I was so glad The Remains of the Day was on the original list of suggestions for our book club. I had read Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go and was very impressed with his writing. I had seen the film with Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thomson, but it was along time ago and I did not really associate them with the characters in the book. The writing is again superb. It does take a bit of getting used to as it is narrated by Stevens the butler, and his stiffness and formality are reflected in the words. He is on a road trip, and reflects upon his time running the great house of Lord Darlington, and his association with the housekeeper Miss Kenton. He has not seen her for twenty years and has been lent a super car by his new American employer Mr Farraday and travels to Cornwall to see her again.
Stevens is not a wholly sympathetic character. He is totally wrapped up in what it means to be a butler. He has no other interests apart from reading. He addresses the reader with a sense of his own importance that is gradually taken apart as he comes to realise in his reflections, that he has lost the dignity that was his sole aim in life. One of the best aspects of the novel for me was the sense of mystery surrounding his previous employment. There are subtle hints that are gradually explained as the story unfolds. There are interesting explanations of what it was like to be a butler before the second world war, and the politics of these days makes a thrilling backdrop to this great piece of work.
We agreed to read something by Beryl Bainbridge as she had only recently died. I had never read anything of hers before, so a shortish novel about a theatrical repertory company in 1950 sounded just the ticket. An Awfully Big Adventure is set in Liverpool and tells the story of fifteen or sixteen year old Stella (her actual age is never revealed - only that she has failed her mock school certificate) as she embarks upon a career in the theatre. The actors in the company are many, most of whose characters are hardly mentioned, although they play a part in the action. The writing does not flow as it should, but there are some classic lines. About Grace the author says "She was in pain, but she was taking it out on a jumper she was knitting".
It is quite a nice little story, lightweight but at the same time poignant and funny. It got better half way through and the last section, particularly the Christmas Eve supper dance, is enthralling. So a bit of a contradiction. I enjoyed the stuff about theatre (the classic plays in rep being J B Priestley's "Dangerous Corner", George Bernard Shaw's "Ceasar and Cleopatra" and "Peter Pan" by J M Barrie) , the clashing of multiple egos, the mystery of why Stella lives with Uncle Vernon and Lily, and what happened to her mother. Overall a pleasing novel, I just wish we knew more about some of the characters.
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