by Kazuo Ishiguro (石黑一雄)

Re-read at the end of Eastertide, 2023. I enjoyed this and understood it a lot more than when I had read it as a teenager.

First published in 1989.

One idea I thought about early on in this reading was the idea of service/butlerhood as a kind of secular monasticism, in that it is as if he’s taken a vow of stability to a place, of service to one lord, and in the process forsaken all earthly relationships and experiences.

His master, despite his good intentions (and we know where they can lead), is flawed. He set out with noble principles but was tricked and used by foes cleverer than he. Does that mean Stevens’ years of dedicated service were in vain? Has he wasted his life? If he makes the most of the “remains of his day” is he redeemed? I think that the decisions they make early on are defensible. One certainly has sympathy for them, reading Stevens’ account of them. Lord Darlington is upset by the brutality of the Treaty of Versailles and its effect on Germany and on his friend Herr Karl-Heinz Bremann. He has to make a great effort to do his duty as a gentleman and stand up for his German friends, which runs contrary to his natural retiring and conformist personality. Stevens is aware and very troubled by the fact that his father is dying, but he believes he is doing the right thing and what his father would have wanted by doing his duty , waiting on his master and the guests, instead of waiting at his father’s bedside. We know that Stevens’ father is someone who did his duty even when it was deeply humiliating for him. But Ishiguro goes on to take us down the slippery slope that leads to Lord Darlington’s downfall and Stevens’ disillusionment.

The sexual tension building up between Stevens and Miss Kenton’s is interesting and well done I thought: the way they have their cocoa together after work, the way they misunderstand each other, the way they deliberately do things to wind each other up (Miss Kenton getting engaged was originally an elaborate way of annoying Stevens, Stevens incessant criticisms of her work after her aunt died seems similar), and of course the moment she catches him reading the sentimental romance novel.

Many similarities with Klara and the Sun (and possibly also An Artist of the Floating World, though this latter is not very fresh in my mind). They both concern a servant, both very polite and devoted to their masters, but they are limited in certain ways, both unreliable narrators to some degree, sometimes awkward and robotic in their dealings with normal people. Both novels are concerned with the pace of change of modernity. Both touch on authoritarian/fascism vs. liberal democracy, or perhaps we could say more masculine vs. feminine modes of society.

Day One — Evening — Salisbury

• p. 24, Darlington Hall seems to be just east of Berkshire
  • It’s in Oxfordshire, cf. Day 3, Evening, p. 201
  • Salisbury is about 60 miles south-south-west from Oxford, possibly about 70 miles by car
• Experience of passing from familiar countryside into new and unfamiliar: slight alarm like when a ship finally loses sight of land,
  • Reminds me of the scene in Peter Jackson’s Fellowship of the Ring, where Sam with trepidation realizes that if he takes one more step he will be further from home than he has ever been
  • The germ for this in Tolkien’s Fellowship of the Ring seems to be Ch. 3, Three Is Company, p. 81, “‘The wind’s in the West,’ said Sam. ‘If we get to the other side of this hill, we shall find a spot that is sheltered and snug enough, sir. There is a dry fir-wood just ahead, if I remember rightly.’ Sam knew the land well within twenty miles of Hobbiton, but that was the limit of his geography.”
• p. 25–26, the old man sitting on a stone smoking a pipe who encourages Stevens to walk to the top and take in the best view in England
  • “A couple more years and it might be too late.”
  • Stevens thinks this is about his fitness or health, but perhaps it is really about the rate of change in England
• p. 28, English countryside may lack the superficial drama of other nations’ canyons, waterfalls, mountains, etc., but possesses a quality they lack
  • “Most deeply satisfying in the world”
  • “Best summed up by the term ‘greatness’”, greatness which lies in its lack of drama, “calmness of that beauty, its sense of restraint. It is as though the land knows of its own beauty, of its own greatness, and feels no need to shout it.”
  • This is also the greatness of butlers, which he goes on to talk about. They are great when they show restraint, blend into the background, they decrease that their masters may increase
• p. 33, the secretive Hayes Society (of butlers), when pressed, on their membership criteria:
  • “The most crucial criterion is that the applicant be possessed of a dignity in keeping with his position. No applicant will satisfy requirements, whatever his level of accomplishments otherwise, if seen to fall short in this respect.”
  • The greatness of great butlers is best captured by the word dignity .
• p. 42, 43, the monastic humiliation of butlering, it sometimes involves serving your enemies and fulfilling your duties even when it is humiliating

