Reviews with content warning for Death of parent - The Remains of the Day

Dying of boredom. The narration is good but I hate Stevens as a character and have no emotional attachment to him or his outcome. This is the second Ishiguro book I've read and I had generally the same experience for both so I think his books are just not for me.

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acresofclams's review against another edition

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challenging reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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booksjessreads's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Despite generally liking Ishiguro's work, I was really surprised that I enjoyed this book so much. I listened to the audio alongside this (which I think has strengthened my star rating - I am unsure it would have been 5 stars had I just read it on its own) and it really brought Stevens to life for me.

At first, I didn't really understand the purpose of the book, since it seems as though it is just an older gentleman revealing anecdotes about his life and you feel as though you learn a lot about his character and sense of identity in the first chapter. However, each chapter slowly and gradually reveals more about his identity and the unreliability of memory. Stevens spent his entire life priding himself on being a credit to his profession, but as you go through the book, you realise his unreliability as a narrator, you begin to understand how the reality of his work torments him and how he is forced to reconsider his memory and his past.

I think some of the chapters are really long, perhaps too long in some cases. However, the audio did really help me get through them and keep my attention.

Overall, I really loved the synthesis in this novel, the themes of memory, identity and the complexity of emotion was explored so well. Genuinely one of my favourite books this year and I would really recommend this to anyone!

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