Remains of the Day, finished 2/13/08

I started a new author on Feb 13th. I read a post on Pissy's blog about how much she loved this author, or maybe it was the other book I just finished by this author which I just finished. The author's name is Kazuo Ishiguro. He definitely has something special in his writings. Old world prose, prim & proper, sir and madam, that kind of thing. I did enjoy this book, but it took me much longer to get through it than one of my normal mystery & suspense books which usually take me a few days because I can't put them down.

Remains of the Day was written in 1989 and was made into a movie in 1993 starring Anthony Hopkins as the main character, Stevens. I have yet to see the movie but I love to read a good book and then see the movie adaptation (but the books are always so much better!).

Stevens is a butler at Darlington House in the years prior to WWII in Europe. The story is mostly about Steven's relationships to the owners of the house (Lord Darlington and Mr. Farraday) and the differences between them and how they run the house, and his very strange relationship with Miss Kenton. I love the true English language; including all the "indeeds" and "to be sure" and "but of course" and this book captures them wonderfully. I'm left feeling confused though that someone could go through almost their entire life without truly seeing things and that is ultimately what this novel boils down too.

A good and different read that I'm glad I finished. I'll give Remains of the Day ***1/2 stars. :o)

I'm instituting a new rating system for this blog as of this book.

***** (five stars) Fantastic Read, Highly Recommend and nothing to pick on
**** (four stars) Very Good Read, Recommend
*** (three stars) Good Read, some questions
** (two stars) Okay Read, not much to comment on
* (one star) Please Don't Waste Your Time