Well surely this is a sign that one is getting older, more matured.

Never I thought I’d ever read this type of book. I only discovered through audible special offers. I used to think this is the hype of book your high school teacher forces you to read. 😂

I usually enjoy plot based fiction (I am under the foolish and childish idea that good fiction should be about adventure and exciting/interesting events), rather than a study of an individual’s character.

However this book really caught me by surprise. I was perplexed that I could find myself relating to a butler who served the high aristocrats during WW2.

As someone in their mid 40’s, I also feel stuck in a dead end job, I too look back on missed opportunities and regrets, I too felt what it’s like to be a prisoner of expectation and I too know all to well know how it feels to pine after a lost love and happiness because normal human interactions become so alien to one’s self. I can confidently say this book really did speak to me.

Spoilers Some people will see the ending as depressing, however I’m off a different view. I like to believe the main character finds comfort in his self, I think he learns to have a more positive outlook on life.

Well as you can tell am no Kazuo Ishiguro. I unfortunately don’t possess his writing skills. I thank you for reading my incoherent ramblings. I’m so glad I have r/books, there are so few people in my personal life that I can talk books with. Please let me know your thoughts.

  • onceuponalilykiss@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    Truly brilliant book. Ishiguro really embodies the Hemingway concept of the literary iceberg, and so much of this novel happens in what is left unsaid. With relatively sparse prose it manages to say so many things because there’s like an entire other layer of story going on in what Stevens refuses to say out loud, and throughout reading it I was like screaming at the page, just say it!

    I always have to point out that contemporary reviews often saw the Japanese name and said “oh this book is about Japanese culture” when it’s so obviously lampooning British mannerisms lol.