out his duties to the best of his abilities'.
That is also what Eichmann said or the brutal executioners in Pol Pot's death camp. Those are the words of today's cold career men.
Stevens accepts unflinchingly his fatality:'that the likes of you and I will never be in a position to comprehend the great affairs of today's world, and our best course will always be to put our trust in an employer' (p.211) or 'The hard reality is that for the likes of you and me, there is little choice other than to leave our fate, ultimately, in the hands of those great gentlemen at the hub of this world who employ our service.' (p.257)
A terrible negation of one's own life and responsibilities.
Kazuo Ishiguro has written an implacable dark masterpiece.
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Title: The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje ISBN: 0679745203 Publisher: Vintage Books USA Pub. Date: 01 November, 1996 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro ISBN: 0679722661 Publisher: Vintage Books USA Pub. Date: 01 September, 1989 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
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Title: A Pale View of Hills by Kazuo Ishiguro ISBN: 067972267X Publisher: Vintage Books USA Pub. Date: 01 September, 1990 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
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Title: Kazuo Ishiguro's The Remains of the Day: A Reader's Guide (Continuum Contemporaries) by Adam Parkes ISBN: 0826452310 Publisher: Continuum International Publishing Group Pub. Date: 01 September, 2001 List Price(USD): $9.95 |
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Title: When We Were Orphans (Vintage International (Paperback)) by Kazuo Ishiguro ISBN: 0375724400 Publisher: Vintage Books USA Pub. Date: 30 October, 2001 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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