Ishiguro: The Remains of the Day

ForumAuthor Theme Reads

Melde dich bei LibraryThing an, um Nachrichten zu schreiben.

Ishiguro: The Remains of the Day

Dieses Thema ruht momentan. Die letzte Nachricht liegt mehr als 90 Tage zurück. Du kannst es wieder aufgreifen, indem du eine neue Antwort schreibst.

1billiejean
Sept. 7, 2009, 8:33 am

I just read the book The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro. I think that this is one of my top reads of the year. The style is understated, yet compelling. I was totally drawn into this story of the English butler looking back over his life and career thus far, and then looking forward to what remains.

2digifish_books
Sept. 28, 2009, 8:47 am

I've read all of Ishiguro's novels and The Remains of the Day is my favourite by him and was my top read for 2007. Have you seen the movie (with Anthony Hopkins & Emma Thompson)?

3akeela
Nov. 3, 2009, 8:36 am

The Remains of the Day was in my Top 10 list of reads in 2008.

4fannyprice
Nov. 3, 2009, 8:43 am

>3 akeela:, Mine too, akeela (except it was 2007, I guess).

Ishiguro is fast becoming one of my favorite authors, after reading this and Never Let Me Go. I love the understated, almost emotionless tone of his writing when dealing with heart-breaking topics. Lesser authors would devolve into histrionics, but never Ishiguro. His characters just seem to accept their lots in life and muddle through, all too painfully aware that there are other options but completely unable to reach out and seize them.

This novel contains a passage that reveals perfectly for me why Ishiguro's writings are so amazing. Stevens describes how the English countryside is marked by greatness: "And yet what precisely is this greatness? I would say that it is the very lack of obvious drama or spectacle that sets the beauty of our land apart. What is pertinent is the calmness of that beauty, its sense of restraint. It is as though the land knows of its own beauty, of its own greatness, and feels no need to shout it."

Ishiguro's writings are like this landscape - no obvious drama, even when the situation could so easily lend itself to melodrama. Emotions are always tightly controlled. His characters are always the product of their world and since they see their world as normal, they accept it, leaving the reader to rage silently against the injustice of it all. Very little seems to change for Ishiguro's characters in the end, as they seem resigned to their fate in a quiet, melancholy way.

5lilisin
Nov. 3, 2009, 2:20 pm

4 -

I would say that you hit Ishiguro's style like a hammer hits a nail in a single stroke. You summarized everything I know I about his style but can't always articulate.