Day Two — Morning — Salisbury

• p. 50, “The days of working with a grand staff at one’s beck and call will probably never return within our lifetime.”
• p. 67, Stevens’ father has been up for three hours already when Stevens goes to his room early. He has been watching the day dawn out his window (maybe?) sitting on the edge of his bed
  • He disapproves of the lamp his son has brought
  • Is he engaged in some kind of contemplation?
• p. 64, “It was completely contrary to Lord Darlington’s natural tendencies to take such public stances as he came to do and I can say with conviction that his lordship was persuaded to overcome his more retiring side only through a deep sense of moral duty. Whatever may be said about his lordship these days—and the great majority of it is, as I say, utter nonsense—I can declare he was a truly good man at heart.”
• p. 73, first big conference at Darlington Hall, March 1923, when Stevens had to reduce his father’s duties
  • a turning point in more than one way, for Lord Darlington’s efforts, for Stevens’ career, and also for his father
• p. 99, the American, Mr. Lewis, attempts to poison the Frenchman, M. Dupont, against the Germans and Brits
  • It is beginning to be the Americans’ world to rule, and no longer Britain’s or Europe’s (despite the triumphant outcome of the conference for Lord Darlington)
• p. 101, Stevens can only awkwardly repeat, “I’m glad Father is feeling better,” several times as he rushes away again
• p. 106, 107, Mr. Lewis’ speech and toast “to professionalism”, against “amateurism”
  • He Accuses all the “naive” ladies and gentlemen assembled off meddling in affairs that from now on are to be handled by professionals, bureaucracy, and technocracy
  • “The days when you could act out of your noble instincts are over.”
• p. 109, 110, Stevens seems to be crying as he serves the guests, as his father lies dying. Whatever we may think of his decision to serve rather than be at his father’s bedside, it seems it was a difficult decision.

Day Two — Afternoon — Mortimer’s Pond, Dorset

• p. 120, Stevens reckons his generation of butler more idealistic than the previous
  • “It would have been seen as a far worthier calling, for instance, to serve a gentleman such as Mr. George Ketteridge, who, however humble his beginnings, has made an undeniable contribution to the future well-being of the empire, than any gentleman, however aristocratic his origin, who idled away his time in clubs or on golf courses.”
  • Regarding the mention of empire, the year is 1956. When did people stop referring to the British Empire?
    • Seems like in the 60s. The 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games were the last iteration of that event to contain the word “Empire” in the name. In 1970 it was just the British Commonwealth Games. And in 1964 the title of Chief of the Imperial General Staff went back to being Chief of the General Staff.
  • Does Stevens’ current service to Mr. Farraday actually reflect this? Is he making some contribution to society? It’s never mentioned. Is it something to do with him being an American, a citizen of the nation that now rules the world?
• p. 126, Stevens denies having known Lord Darlington (!) when talking to the Colonel’s batman who fixed his car
  • The effect is a bit shocking on the reader, even if we know or suspect where things are going with Lord Darlington
• p. 130, Stevens denies having worked for Lord Darlington to Mrs. Wakefield, Mr. Farraday’s guest
  • Also the authenticity of Darlington Hall itself is called into question

Day Three — Morning — Taunton, Somerset

• Taunton is about 60 miles west of Salisbury, possibly about 70 miles by car, passing through the northern corner of Dorset (Shaftesbury and Gillingham)
• p. 139, Stevens has been studiously practising banter, by listening to a humorous radio programme, and practising making up witticisms about recent occurrences in his day
• p. 143, Joachim von Ribbentrop (1893–1946)
  • Hitler’s ambassador to the UK (1936–1938)
  • Reichsminister of Foreign Affairs (1938–1945)
  • Interestingly spent some time in Canada as a young man before WWI

