THE REMAINS OF THE DAY BY KAZUO ISHIGURO BOOK REVIEW

[@GKReads]

I take ALL the blame for the bungling of the buddy read 😅😅😅 also I loved this book 5 stars sooo 😉

[@GKReads]

Excellent review though pal! As ever

[@KDbooks]

GK Reads you weren’t the person who stupidly did he “finished it” Truly we are professional at this buddy read business. The next one we will be prepared!! (If you even want to 😆)

[@KDbooks]

GK Reads oh stop, you’re making me blush! I’m excited to see your views on this book :)

[@youngtoonfish6891]

I really enjoyed the book, one of my favorites 😄 But I can see the point that it is a rather slow book and that it can be tedious to read. But I think there is so much happening between the lines that isn’t really said but implicated and that is what really makes this book so great. And this one sentence at the end where Stevens and Miss Kenton are at this bus shelter and Stevens shows real emotions for the first time just made me cry. As I said, one of my favorites, but I can understand the criticism 😄

[@alexsaynor6717]

Not convinced that there's an absence of emotion - of course it's very repressed, but Stevens' exquisite appearance and professional integrity is reflected by the faultless prose: so good I find reading the individual sentences an emotional experience. Stevens' emotions are refracted through Ishiguro's descriptions of landscape, for example. I agree there isn't much 'action' in the present tense of the book as it's a novel about memory & futility. I would also recommend The Unconsoled, if you're looking for an Ishiguro book with escalating tension.

[@meryemabdalla6097]

I agree with you abt the boring parts, it made me feel like this butler's internal monologue is all abt "butlering". It made me sad for him more than anything

[@Jikaninja]

English Butler……Traditional Japanese Samurai to their lords……English custom……2 isolated island countries and her ppl……Bushido……The remains of the day of the British empire…..Imperial Japanese empire or traditional Japanese culture which fading to the sunset….a English born Japanese writer…..probably struggled between 2 very dominant culture within himself all his life…..just saying…….Lord Darlington:” we call it honor!” Umm…..honor, you says eh! Bushido like to talk about what again?

[@SM-vr8dz]

I loved this book! I felt like it really explored the liminal.

[@jonathonglover6488]

I caught your review of ‘Midnight’s Children’ (which was awesome by the way) and your enthusiasm for it was infectious, even if I didn’t love the book. Now I sit on the other side of the spectrum in a book I adored, that you had trouble engaging with. I wonder if it is indicative of what we enjoy in literature ourselves. I personally loved the repressed narrator as it meant that you were always trying to figure out what was really occurring around him. The elements of historical fiction, subversion of the romance genre (which he hilariously reads), satire of the British class system and this kind of personal memoir are all driven by irony, where meaning is constantly negotiated between the text and the reader. For me, the pacing of the novel enhances all of those elements (I did listen to it as an audiobook so that could impact on it too) but I can see where you may have found it slow. Thanks again for your reviews! Big fan!

[@nekoconner802]

I expected to find this book slow but instead it was quite literally a page-turner, one of the best I've read in a while.

[@michaeldeboer1268]

I've recently decided to starts building a personal library. I've bought books online and some of them are cheap paperbacks. Is it worth covering a paperback with laminate plastic covers or should I just pony up and buy hard covers?

[@KDbooks]

I mostly have paperbacks, they don’t really get much wear. I say go naked paperback.

[@drawyourbook876]

Your journey with the book is hilarious :P I need to buddy read something with you now. When I read this book, I did not particularly enjoyed the process, but I has stayed with me, it was something special even if not exactly fun...

[@KDbooks]

Draw your book when you want to just hit me up 😀

[@gs547]

In this novel, Ishiguro carries on the great tradition of the English novel.

[@bewitchinglyparanoid]

Oh my god! I am so happy to find you here. Gosh, you are super funny 😂 Ps, thank you for the rec, I have been meaning to read this one. Got a good review to boost up and motivate me

[@KDbooks]

bewitchingly paranoid you are utterly welcome 😁 I’m glad someone finds me funny (can’t wait to tell my mum that she’s been wrong for 26 years!) If you review it, please @ me ☺️

[@TheLibraryofAllenxandria]

Man, I bust out laughing at least once in every video of yours I watch! Love the perm, BTW. :p Hilarious that you forced GK to binge-read the book. Great review! I'd heard of this book and its great to hear your opinion about it. It sounds really interesting, but I, too, struggle with really slow books.

