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Description
Fiction. Literature. HTML: From Kazuo Ishiguro, a tragic, spiritual portrait of the perfect English butler and his reaction to his fading insular world in post-war England..
Media reviews
The Remains of the Day is too much a roman à thèse, and a judgmental one besides. Compared to his astounding narrative sophistication, Ishiguro's message seems quite banal: Be less Japanese, less bent on dignity, less false to yourself and others, less restrained and controlled. The irony is that
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it is precisely Ishiguro's beautiful restraint and control that one admires, and, in the case of the last novel [The Remains of the Day], his nerve in setting up such a high-wire act for himself. Show Less
Kazuo Ishiguro's tonal control of Stevens' repressive yet continually reverberating first-person voice is dazzling. So is his ability to present the butler from every point on the compass: with affectionate humor, tart irony, criticism, compassion and full understanding. It is remarkable, too, that
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as we read along in this strikingly original novel, we continue to think not only about the old butler, but about his country, its politics and its culture. Show Less
Awards
Booker Prize (Longlist — 1989)
Audie Award (Finalist — 2013)
Irish Times International Fiction Prize (Shortlist — 1989)
Deutscher Hörbuchpreis (2019)
Notable Books List (Fiction — 1990)
RUSA CODES Listen List (Selection — 2013)
The Big Jubilee Read (1989 — 1982-1991)
Language
Original publication date
1989