Summary of The Remains of the Day
Mr Stevens is an old-fashioned English butler, who serves at Darlington Hall, a country estate near Oxford, in 1956. When he sets out on a trip to visit a former colleague, Miss Kenton, in Cornwall, he finally has the time to reflect – on his past, his sense of duty, and the true meaning of dignity in his profession. Stevens devoted his entire career to the late Lord Darlington, a well-intentioned but naĂŻve aristocrat. During their years working together, Miss Kenton harboured romantic feelings for Stevens—feelings he failed to recognise. Now he wonders what meaning the remainder of his days might hold.
Reasons to read The Remains of the Day
At its heart, “The Remains of the Day” tells the story of a man who comes to realise that the ideals on which he built his life – dignity, loyalty, and restraint – have lost their meaning and may have cost him his chance of happiness. “The Remains of the Day” frequently appears on lists of the greatest novels of the twentieth century. It is considered the masterpiece of Kazuo Ishiguro, a renowned British author born in Japan. Ishiguro was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2017, the Booker Prize in 1989 for “The Remains of the Day”, and the Whitbread Prize in 1986 for “An Artist of the Floating World”. Other notable works by Ishiguro include “The Unconsoled”, “When We Were Orphans”, “Never Let Me Go”, and “Klara and the Sun”. In 1993, “The Remains of the Day” was adapted into an acclaimed film starring Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson.
Setting: Oxfordshire (England, UK)
Original title: The Remains of the Day
Year of publication: 1989
Nr of pages: 272
