By Kazuo Ishiguro
The year is 1956 and Mr Stevens, a dignified aging butler, is combining a once-in-a-lifetime motor trip with a visit to hopefully recruit a housekeeper he knew back in the 1920-30s. As he sets out from Darlington Hall, near Oxford, toward the West Country, he reflects on his years of service to Lord Darlington (recently deceased) and his country home, now in the hands of a wealthy American. Dignity was of utmost importance, especially in terms of never showing emotion, whether in the case of a simple insult or as painful a case as a death in the family. Looking back as he takes his first trip away from Darlington Hall, Stevens recalls his loyalty to his employer and his reluctance to let a friendship with the housekeeper ever evolve into anything closer. He wonders if his loyalty blinded him to his employer's shortcomings or whether his professional rigidity deprived him of what might have become a warmer relationship.
This is a well-written story; Ishiguro illustrates how Mr Stevens' greatest assets as a butler were also his greatest obstacles to his own happiness, yet writes with sympathy.
The year is 1956 and Mr Stevens, a dignified aging butler, is combining a once-in-a-lifetime motor trip with a visit to hopefully recruit a housekeeper he knew back in the 1920-30s. As he sets out from Darlington Hall, near Oxford, toward the West Country, he reflects on his years of service to Lord Darlington (recently deceased) and his country home, now in the hands of a wealthy American. Dignity was of utmost importance, especially in terms of never showing emotion, whether in the case of a simple insult or as painful a case as a death in the family. Looking back as he takes his first trip away from Darlington Hall, Stevens recalls his loyalty to his employer and his reluctance to let a friendship with the housekeeper ever evolve into anything closer. He wonders if his loyalty blinded him to his employer's shortcomings or whether his professional rigidity deprived him of what might have become a warmer relationship.This is a well-written story; Ishiguro illustrates how Mr Stevens' greatest assets as a butler were also his greatest obstacles to his own happiness, yet writes with sympathy.
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