It took me a long time to finally read Remains of the Day. I had never read Ishiguro before and for some stupid reason, I thought I wouldn’t like it. Boy, was I wrong. Remains of the Day quickly became my favourite book of 2026 and one of my favourite books ever.
So, first of all, let me say I’m a big Downton Abbey fan, so I loved the old butler, maid, lords vibe of the book. But the reason why this book is so amazing is that it uses this old English house setting as a plot device to talk about the major events of the 20th century. And more than that, it does so in a way that’s very different from most books about the 20th century.
I think my favourite part is that there’s no good or bad characters in the book. Mr. Stevens, our protagonist, is a workaholic who misses out on the pleasures of life to prove he is worthy, that he has dignity like his father. He loses on a great love with Miss Kenton, he barely stops to see his father before his death. And he is blindly loyal, firing the Jewish housemaids just because Lord Darlington asked him, with no further questions.
And speaking about Lord Darlington, I believe he’s the most interesting character in the book. I love that he is a morally grey character, I think there are good points and bad points to be raised. I really appreciated how, after WWI, he decided to improve the terms of the Versailles agreement, I think we all can agree that was a good deed. What he did during WWII is what raises questions: do we think he was naive and thought improving the relationship between Germany and the UK could prevent WWII or was he a Hitler supporter and a antisemite? I think a bit of both, though I lean to the second more.
All and all, this book exceeded every expectation I had. I also love that the language of the book was easy and the story was very easy to follow. It’s a brilliant book but quite accessible, which isn’t so common. I’m now very eager to read other Ishiguro books, and can’t recommend Remains of the Day more.
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