The Remains of the Day is a profoundly compelling portrait of the perfect English butler and of his fading, insular world postwar England. At the end of his three decades of service at Darlington Hall, Stevens embarks on a country drive, during which he looks back over his career to reassure himself that he has served humanity by serving "a great gentleman". But lurking in his memory are doubts about the true nature of Lord Darlington's "greatness" and graver doubts about his own faith in the man he served. A tragic, spiritual portrait of a perfect English butler and his reaction to his fading insular world in post-war England. A wonderful, wonderful book.Amazon.com ReviewThe 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. From Publishers WeeklyGreeted with high praise in England, where it seems certain to be shortlisted for the Booker Prize, Ishiguro's third novel (after An Artist of the Floating World ) is a tour de force - both a compelling psychological study and a portrait of a vanished social order. Stevens, an elderly butler who has spent 30 years in the service of Lord Darlington, ruminates on the past and inadvertently slackens his rigid grip on his emotions to confront the central issues of his life. Glacially reserved, snobbish and humorless, Stevens has devoted his life to his concept of duty and responsibility, hoping to reach the pinnacle of his profession through totally selfless dedication and a ruthless suppression of sentiment. Having made a virtue of stoic dignity, he is proud of his impassive response to his father's death and his "correct" behavior with the spunky former housekeeper, Miss Kenton. Ishiguro builds Stevens's character with precisely controlled details, creating irony as the butler unwittingly reveals his pathetic self-deception. In the poignant denouement, Stevens belatedly realizes that he has wasted his life in blind service to a foolish man and that he has never discovered "the key to human warmth". While it is not likely to provoke the same shocks of recognition as it did in Britain, this insightful, often humorous and moving novel should significantly enhance Ishiguro's reputation here. Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

The Remains of the Day (Vintage International)

Ishiguro, Kazuo

Golden Books Publishing Company, Incorporated

Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers

Knopf : Distributed by Random House

Random House, Incorporated

Random House AudioBooks

VINTAGU INTERNATIONAL

Random House LLC US

Vintage Books

Vintage international, 1st Vintage international ed., New York, New York State, 1994

Vintage international, 1st Vintage international ed., New York, United States, 1994

Vintage International, First Vintage international edition, New York, 1990

Vintage international, 1st Vintage international ed, New York, 1990

Vintage International (Series), New York, 1993, ©1989

Penguin Random House LLC, New York, 2010

United States, United States of America

First American edition, New York, 1989

Penguin readers, New York, 2010

1st, 2010

librusecid_499334

"Originally published in hardcover in Great Britain by Faber and Faber Ltd., London, and in the United States by Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., in 1989"--T.p. verso.

From the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, here is the universally acclaimed novel-winner of the Booker Prize and the basis for an award-winning film. This is Kazuo Ishiguro's profoundly compelling portrait of Stevens, the perfect butler, and of his fading, insular world in post-World War II England. Stevens, at the end of three decades of service at Darlington Hall, spending a day on a country drive, embarks as well on a journey through the past in an effort to reassure himself that he has served humanity by serving the "great gentleman," Lord Darlington. But lurking in his memory are doubts about the true nature of Lord Darlington's "greatness," and much graver doubts about the nature of his own life.

BOOKER PRIZE WINNER • From the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, here is “an intricate and dazzling novel” ( The New York Times) about the perfect butler and his fading, insular world in post-World War II England.
This is Kazuo Ishiguro's profoundly compelling portrait of a butler named Stevens. Stevens, at the end of three decades of service at Darlington Hall, spending a day on a country drive, embarks as well on a journey through the past in an effort to reassure himself that he has served humanity by serving the "great gentleman," Lord Darlington. But lurking in his memory are doubts about the true nature of Lord Darlington's "greatness," and much graver doubts about the nature of his own life.

Overview: The Remains Of The Day Is A Profoundly Compelling Portrait Of The Perfect English Butler And Of His Fading, Insular World Postwar England. At The End Of His Three Decades Of Service At Darlington Hall, Stevens Embarks On A Country Drive, During Which He Looks Back Over His Career To Reassure Himself That He Has Served Humanity By Serving A Great Gentleman. But Lurking In His Memory Are Doubts About The True Nature Of Lord Darlington's Greatness And Graver Doubts About His Own Faith In The Man He Served. A Tragic, Spiritual Portrait Of A Perfect English Butler And His Reaction To His Fading Insular World In Post-war England. A Wonderful, Wonderful Book. Kazuo Ishiguro.

In the summer of 1956, Stevens, the ageing butler of Darlington Hall, embarks on a leisurely holiday that will take him deep into the countryside and into his past . . .A contemporary classic, The Remains of the Day is Kazuo Ishiguro's beautiful and haunting evocation of life between the wars in a Great English House, of lost causes and lost love.

A compelling portrait of the perfect English butler, who, at the end of his career in postwar England, reviews his life and secretly questions the "greatness" of the nobleman he served. This Booker Prize-winning novel is now a Merchant-Ivory film starring Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson

2015-12-26