[@KDbooks]

The Library of Allenxandria 😂 I pray for the day I can go back to having a shaved head! My hair has a penchant for growing into a beautiful ball shape 😂 Honestly, it was the highlight of the buddy read!

[@KDbooks]

The Library of Allenxandria Yeah, slow is the word for this novel. The pace is meticulous and consistent.

[@TheCodeXCantina]

Oh yes, Ishiguro is wonderful. I’m glad you liked the book! I read some stuff on his life and the allusions to real events in the story. Very interesting stuff. Thanks for the review! (EDIT: by end I got flipped. I thought you were enjoying it more than you revealed you didn’t care for it. Sorry you didn’t like the book. Glad it doesn’t turn you off from reading more by him )

[@johncrwarner]

What about the curse of the Nobel Prize for Literature? The curse says that once you get the prize You never produce another great work Assuming you have produced one already As he received it in 2017 and I am not aware of any books since Has the curse struck or will it strike? What do you think?

[@KDbooks]

John Warner I wasn’t even aware of this curse! I hardly follow the Nobel Prize, I could probably name 10 that have won it... maybe 8? Yeah, 6 confidently. 😂

[@johncrwarner]

@@KDbooks You probably know more of the authors honoured Just that you likely don't associate them with the Nobel Prize Kipling, Tagore, Yeats, Shaw, Mann, Galsworthy, Pirandello, O'Neill, Hesse, Gide, Eliot, Faulkner, Russell, Churchill, Hemingway, Camus, Pasternak, Steinbeck, Sartre, Beckett, Solzhenitsyn, Neruda, Böll, Bellow, Marquez, Golding, Walcott, Morrison, Heany, Fo, Naipaul, Coetzee, Pinter, Lessing and Dylan. I also am aware of a couple of others who are famous in Germany but I only encountered when I moved here.

[@KDbooks]

John Warner yeah... a lot of familiar names there!

[@alexsaynor6717]

He tends to publish a book once every 5 years or so - he's never churned them out, as he rightly says that there is no shortage of books in the world. He'll only publish if/when he's convinced it's of a high quality; all his books have sold very well and in my opinion are excellent in their own ways!

[@bkiely7]

What does the word “inethical” mean? Never heard it before.

[@pippavanel4170]

I loved never let me go and when we were orphans (edited as for some reason that word was garbled), this is definitely my next read for this author :) thank you for the ace review again!

[@KDbooks]

Kay VeeL would you recommend When We Were Orphans?

[@pippavanel4170]

@@KDbooks yes, I would recommend it. I loved it in the way that it made me feel I had a bit of a nostalgic and sad dream. It might be rather slow paced though, but because I also loved never let me go and that made me feel similarly (but with more hmm anger) I think you might enjoy both of you enjoy one? I recommended it to my husband and he doesn't read often but I couldn't get him to stop with that one!

[@KDbooks]

Kay VeeL can you get a better recommendation than my husband couldn’t put it down? I don’t think so! Will be getting this 😁

[@pippavanel4170]

@@KDbooks hehe brilliant!! I really hope you enjoy it :D if not, I guess probably never listen to me recommending anything :P (an alternative title to never let me go?!). I continue with wolf hall and starting to get into the story! Thank you for the nudge to get at it!

[@fena_reti]

I loved how dramatic you were about finding this book slow 😂 I really want to read Never Let Me Go. It was the first movie I ever watched without subtitles back when I didnt speak english that well so I kind of have no idea what actually happened plot wise 😭

[@KDbooks]

Fena Reti let me tell you something. The film is AWFUL compared to the book. I know it’s a cliche, but here it’s true, factual and correct!

