A quiet, moving, and tragic portrayal of a man whose sole ambition was to serve a"great" man.
"If a butler is to be of any worth to anything or anybody in life, there must surely come a time when he ceases his search; a time when he must say to himself: 'This employer embodies all that I find noble and admirable. I will hereafter devote myself to serving him.' This is loyalty intelligently bestowed. What is there 'undignified in this? One is simply accepting an inescapable truth: that the likes of you and I will never be in a position to comprehend the great affairs of today's world, and our best course will always be to put our trust in an employer we judge to be wise and honorable and to devote our energies to the task of serving him to the best of our ability." (p. 175)
This service brought him a sense of "dignity ".
"as I stood there pondering the events of the evening-those that had unfolded and those still in the process of doing so-they appeared to me a sort of summary of all that I had come to achieve thus far in my life. I can see few other explanations for that sense of triumph I came to be uplifted by that night." p. 198
Unfortunately, this service also took away his opportunities for human warmth and connection. There are scenes from this book that I will never forget. We learn about this closed-off man through interactions with others. The reader assumes that Stevens has no capacity for introspection. During his road trip reflections and through his conversations along the way, the reader comes to ultimately believe that he has grown as a person.
"All those years I served him, I trusted in his lordship's wisdom. All those years I served him, I trusted I was doing something worthwhile. I can't even say I made my own mistakes. Really- one has to ask oneself- what dignity is there in that?" p. 211
This short book has such depth. As one character notes: "Dignity isn't something every man and woman in this country can strive for and get." p. 163 ( )

“After all, when one thinks about it, it is not such a foolish thing to indulge in—particularly if it is the case that in bantering lies the key to human warmth.”

Ishiguro knows how to craft a damn character. One restrained man’s road trip-turned-introspection, steeped in pride, regret, and realization...all while he remains reluctant to introspect? Relatable. A slow build, but my heart broke on page 239, when Mr. Stevens admits to his own breaking. ( )

An incredibly earnest and wholesome reflection on age and retirement and the insecurities and wonders that can come from any life that is lived, whether spent in servitude to some task or person, or filled with recklessness or love. The mix of historical fiction with Lord Darlington's involvement in WW2 and romance with Mrs Kenton was wonderful. The story is told through Stevens memory of events that took place in the historical manor told while Stevens travels his way to see Mrs Kenton. I use the term romance lightly because it isnt a typical cliche happy ending with eloping and marriage, and rather a soft and bittersweet blow to the heart that left me content with the way it was told. Stevens defense of Lord Darlingtons actions as a puppet of the Nazi's during WW2 served as a defense of his insecurities in a life spent in servitude aswell as a defense of a life spent nobly and filled with mistakes.

"He chose a certain path in life, it proved to be a misguided one, but there, he chose it, he can say that at least. As for myself, I cannot even claim that. You see, I trusted. I trusted in his lordships wisdom. All those years I served him, I trusted I was doing something worthwhile. I cant even say I made my own mistakes. Really - one has to ask oneself - what dignity is there in that?"

A brilliant look at the defining of a life well lived and how its created and critiqued through our hardships, mistakes, loves, passions, and efforts. ( )

Heart wrenching, beautiful, emotional but restrained writing. A message of live your life now and not be a slave to your job. A tearjerker at the end. ( )

Slow but interesting story about a parochial English butler, Stevens, who served Lord Darlington at Darlington Hall for 35 year and then in, the dying days of the British Empire, the manor house acquires a new owner: a wealthy American, Mr. Farraday, who, in Stevens’s view, has no conception of the class-based proprieties of servant and served. Stevens figures out that he has to learn to “banter” with Mr. Farraday and takes him up on his offer to use the car for a motor trip while Farraday is away. Although the story ostensibly takes place over the course of a week in July 1956 as Stevens travels to visit a former housekeeper whose services he is hoping to enlist again, it is more rumination about his decades of service. Stevens is a stuffed shirt who believes he can never step out of the character of butler—he reminded me of Carson in Downton Abbey—and it was hard to feel sympathy for his disappointments. Part of his ruminations were focused on what makes a great butler: Dignity and serving a great gentleman, who in turn serves mankind. I assume the voice of this rather sad man and his bleak outlook was authentic. ( )