Made a wonderful discovery recently. The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro…. The book is the story of Mr. Stevens (Antony Hopkins in the movie, which I would love to watch), a butler at Darlington Hall, who had been serving Lord Darlington for many years. Darlington Hall goes through several changes following the death of Lord Darlington, as an American businessman moves in, bringing with him a perspective that is entirely American (as opposed to the rigid English). For instance, when his American employer (played, I think, by Hugh Grant in the movie….. could almost see him when I was reading the book) suggests to Stevens a holiday away from the Hall, Stevens is shocked. He slowly starts to like the idea and sets off on a drive in his master’s car.
The journey that Stevens undertakes is a simple and evocative metaphor for his mental journey down the years, and all the events that he has been part of and witness to, as a butler at Darlington Hall. As these events unfold in Stevens’ narration, the reader is able to perceive and understand many more layers than Stevens himself apparently can. For instance, apart from the idea of a holiday, Stevens also decides in favour of the journey in order to meet Miss Keaton, the former house-keeper at the Hall, ostensibly with the purpose of getting her back in her position. However, it is quite clear to the reader that Stevens’ feelings for the house-keeper is much stronger and intimate than he ever lets on… or even admits to himself…. Imagining her to be unhappy in her married life, he has to reconcile to the fact that she is still married, and happily so…. If only he had not ler her get away so many years ago….
As Stevens progresses on his journey reflecting on and analyzing his days at the Hall, he is forced to answer a lot of unpleasant questions within himself. It is almost as if, after all the years of an insular life at the Hall, being away from it suddenly makes Stevens view his life there, as an outsider.
The narration moves across a few decades, with the most engaging part set in the pre-war days of the late 1920s and 30s. Sitting here reading the book, it is almost possible to experience and understand the political climate and discourse of the times. Troubled times, turbulent times…
Here is a book that is absorbing and amusing and at all times, moving. To look at it, at the best of times, Stevens’ character is pompous and rigid. However, underneath lurks a vulnerability that touches you. It certainly made me want to shake him up at times and say, come on, Stevens, have a life…. The book, keeping with the character of the narrator maintains a tone of that elusive, so hard to describe quality – dignity. The quality that Stevens strives for all his professional life. So much so that he has consciously blurred any lines between his professional and personal life.
A quality that he inherits from his father, Stevens senior. The portrait of Stevens senior is full of pathos; a has-been, spent force living in the reflected glory of his past life as one of the great butlers, unwilling to give up his dignity at all costs… At one point, Miss Keaton tell Stevens, I saw your father looking at the ground as he was walking, as if he was searching for something…. What was he searching for? His life gone by? His youth? Strength?
A moving account of life…. What seems to be, what really is, and what might have been….. I highly recommend it and look forward to reading more of Ishiguro’s work….