The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro

Beautiful, poignant and thought-provoking.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐

I'm not sure what I expected from this. The only other Kazuo Ishiguro book I have read is 'Never let me go', so having not read any reviews for 'Remains of the day' I guess I was expecting another science fiction-y, dystopian style book. This was not that whatsoever. However, what this WAS, was a bittersweet masterpiece. Once I had settled into the fact that this was not a story that was going to be told at a galloping pace (!) and relaxed into the subtle and slowly building rhythm, I really started to enjoy it. The perfect synopsis as supplied by Wikipedia: (what, I'm lazy - what can I say - you want to know what I think, not a summary you can read yourself!) The narrator, Stevens, a butler, recalls his life in the form of a diary while the action progresses through to the present. Much of the novel is concerned with Stevens' professional and, above all, personal relationship with a former colleague, the housekeeper Miss Kenton

I'm not usually a massive fan of 'stream of consciousness' style narration - however I really loved the subtlety of this. Ishiguro managed to convey through Stevens' words and viewpoint his take on events, but we as the reader were able to understand what he had misunderstood through his description of the words and actions of others.

It was heartbreaking to see how he persistently misunderstood Miss Kenton, or wilfully refused to look behind the meaning of her words. All the way through the book, I just wanted to give him a good shake and shout 'why can't you see what is right in front of you?!' and that is testament to the strength of the writing.

This is a book so subtle, it's all about what DOESN'T happen. The romance that never actually takes place but should. And it really forces you to think about seizing the moment, about not waiting to tell someone something before its too late. It's about missed chances and opportunities and ultimately it broke my heart a little bit. (Especially when it got to the moment right at the end of the book where Stevens himself admits his feelings: "at that moment my heart was breaking")

Beautiful, poignant and thought-provoking.

#4star #Nostalgia #Narrative