[@fena_reti]

@@KDbooks hahahahahahah well that makes me even more excited to read the actual book then. But once I finish it I will actually re watch the movie to check if it was actually that bad. Because originally I didnt hate it. I just didnt understand most of it 😂

[@KDbooks]

Fena Reti go with my rule of thumb: if Kiera Knightly is in a film it’s probably bad 🙊

[@fena_reti]

@@KDbooks Oh my God HOW DARE YOUUUUUUUUU! She is in 2 of my favourite films I feel attackeddddd

[@KDbooks]

Fena Reti 🙊 I mean....

[@pippavanel4170]

This sounds like a great read to me - I loved that apathetic mood in the outsider (Camus) and think it resonates with a sense of disconnect in myself. Thanks! Sad for you that this didn't work for you but at least know you know and don't have to read it again! :D Dam I forgot I'm reading wolf hall

[@KDbooks]

Kay VeeL how are you finding Wolf Hall?

[@pippavanel4170]

@@KDbooks quite hard going but more of a story than I found it before, I am not far in just at the beginning so not toooo many names to remember yet :) hoping if I pay good attention I will have better luck! Got it on audible as well to see if that helps. I do find myself reading other things on the side though so I guess it's not totally got me yet!

[@KDbooks]

Kay VeeL the names will come in their own time. Even reading all 3, some names were lost on me!

[@pippavanel4170]

@@KDbooks ha! That's actually very reassuring, sometimes feeling like an idiot because I can't remember names puts me off (ego I guess?) but if it's not just me... I feel better! :) Quite enjoying it now - not far in but I think the audio book helps because of the funny voices I can imagine the characters. Not the same thing, but for the first few episodes of game of thrones I thought a few of the brunette men were the same dude..so I guess it's not just names lol

[@KDbooks]

Kay VeeL 👍 keep me posted on Wolf Hall!

[@thebookbarrel630]

Loved it bro! Way to bring brevity to the buddy read 😂 the slow motion bit is comedic gold! You paint the picture of butler as contortionist. And to life a contorted life breeds consequences. Lovely concept but I can see how it could be a bore.

[@KDbooks]

The Book Barrel Thanks mate! Heads up, I’ve tagged you in a video which will be up tomorrow :)

[@thebookbarrel630]

KDBooks 😯 Alrighty I’ll be tuned in as always! #Grateful

[@KDbooks]

The Book Barrel it’s up!!!!

[@ianp9086]

At last someone dares to suggest Remains of the the Day is flat and dull and like wading through treacle. I've never understood the rave reviews this one gets unless as admiration of restraint! It is also almost the same plot as his previous book Artist of the Floating World (Booker shortlisted!) (=old guy looks back on a life he thought well-lived and realises it wasn't). I actually prefer Artist. The book I really love by Ishiguro is the less popular The Unconsoled which is VERY different - a mad headlong journey through a dream!

[@KDbooks]

Ian P I need to check out his other books, but yes, this was utterly boring! Fingers crossed “Klara and The Sun” will be amazing when it comes out in 2021 🙂

[@ianp9086]

@@KDbooks I'm not holding my breath because the Buried Giant was like a countryside ramble 1500 years ago narrated by Stevens!

[@BookishTexan]

Hmmm . . . . to me this is Ishiguro's best book so . . . . Enjoyed your review.

[@KDbooks]

Bookish why is this your favourite? Would be keen to know :)

[@BookishTexan]

@@KDbooks I liked the way the prose -- reserved, stodgy, not very revealing, unemotional -- mirrored the character of Stevens. I thought by controlling the emotion of the writing and letting little bits out here and there Ishiguro gave us the experience of being Stevens.

[@anges_book_chatter]

What sort of person randomly DMs booktubers on IG? 🤔😂 Another great review.

[@KDbooks]

Ange with an E only the worst of the worst surely 🙊🙊🙊

[@andrewstorm8240]

Seems like you are a big fan of the book

[@KDbooks]

😂

[@johnr797]

4 out of 10?

[@KDbooks]

💯

[@LarryHasOpinions]

HARD DISAGREE :-D

[@KDbooks]

Wait… why isn’t your channel called “Larty has Wrong Opinions”? Maybe sort that out