EVERYONE Has Read This but Me - The Catch-Up Book Club discussion

Sree and I agreed in the main thread to do a Buddy Read of Kazuo Ishiguro's The Remains of the Day this March, so I went ahead and made the topic. Hope that's okay! Obviously anyone else is welcome to join us :)

Oh my god! this is so amazing. I just bought the book and decided to start reading the book. This is so cool:)

Great! :D I think I'll be able to start it tonight. Not sure if we should make a schedule or not... possibly it's better if everyone reads at their own pace and we'll be careful with the spoiler warnings.

Yeah sure. I Will make sure I don't spill any spoilers. Happy reading :)

Hi Nori and Shyamala!
I agree with not making a schedule because it's not a very large book so, yes let's move at our own pace and have fun!
This book has been on my tbr for sooooo long.. thanks for making it happen :-D

I would love to read this book with you all. I have never done a buddy read so I don't know if I am allowed to join or how it works.
I'm Linda from NY

You're free to join anytime, welcome! :)

Great - I will begin reading tonight. Going to download on my kindle.

Welcome Linda!

I read the first two (and a half) chapters so far, and I think I'm starting to have a feel for the book. I find the narrative style quite unusual, very wordy, but still it flows beautifully, and gives the character of Stevens a very distinct inner voice.

Not a lot in the way of plot as of yet, but I have a feeling that the majority of the book will be flashbacks anyway.

The most interesting aspect so far, for me, was when Stevens talks about the great butlers that everyone in their circle knew about. I never really thought it possible for butlers to be so famous or widely respected, I always kinda imagined them just staying at the house, quietly doing their job... but apparently, if the book's depiction is correct, they had their own little social circle with unique gossip and celebrities. I'm really enjoying this mental image.

Hi I am new here but I am currently reading this book and thought I’d join.

I’m about 75% of the way through the book and I think I had hyped it up too much to myself before I started. I find the long narratives by the main character to be a bit much. It’s well written and I enjoy the descriptions of the countryside and the people met along the journey, but the inside of the main characters head almost puts me to sleep. I am patiently waiting for the twist at the end to see if maybe it all makes sense at that point!

I am almost half way through the book, and I too, find some of the narratives a bit long winded. On the upside the writing flows quite smoothly so it continues to move along at a acceptable pace. I did expect more than I am getting but I am still quite anxious to finish and see if the reviews are on spot or not.
I must say, having been a huge fan of the Downton Abby series, I do enjoy the descriptions of the valets, footmen, and the running of the household. I am curious to learn more about Miss Kenton...

Halfway through! I agree with you guys that the narrative is sometimes too long-winded, however, I'm super in awe of the writing. The language is beautiful, and I find myself transported to this old English country house as soon as I read a few words.

I particularly love the subtle moments of humour, like Stevens trying to give "the talk" to that young guy, or his attempts to come up his witty comebacks.

I'm also eager to find out what Lord Darlington is going to do that apparently ruins his reputation completely.

I am about 80% through and I am struggling a bit now. I was enjoying the story line for a while, but I am somewhat confused at the current spot I'm at. Is it just me? Maybe I just need to go back and reread...

Hello! I just joined the group and happened to have just finished this book. I loved this book and wish it had been longer than only @200 pages. The writing was splendid and I felt completely transported into the mind of the main character. I kept hearing Carson's voice from "Downton Abbey". I am actually rewatching the series now, so that could also be why!

I thought it was masterful how the events that occurred to the character are filtered through his internal sense of his identity and role in society. I very much enjoy 19th century literature that includes a lot of introspection and description of the character's internal turmoil and musings.

The only disappointing aspect for me was the final moment that the book was leading up to did not hold a lot of emotional weight for me as I had expected. I was very interested in his relationship with Lord Darlington and thought that storyline was much more tragic.

So glad I read this! Now I'm going on to watch the movie.

Good Morning! I finished the book late last night and I just want to say that the closer I got to the end the more I wanted it to go on. The ending was profound to me and my thoughts have continued to reflect on those last several pages this morning.

I had expected more from the plot, but once I realized the plot was inside Stevens' head and I got settled into getting to know this very unreliable narrator, I grew quite interested in him.

I, too, kept picturing Carson and other characters from "Downton Abbey" as I loved that show, as well as the movie, so much. Having saw them allowed me a familiarity with the setting and tone of this book that was easy to connect to.

I will say that during times of Stevens' long-windedness, I sometimes found my mind wandering and had to go back and re-read some to get the gist. And, being a romantic, there were times I wanted to yell at Stevens and say "what is wrong with you, you're not getting it". I thought Miss Kenton was quite an interesting character but underdeveloped a bit.

While the ending has sat with me for a long time, I felt it was too abrupt and definitely wanted more... but I will now forever "try to make the best of what remains of my day"!

I might also watch the movie- I am interested in what you all felt about the book, please share. I also quite enjoyed this buddy read, it was my first, and I think I'd like to try it again.

I finished the book last week but needed some time to collect my thoughts, as the last parts were pretty heavy and emotional. Altogether the feeling I had after putting it down was one of heartbreak and regret, for all three main characters.

Stevens was a fascinating character, at times infuriating in his ways as Linda also suggested, but in a way that I could completely understand. He was so dead set on performing his duty that he didn't know what to do with real human emotions, and the times where other characters were like "are you okay?" and he insisted that he was fine while practically crying inside hit especially hard. Of course for us his thought process and reactions might seem unbeliavable and even inhuman - like when confronted with Miss Kenton's advances - I can also symphatize with him. I also loved the fact that he's an unreliable narrator but not in a very blatant way, mostly because he almost seems to believe his own bullshit for the most part. For example, he insists multiple times that he doesn't regret anything in his life and he's honoured to have been Lord Darlington's servant, and I'm sure that in a way this is what he really thinks.... but all the while below the surface he's filled with doubt that maybe he's wasted his whole life. All in all he's one of the most fascinating characters I've ever read about, and one that's sure to stay with me for a long time.

Miss Kenton is a little bit easier as she's completely open and doesn't keep anything inside, and honestly I love that about her. She's not quite the kind of woman I imagine when I think about "housekeeper in the 30s", and in that way she's really refreshing and wonderful. I felt bad for her a lot because of the way Stevens treated her, but I have the feeling she actually sensed his true feelings and probably didn't hold any grudges.

And Lord Darlington, oh... I felt terrible for him in the end. It seems like his intentions were all good, but as so many people in real life around that time period, he was terribly misled and dragged through scandal against his will. Sometimes when I finish a classic book like this I like to look at some criticism online, and I was surprised how many of them seem to dismiss Lord Darlington as a straight up Nazi, while that is not the impression I got from the book at all. Of course, it was all filtered through Stevens' recollections, and he had the incentive to maybe cover for him a little, so that makes it a bit more complicated.

All in all, a very powerful book that I'm glad to have read, and one I may revisit again in the future.