The Remains of the Day

I read The Remains of the Day about a week ago, on a flight from Ohio back to Massachusetts, but never got around to writing up a post about it. I guess it just didn't have much of an effect on me. I had heard of the basic plot before- Stevens, a butler in England on a cross-country drive reflects on his service for his former employer, Lord Darlington, and comes to realize that the man was a Nazi sympathizer in the years leading up to World War II. Really though, the backbone of this book is the professional and romantic relationship between the butler and the head housekeeper, Miss Kenton. The two spend years upon years together in Darlington's service, and while the stuffy butler Stevens insists that they stay professional at all times, there are clearly some deep-rooted feelings for eachother that went unrealized until Miss Kenton leaves the house and marries another man. It's hard to sympathize with Stevens for his loss, especially since he likely would have never made a move. I guess the whole point of the book was to show how horrible it is to lead a butler's life dedicated to professionalism and unquestioning loyalty- Stevens loses the girl, and eventually realizes what a terrible person Darlington was the whole time. Throughout the novel he adds in details of what it means to be a truly great butler, and while they start of noble and dignified, they end up sickening and sad. I guess we should all take Kazuo Ishiguro's advice and not become butlers. Ok, got it. Moving on...