The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro

As a general rule and probably on principal, books that are read at school aren’t a hit with the kids (with the divine exception of To Kill a Mockingbird), so when I was handed the book list for ENG101 several years ago, I did not expect to like any of the foes that I was to be pitted against for a 12 full weeks. 

How wrong was I.

Kazuo Ishiguro’s The Remains of the Day did not only interest me enough to read the 250 or so pages several times, but also showed me that a novel about the staff of an english country manor could actually be interesting. I know. This might also be due to the fact that Ishiguro is a talented talented man, but that’s just my opinion.

In fact, I think the real excellence of The Remains of the Day is in it’s ability to hark back to the bad old days of manor house crime fiction (think: Cluedo minus the crime), but still make readers feel that they have been sucked back only a decade or so (sans bad fashion). People don’t realise it, but this is a skill, and a skill that I would love so very much - the fact of the matter is that this is a period novel and a drama; flash a tit and we’re in a Mills and Boon. 

Ishiguro has created a world that makes maids and butlers accessible to the modern day Australian readership. To this readership, this genre is commonly considered to be completely irrelevant and the people in it are traditionally stereotyped to be either bumbling or cold or both; Miss Kenton and Stevens are none of that. In fact, they are seen to be real people with real feelings and an overwhelming sense of honour and righteousness. Team that with toe-tingling suspense, a little bit of lovey lovey, a whole lot of whodunnit intrigue, the “based on true story” factor* and you have a ripping good read that makes you feel a bit smart at the end.

Oh, just as a warning: if you ever decide to watch the movie first (I don’t know why you would do that… but each to their own), Miss Kenton will always come in the form of a very nervous, slightly OCD Emma Thompson. Ha. I’ve planted that seed in your mind already. 

 

* Not entirely true - like all of Stevens’ assumptions, this is exactly that. But for future reference, British aristocrats did initially have ‘warm relations’ with Germany during WW2. Just an FYI.

Tags: booker prize, Books, english manor, Ishiguro, remains of the day, world war 2