A perfect butler … a brilliant novel

The book “The Remains of the Day”, authored by Kazuo Ishiguro, is one of a series of Nobel Prize winners a friend has kindly gifted me. I feel the urge to write a few lines about it as I have derived immense pleasure from its perusal. But, in all honesty, this is far from being a book review, which is beyond my ability. My intention is simply to recommend a good read to other English book lovers like myself.

As stated in the back cover blurb, the book presents a portrait of Stevens, the perfect English butler who had served for more than thirty years in Darlington Hall in postwar England. The main part of the story is a description of a country drive, during which Stevens embarked on a journey down memory lane. He recalled the remarkable events he partook in and the people he associated with in his long years of service, thus giving a picture of the social and political phenomenon of Europe in that era.

Initially, I found the story a bit monotonous. There is, for example, a prolonged account of the butler’s interpretation of the term “dignity”. I questioned his need for being so careful with details when explaining how his opinion differed from others’. As I proceeded with my reading, however, I gradually got a grasp of his sincerity in providing such explicit details. What he means by “dignity” borders on our understanding of an employee’s “die-hard loyalty” in the current terminology. Stevens’ father, a self-demanding butler before him, made strenuous efforts to maintain his work efficiency even during his last days. Stevens went about his tasks of serving the guests one evening without pausing for a moment to take a look at his father, who was reported to be taking his last breath. Such behaviour may be deemed as cold-blooded in today’s world when so much is talked about employees being treated with respect and empathy. But Stevens saw this as a butler’s dignity. This concept is, in fact, a main focus of the story and appears repeatedly even towards its very end. 

Impressed by the label “Winner of the Nobel Prize – Literature”, I had expected very difficult terms, complicated sentence structures and lengthy paragraphs. To my delight, the story displays the beauty of the English language in its simplicity. It is, nevertheless, not short of beautiful words and phrases, which I appreciate so much that I have made a list of them for keeping just as I did as a school girl ages ago.

Yes, this is a brilliant novel, one I would talk more about if invited to.