Day Three — Evening — Moscombe, near Tavistock, Devon

• I think Moscombe must be fictional, but Tavistock is not. It lies west-south-west of Exeter, across Dartmoor, only 4 miles from the Cornish border at the River Tamar. It is about 60 miles south-west of Taunton, possibly 70–75 by car, passing through Exeter.
• p. 155 ff., Stevens tells of how he was just following orders in the dismissal of the two Jewish maids, Ruth and Sarah
  • He also tells of Miss Kenton’s shock, surprise, and disgust at their dismissal
  • p. 161–162, Stevens says that he was also “distressed” by the occurrence (this a year later after Lord Darlington has admitted he was wrong to dismiss them)
  • It is hard to know whether Stevens is sincere here.
  • Stevens: “The whole matter caused me great concern, great concern indeed. It is hardly the sort of thing I like to see happen in this house.”
  • Miss Kenton is upset. Why didn’t Stevens express any of his feelings back then? To her he seemed even cheerful about it. It would have meant so much to her to hear him say he was upset by it too. She felt so alone, thinking she was the only one disturbed by Ruth and Sarah’s dismissals.
• p. 169, agricultural fair = Devon County Show?
• p. 173 ff., Stevens and Miss Kenton’s relationship underwent a change in 1935 or 36, after which they no longer met for cocoa after work
  • The incident which may have started this change was when she caught him in his pantry reading a book that he refused to show to her
  • She teased him about it being something racy, only to find out it was just a sentimental love story
  • p. 175, “Then she was standing before me, and suddenly the atmosphere underwent a peculiar change—almost as though the two of us had been suddenly thrust on to some other plane of being altogether. I am afraid it is not easy to describe clearly what I mean here. All I can say is that everything around us suddenly became very still; it was my impression that Miss Kenton’s manner also underwent a sudden change; there was a strange seriousness in her expression, and it struck me she seemed almost frightened.”
    • sudden/suddenly is used 4 times!
  • p. 178, Stevens “cannot be seen casting [his role, his butlerhood] aside one moment simply to don it again the next as though it were nothing more than a pantomime costume.”
    • Whether the book he happened to be reading were significant or not, it is like she encountered him naked, saw him bare, saw the real him for a moment
• p. 182, “As far as I am concerned, Miss Kenton, my vocation will not be fulfilled until I have done all I can to see his lordship through the great tasks he has set himself. The day his lordship’s work is complete, the day he is able to rest on his laurels, content in the knowledge that he has done all anyone could ever reasonably ask of him, only on that day, Miss Kenton, will I be able to call myself, as you put it, a well-contented man.”
  • Some Biblical echoes here, I think ironic, perhaps Matthew 25:21, “His lord said to him: Well done, good and faithful servant, because thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will place thee over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.”
• p. 186 ff., Stevens is grossly insensitive around Miss Kenton when she has just learned of the death of her aunt, and is even criticizing her incessantly. Not sure what this means. Is Stevens just super awkward? A bit autistic? Did he have some plan to console her that has backfired?
  • Cf. Day 4, Afternoon, p. 229, p. 237, when she announces her engagement and departure from Darlington Hall
• p. 195, the old squire at the big house at Moscombe was “no gentleman” according to the townsfolk, and when pressed Stevens says the quality he lacked may have been dignity.
  • Mr. Harry Smith of Moscombe, a man keen on politics with very democratic sensibilities, says: “Dignity isn’t just something gentlemen have. Dignity is something every man and woman in this country can strive for and get.”
  • Stevens doesn’t agree with this (though he doesn’t tell them so)
  • And Mr. Smith goes further, saying everyone is free, because they beat the Germans, to express their opinion, to vote, not to be a slave, etc., and “that is what dignity’s really about,”
  • It seems to me that the former expression, that every man should strive for dignity, is something Stevens could agree with, since he is not actually a gentleman, but a servant to a gentleman, and both he and the gentleman can strive for dignity in their own way, in their own station.
  • Ephesians 6:5, “Servants, be obedient to them that are your lords according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in the simplicity of your heart, as to Christ.”
• p. 205, but also just as a general point, sometimes Stevens is a bit robotic in his interactions with people
  • Quote from Ishiguro about how he has only written one novel, from a 2021 interview with Waterstones on Klara and the Sun
  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GJ7mrqo9nQ&t=120s
  • Interviewer: “I’m really interested about this idea of how you like to take genre and play with it and to try and do something different with each book. This book I suppose would fit in, I suppose you could say, with sort of science fiction, speculative fiction, something like that. But I think, I get the sense, that you’re not a great respecter of genre, or you don’t even really like the idea of genre definitions. You’re more trying to find new ways of exploring consistent themes in your work. Is that a fair assessment?”
