Born in Nagasaki, Japan, Kazuo Ishiguro moved with his family to the UK in 1960 when he was just five years old. Regarded as one of the foremost novelists writing in the English language, he has been nominated on four separate occasions between 1985 and 2005 for the Man Booker Prize, winning it in 1989 for The Remains of the Day.
In a leaked account of the Booker Prize judging committee’s deliberations in 2005, the decision was split between Ishiguru’s most recent novel, Never Let Me Go, and the eventual winner, John Banville’s The Sea. Had he won, Ishiguro would have joined Peter Carey and J M Coetzee as the only authors to win the award twice. The book was recently adapted for the screen and starred Carey Mulligan, Keira Knightley and Andrew Garfield.
The Remains of the Day
Ishiguro’s third novel, The Remains of the Day, is his first set away from his native Japan and is regarded as one of the most important British post-war novels, collecting, among other awards, the Man Booker Prize.
It became the author’s first to be adapted for the screen and, directed by the master of early 20th century costume dramas James Ivory (Heat and Dust, A Room with a View, Howards End) it starred Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson. The film was nominated for eight Oscars, but lost out primarily to Spielberg’s Schindler’s List.
The Story
It is 1950s England and the post war years have finally confirmed the demise of the British Empire and the ‘old ways’. Mr Stevens, butler of the aristocracy, is motoring to the West country in his new (American) employer’s vehicle, ostensibly to see former housekeeper Miss Kenton (now Mrs Benn). He is hoping that he can persuade her to return to Darlington Hall, which is now being run on a skeleton staff.
As he drives through the English countryside, the butler looks back on his life and the glory years between the two world wars.
Darlington Hall may have been the centre of English society as Lord Darlington entertained socialites and politicians alike, but Stevens reminisces primarily about the art of service, dignity, loyalty and position. The fact that Darlington was at the centre of appeasement politics of the day towards Germany, that German Ambassador Ribbentrop was a regular visitor and that the aristocrat was later labelled as a traitor by the British press is almost secondary to Stevens' memories.
Dignity and Emotional Coldness
Dignity, above all else, is the defining of a great butler according to Stevens. It is this attitude and philosophy that determines both the inner and outer man – even within his own personal recollections to himself, the manservant cannot break the mould, recanting stories in his pompous manner.
Miss Kenton comes close to breaking down the barriers, but personal feelings and emotions have become an anathema to the man who is driven by professionalism and loyalty to his employer. The new housekeeper is driven to distraction by the emotional distance of the butler – even after a number of years working together, few cracks appear in the man’s patina.
There is little doubt that Miss Kenton early on falls in love with Stevens – in spite of the cold, professional sparring. What is more open to question in the novel is his feelings towards her. Stevens remembers, with pride, the death of his father not interfering with a key social event at Darlington: so his true thoughts towards the housekeeper are readily kept in check (or hidden deeply in the recesses of his emotions).
As he drives closer to the appointment with the now married Mrs Benn, the memories crowd the aging butler, resulting in Stevens musing over lost opportunities: his dignity and loyalty preventing any personal connection between the two.
Source
- The Remains of the Day (Faber and Faber, 1989)
Keith Lawrence - Published writer of articles in magazines, newspapers and websites, predominantly on culture, alongside ghostwriter/editor/copywriter.
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