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  • The Remains of the Day

  • By: Kazuo Ishiguro
  • Narrated by: Dominic West
  • Length: 7 hrs and 5 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (4,443 ratings)
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The Remains of the Day cover art

The Remains of the Day

By: Kazuo Ishiguro
Narrated by: Dominic West
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Summary

From the winner of the 2017 Nobel Prize for Literature

A contemporary classic, The Remains of the Day is Kazuo Ishiguro's beautiful and haunting evocation of life between the wars in a Great English House. In the summer of 1956, Stevens, the ageing butler of Darlington Hall, embarks on a leisurely holiday that will take him deep into the countryside - and into his past.

©2012 Kazuo Ishiguro (P)2012 Faber & Faber

What listeners say about The Remains of the Day

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Should I stay or should I go?

There's a scene in the Disney movie "Eight Below" where a sled dog is shown having to abandon an injured pack member to certain death in a blizzard. To remain would condemn her and the remainder of the team to death as well. It's the perfect, horrible illustration of how sometimes any chance of survival and happiness depend on walking away from someone with the emotional equivalent of a broken leg. And if doing so *guaranteed* happiness, well, we'd all be doing it. But all you get from walking away is a shot at it. And how do you reconcile that with the risk of spending the rest of your life regretting What Might Have Been?
Much of this book is about the decisions we have to make if we are drawn to perfectly decent people who seem incapable of experiencing or sharing happiness, no matter how much others wish to share it with them. How long before you give up and walk away into the blizzard? Or are you someone who stays? Although the book deals with some very poignant experiences (if you don't enjoy the guilty pleasure of the odd furtive tear whilst reading, this book is not for you) it's also hopeful, funny and endlessly interesting. Ishiguro shares Henry James' interest in analysing and describing at length seemingly trivial and fleeting emotions and sensations and decisions. However, whereas James leaves you wanting to hit yourself on the head with a hammer until you pass out, Ishiguro creates what I've heard referred to as aesthetic arrest. You stop, held in place, perfectly engaged by what he describes. I resented every single thing I had to do which took me away from this book.

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77 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Nostalgia for a time that has so much to teach us

I loved this book. The narrator was excellent. It was all so understated, but just wonderful at placing you in a time when (some) people really knew the meaning of good manners. A lesson for us all. The plot is so subtley revealed through the eyes of one man alone... Just wonderful!

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52 people found this helpful

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A Great Listen

What made the experience of listening to The Remains of the Day the most enjoyable?

A moving story.

What does Dominic West bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

West is one of the best narrators I have listened to. He evokes emotions of the characters perfectly and establishes setting exquisitely.

Any additional comments?

Wanted it to continue!

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34 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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heartbreaking

A touching and at times difficult look at the Old World of England, through the eyes of an utmost professional. Interesting and resonant thoughts on loyalty, duty, class, love and the conflict between what might better be called 'tatame' and 'honne', the private and public self. Dignified, warm, at times genuinely funny narration by Dominic West, who conveys Mr. Stevens with total conviction.

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31 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Delicate

I hadn't read the book or seen the film. I could hardly put my ipod down. So sad, so elegaic. ..A chronicle of wasted time...Probably won't listen again in case it makes me too sad.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

A beautifully detailed portrait

If you could sum up The Remains of the Day in three words, what would they be?

Glorious, unique, draining

What other book might you compare The Remains of the Day to, and why?

I have absolutely no idea. I've never come across anything like it before. But I intend to listen to all of Kazuo Ishiguro's other novels as soon as possible!

Which scene did you most enjoy?

The one where Miss Kenton demands to see what book Mr Stevens is reading. The atmosphere is so charged.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The final scene between Mr Stevens and Miss Kenton. My heart was breaking too.

Any additional comments?

Basically this is a book about an English butler's life told in reminiscences that included meditations on a butler's duty, anecdotes of guests in his employers house, and his almost totally repressed emotions. But it was nothing like as dry as that sounds. It was stunning. I was amused, educated, irritated and devastated in turn. While I ended up feeling mentally thrashed, I feel I could immediately start listening to it again.

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21 people found this helpful

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Very impressive

I was so into this book, you really get a feel for all the characters. The narrator is awesome, he brings out the different personalities of all the charters. It was a wonderful experience.

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19 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Heartbreaking and delightful

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

100% yes - brilliant narration, perfect length of book, nothing extraneous, piercingly memorable characters: heaven. (I'd like Dominic West to record more unabridged audiobooks, he does such a good job here.)

What other book might you compare The Remains of the Day to, and why?

Can you think of another book where a character is so full of wistful melancholy at what might have been, yet is so innately trained to compartmentalise his emotions that he doesn't even realise the full extent of his own longing, and spends the whole book trying to distract and deny himself? I can't. This is exceptional. And to relate that to the interwar period, wider social changes and the destruction of country houses makes it a very humane historical novel. You could compare it to Gosford Park, Downton Abbey, or Brideshead Revisited for historical setting and class distinctions.

Which scene did you most enjoy?

I adored the scenes with Sir Reginald Cardinal because they were pure light relief and his relationship with Stevens was very encouraging. Of course, the final scenes on the pier are like a huge sigh of resignation after a build up of tear-inducing tension: so understated yet so powerful.

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Yes, it made me laugh at several moments throughout (I found Stevens' father's bumbling funnier than I should, perhaps - I just couldn't help but envision the slapstick) and cry: when Miss Kenton tells Stevens that she and her 'friend' have been laughing at him behind his back, I wanted to scream at Stevens, "Say something, man!" His restraint is perplexing at times, but that's what makes him such a fascinating, believable and significant character. I can see myself re-reading this novel every year or so - I don't think I've ever enjoyed a book so much. Stevens broke my heart. (I can see a lot of myself in his stoic consistency - idiocy by any other name!)

Any additional comments?

I recently watched the film for the first time - a mistake, really, I should have waited a bit longer after reading the book so that I couldn't compare the two so closely - of course the book is better.

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13 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Very enjoyable

I had no expectations before reading the book, it was a little slow to start in the first chapter, but thereafter it picked up well and I began to sense I had a real feel for the characters and the story took shape. Narrator was able to do the different voices well and had a calm accent which was easy on the ears.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Outstanding. A completely mesmerising read!!

Bittersweet, funny, and absolutely captivating. Stevens' musings on duty, dignity, and banter are brilliantly portrayed in the most exquisite prose. The unrequited affection between the butler and housekeeper is almost palpable. My favourite Ishiguro novel without a doubt! West's deadpan butler is superbly narrated (with Stevens' emotional quiver in the final scene done to absolute perfection). Highly recommended!!

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9 people found this helpful