  • Ishiguro: “I think that is fair. I don’t really see many boundaries between the genres. Maybe, you know, if you’re a bookseller then you are more conscious of these things ‘cause, you know, you have to put things in shelves. But as a writer I don’t really see these boundaries very much and I take what I need. And I’ve actually been rather passionate, I’ve been a kind of fan of different genres, the kind of worlds they open up to me. And actually, I mean, alright: I have to confess, I mean, it’s also a kind of a ploy on my part, because actually I usually repeat myself quite a lot in my novels. Some novels are just kind of rewrites of the previous book, because I wanted to revisit that same terrain and explore it a little bit more, or slightly differently, or there was something not quite right about the last book and I wanted to do it again. But people don’t really notice this very much because I do it in a different genre or different setting, you know. And people think, oh, he’s moved on, he’s quite brave, he keeps moving on. So it’s a good disguise because people are very literal-minded. And so, yes, it might look like Klara and the Sun is a companion book to Never Let Me Go, and it is in many ways, you know. And there is a relationship between those two books. But the genre that I was really conscious of is the one I told you about. The one of the picture books for young children. That fascinated me, not just because it gave me an idea for a kind of a narrator like that, you know, a non-human narrator, which is very common in those kinds of books. You have teddy bears and soft toys and dolls, you know, and animals, often as your protagonist. But it’s not just at that level. I find those books for children, the illustrations as much as the stories, quite poignant, you know. You can see the wish on the part of adults to shelter the children who will be reading these books from what’s coming up. So the world is presented as this kind of much kinder place. But at the same time you can see a kind of tension there, because you can see that often the adults who’ve created that book don’t want to lie to the children, and they feel a kind of need to drop little hints about, particularly about sadness and death or something dark that might be awaiting them, without really rubbing it in their faces. So you often see this in the drawings and in the stories themselves. So I wanted a lot of that to go into Klara and the Sun, you know. I wanted that spirit. I wanted that kind of small child’s logic. And even visually I wanted the thing to have the atmosphere of those illustrations, you know. Bright sun. The field. And these big sky colours, you know. And Klara to some extent has the understanding and the vision of a young child, who doesn’t understand very much about the world but is learning really fast. That’s how she is at the beginning, and then she starts to change, you know. She learns more.”
• p. 207, Lord Darlington, interestingly, sees, democracy as old-fashioned and outmoded, he does not see himself as a traddy, rather progressively looking up to Italy and Germany
  • His ideas have come far since the 20s, now he is not simply objecting to the mistreatment of Germans, rather he wants Britain to change to be like them
  • Here Lord Darlington is saying that Britain needs to modernize and do away with its more democratic institutions; the people don’t understand the complex modern world, and a strong leaders needs to take the helm as in Germany and Italy, doing what is best for the people, whether they like it or not; a Schmittian state-of-exception
  • This is actually similar to what the American, Mr. Lewis, proclaimed back at the conference (Day 2, Morning, p. 106), that gentlemen amateurs, with their noble instincts, don’t understand the world anymore; they need to give way to professionals, cf. young Mr. Cardinal, Day 4, Evening, p. 234; this reversal seems like a clue as to how things are going, where people’s decisions are leading
• p. 209, “Of course, it is quite absurd to expect any butler to be in a position to answer authoritatively questions of the sort Mr. Spencer had put to me that night, and the claim of people like Mr. Harry Smith that one’s ‘dignity’ is conditional on being able to do so can be seen for the nonsense it is.”
  • p. 210, “A butler who is forever attempting to formulate his own ‘strong opinions’ on his employer’s affairs is bound to lack one quality essential in all good professionals: namely, loyalty .”
  • Interesting that loyalty hasn’t been mentioned before as an essential characteristic of a great butler.
  • p. 211, “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 honourable, and to devote our energies to the task of serving him to the best of our ability.”
  • This talk of loyalty is a kind of counterpoint (or contradiction?) to his earlier talk of the idealism of his generation (compared at least to his father’s generation), cf. Day 2, Afternoon, p. 120
  • “As far as I am concerned, I carried out my duties to the best of my abilities, indeed to a standard which many may consider ‘first rate’. It is hardly my fault if his lordship’s life and work have turned out today to look, at best, a sad waste—and it is quite illogical that I should feel any regret or shame on my own account.”

