The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro

Published 1989 · 233 pages · 76,849 words · about 9 hours at an average pace

How hard is The Remains of the Day to read?

The Remains of the Day scores 74 out of 100 for difficulty on ReadingRate, making it very challenging. The score is a weighted composite of nine measures: four of how hard the prose is to parse, five of how hard the meaning is to extract.

Vocabulary: 60 out of 100
Ishiguro employs a sophisticated and formal vocabulary, reflecting the narrator Stevens' precise and elevated manner of speech. While not archaic or filled with obscure jargon like 'Moby-Dick', the language is consistently elegant and demands a strong command of English, placing it above 'The Great Gatsby' but below more specialized texts.
Sentence structure: 75 out of 100
The novel features exceptionally long sentences, frequently incorporating multiple nested clauses, parenthetical remarks, and indirect speech. Stevens' narrative style often delays the main point, requiring readers to hold complex grammatical structures in mind, akin to Proustian subordination, though not reaching the extreme lengths of Faulkner or Joyce.
Abstraction: 68 out of 100
Beneath the concrete narrative of a butler's road trip and professional duties lies a deep exploration of memory, regret, loyalty, and the nature of 'dignity' and 'greatness.' Stevens' extensive internal monologues abstract from specific events to philosophical reflections on life's meaning and his own choices, making the book more conceptually demanding than a straightforward social observation.
Information density: 62 out of 100
While the narrative pace is often slow, the text is dense with Stevens' layered interpretations, subtle emotional subtext, and re-evaluation of past events. Readers must pay close attention to his indirectness and the implications of his observations, rather than a rapid succession of explicit plot points, requiring sustained focus to grasp the full meaning.
Narrative indirection: 82 out of 100
Stevens's narration is a masterclass in self-deception and emotional repression, requiring readers to constantly infer his true feelings and the underlying reality of events. His rationalizations for denying his past with Lord Darlington or his emotional distance from his dying father exemplify a profound gap between what is stated and what is implicitly understood. The reader must actively construct the emotional truth from his meticulously formal, yet revealing, prose.
Symbolic density: 80 out of 100
The novel is rich with abstract concepts like 'dignity' and 'greatness' that function as central symbols, defining Stevens's entire worldview and professional identity. Objects and settings, such as Darlington Hall, the English landscape, and even the act of polishing silver, carry significant thematic weight, representing a fading era and the hidden values Stevens upholds. These symbols are deeply integrated, inviting readers to explore meanings beyond the literal narrative.
Ironic distance: 80 out of 100
A significant ironic gap exists between Stevens's unwavering belief in his 'dignity' and 'loyalty' and the reader's understanding of his profound self-deception and the tragic consequences of his choices. His earnest attempts at 'bantering' and his defense of Lord Darlington's morally dubious actions create a poignant irony, as the reader perceives the emotional cost of his professional facade, which Stevens himself fails to acknowledge.
Resolution withholding: 78 out of 100
While the physical journey has a clear destination, the narrative consistently withholds emotional and thematic closure, leaving Stevens's deepest regrets and the true nature of his relationships ambiguous. His constant re-evaluation of Miss Kenton's letter and his father's final words, coupled with the unresolved moral implications of his service to Lord Darlington, ensure that definitive answers are elusive, compelling the reader to grapple with lingering uncertainties.
Structural complexity: 70 out of 100
The novel employs a non-linear structure, weaving extensive flashbacks into Stevens's present-day road trip, creating a complex interplay between memory and current events. While maintaining a single first-person perspective, the narrator's unreliability and his tendency to revise or reframe past conversations introduce layers of interpretive challenge, requiring readers to actively piece together a coherent understanding of his life story.

How The Remains of the Day is regarded

The Remains of the Day holds a literary regard score of 79 out of 100, weighing its place in the canon, its critical reception, its influence on other writers, and the standing of its author. Regard is measured separately from difficulty: a demanding book is not necessarily an admired one.

Prizes

Where The Remains of the Day sits in Northrop Frye's Anatomy of Criticism

Placed by a full reading of the text (137 passages), not from reputation. Each verdict quotes the passage that earned it. On the axis from myth to irony, The Remains of the Day scores 80 out of 100. A second mythos, comedy, pulls at it with a weight of 0.15. About the map of stories.

Mode: Ironic
Look at the likes of Mr Marshall, say, or Mr Lane – surely two of the greatest figures in our profession.
Symbol: Formal
I should perhaps say a few words here concerning these meetings in her parlour at the end of each day.
Mythos: Irony iv (Tragic Pathos) (irony iv)
Really – one has to ask oneself – what dignity is there in that?
Genre: Confession + Novel
I should say that these errors have all been without exception quite trivial in themselves.

Where the story of The Remains of the Day takes place

  • England, the summer of 1956, the main setting
  • Darlington Hall between the wars, 1922-1936 (1922 to 1936)
  • Motoring trip from Oxfordshire to the West Country, July 1956

5 things that are true of The Remains of the Day, with the passage for each

  1. The narrator's employer is an American, Mr Farraday, who offers to pay for the petrol.

    I’ll foot the bill for the gas.

  2. Stevens's father tells a story of a butler who calmly deals with a tiger under the dining table.

    I’m very sorry, sir, but there appears to be a tiger in the dining room. Perhaps you will permit the twelve-bores to be used?

  3. The great Darlington Hall conference takes place in March 1923.

    that conference of March 1923 was the first of them

  4. Stevens does not go upstairs to his father's deathbed because he is serving at the conference.

    Miss Kenton, please don’t think me unduly improper in not ascending to see my father in his deceased condition just at this moment.

  5. Lord Darlington dismisses two Jewish housemaids on the grounds of their race.

    We cannot have Jews on the staff here at Darlington Hall.

Scenes in The Remains of the Day that Frye would name

23 sightings of Frye's terms in the text. The strongest:

Anagnorisis, untitled
I can’t even say I made my own mistakes. Really – one has to ask oneself – what dignity is there in that? On the pier Stevens at last half-recognizes the emptiness of a life spent in blind trust.
Pathos, untitled
Mr Stevens, I’m very sorry. Your father passed away about four minutes ago. Stevens's father dies while Stevens serves port, the book's first great pathos.
Hamartia, untitled
a butler who is forever attempting to formulate his own ‘strong opinions’ on his employer’s affairs is bound to lack one quality essential in all good professionals: namely, loyalty. Stevens states the creed of uncritical loyalty that is the fatal flaw in his life.
Anagnorisis, untitled
I get to thinking about a life I may have had with you, Mr Stevens. Miss Kenton's confession reveals the love Stevens never saw, and he sees the loss.
Pathos, untitled
Only as the bus pulled up did I glance at Miss Kenton and perceive that her eyes had filled with tears. The parting at the bus is the book's central scene of loss.
Hamartia, untitled
there is no need at all for us to continue with these evening meetings. His decision to end the cocoa meetings is a misstep that closes the road to Miss Kenton.

Books that share these scenes with The Remains of the Day

About the author

Kazuo Ishiguro