Day Four — Afternoon — Little Compton, Cornwall

• Little Compton seems to be fictional
• p. 219, Dr Carlisle: “At times you’d think [Harry Smith] was some sort of Communist, then he comes out with something that makes him sound true blue Tory. Truth is he’s all in a muddle.”
  • Is Mr. Smith onto something here? Not muddle but struck a truer politics? Perhaps Dr. Carlisle is actually in a muddle.
  • Dr. Carlisle: “Harry [Smith]’s always going around trying to work everybody up over issues. But the truth is, people are happier left alone.”
  • p. 220, Dr. Carlisle: “You know, Mr. Stevens, when I first came out here, I was a committed socialist. Believed in the best services for all the people and all the rest of it. First came here in ‘49. Socialism would allow people to live with dignity . That’s what I believed when I came out here.”
  • Dr. Carlisle implies he’s no longer a socialist since coming to Moscombe, and Mr. Smith’s ideas can’t be categorized into Labour/Tory. Is there something about living in Moscombe, living in a rural area, that allows one to see the truer politics of England, the truer life of England? “People are happier left alone .”
• Stevens to Dr. Carlisle on what dignity is all about: “It’s a rather hard thing to explain in a few words, sir. But I suspect it comes down to not removing one’s clothing in public.”
  • Is that all we get from Stevens after he has spoken so much about dignity before?
  • Is this Stevens practising banter?
  • Reminiscent of his talk of butlerhood not being a pantomime role that you just don and doff when you feel like it, cf. Day 3, Evening, p. 178
  • By this definition dignity is something every man could strive for!
• p. 222, earlier, Stevens’ memory of standing outside Miss Kenton’s parlour, believing her to be crying inside, and being unsure whether to enter was related on Day 3, Evening, p. 186
  • Now Stevens believe that this took place not on that day when she learned of her aunt’s death, but several months later when she announced her engagement to be married and her departure and he showed no emotion or interest (p. 237)
• p. 238, Stevens has learned that Miss Kenton is engaged and will depart soon, and also been told that his master is a pawn of Adolf Hitler, and yet he feels triumph at the end of the day: “I had, after all, just come through an extremely trying evening, throughout which I had managed to preserve a ‘dignity in keeping with my position’—and had done so, moreover, in a manner even my father might have been proud of. And there across the hall, within the very room where I had executed my duties, the most powerful gentlemen of Europe were conferring over the fate of our continent. Who would doubt at that moment that I had indeed come as close to the great hub of things as any butler could wish?”
  • Stevens’ apotheosis

Day Six—Evening—Weymouth

• Weymouth is back in Dorset
• p. 251, Miss Kenton/Mrs. Benn: “I feel I should answer you, Mr. Stevens. As you say, we may not meet again for many years. Yes, I do love my husband. I didn’t at first. I didn’t at first for a long time. When I left Darlington Hall all those years ago, I never realized I was really, truly leaving I believe I thought of it as simply another ruse, Mr. Stevens, to annoy you. It was a shock to come out here and find myself married. For a long time, I was very unhappy, very unhappy indeed. But then year after year went by, there was the war, Chaterine grew up, and one day I realized I loved my husband. You spend so much time with someone, you find you get used to him. He’s a kind, steady man, and yes, Mr. Stevens, I’ve grown to love him.”
  • … “But that doesn’t mean to say, of course, there aren’t occasions now and then—extremely desolate occasions—when you think to yourself: ‘What a terrible mistake I’ve made with my life.’ And you get to thinking about a different life, a better life you might have had. For instance, I get to thinking about a life I might have had with you, Mr. Stevens. And I suppose that’s when I get angry over some trivial little thing and leave. But earth time I do so, I realize before long—my rightful place is with my husband. After all, there’s no turning back the clock now. One can’t be forever dwelling on what might have been. One should realize one has as good as most, perhaps better, and be grateful.”
• p. 252, Stevens is gentlemanly to the last: “You really musn’t let any more foolish ideas [of what might have been, of a different life with me] come between yourself and the happiness you deserve [with your husband].”
  • … “We may never meet again, Miss Benn, so I would ask you to take good heed of what I am saying.”
• p. 255, Stevens to the man on Weymouth pier: “I gave my best to Lord Darlington. I gave him the very best I had to give, and now—well—I find I do not have a great deal more left to give.”
  • … “His lordship was a courageous man. 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 lordship’s wisdom. All these 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. 256, the man on Weymouth pier tells Stevens not to dwell on the past and make the best of what time is left to him, “The evening’s the best part of the day.”
  • After the man leaves, the people cheer when the pier lights come on.
  • “Perhaps, then, there is something to his advice that I should cease looking back so much, that I should adopt a more positive outlook and try to make the best of what remains of my day .”
  • p. 257, “Surely it is enough that the likes of you and me at least try to make a small contribution count for something true and worthy, and if some of us are prepared to sacrifice much in life in order to pursue such aspirations, surely that is in itself, whatever the outcome, cause for pride and contentment.”
  • p. 258, Stevens notices a lot of strangers on the pier (strangers to each other, not just to Stevens) bantering pleasantly with each other, united only by their enjoyment of the lights coming on.
  • “Perhaps, then, when I return to Darlington Hall tomorrow—Mr. Farraday will not himself be back for a further week—I will begin practising [banter] with renewed effort. I should hope, then, that by the time of my employer’s return, I shall be in a position to pleasantly surprise him.”