"A great butler": the unreliable narrator in Kazuo Ishiguro's "The Remains of the Day"

Author: Lynn Bay
Publisher: GRIN Verlag
ISBN: 3656228485
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 20

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Book Description
Seminar paper from the year 2009 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 2,0, University of Würzburg, language: English, abstract: In Kazuo Ishiguro ́s The Remains of the Day the first person narrator Stevens, a butler on the verge of retirement, undertakes a journey to meet – for what is likely the last time in their lives – his former coworker and love interest Miss Kenton. At the same time, he tries to come to terms with his past by reexamining his memories of his life at Darlington Hall, the choices he made and the values he had. Throughout his account it becomes increasingly obvious that Stevens ́s narration cannot be trusted completely. His comments on, and interpretation of, past events in his life and his portrayal of himself and others in his tale expose him as an unreliable narrator. However, his attempts to deceive himself and others are possibly the most interesting and telltale aspect of the narrative. After all, “the use of an unreliable narrator draws attention to a character ́s psychology.” Paradoxically, the narrator reveals most about himself and his life when he is trying to obscure the truth.

"A great butler": the unreliable narrator in Kazuo Ishiguro's "The Remains of the Day"

Author: Lynn Bay
Publisher: GRIN Verlag
ISBN: 3656228485
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 20

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Book Description
Seminar paper from the year 2009 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 2,0, University of Würzburg, language: English, abstract: In Kazuo Ishiguro ́s The Remains of the Day the first person narrator Stevens, a butler on the verge of retirement, undertakes a journey to meet – for what is likely the last time in their lives – his former coworker and love interest Miss Kenton. At the same time, he tries to come to terms with his past by reexamining his memories of his life at Darlington Hall, the choices he made and the values he had. Throughout his account it becomes increasingly obvious that Stevens ́s narration cannot be trusted completely. His comments on, and interpretation of, past events in his life and his portrayal of himself and others in his tale expose him as an unreliable narrator. However, his attempts to deceive himself and others are possibly the most interesting and telltale aspect of the narrative. After all, “the use of an unreliable narrator draws attention to a character ́s psychology.” Paradoxically, the narrator reveals most about himself and his life when he is trying to obscure the truth.

The Remains of the Day

The Remains of the Day PDF Author: Kazuo Ishiguro
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 0307576183
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 258

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Book Description
BOOKER PRIZE WINNER • From the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, here is “an intricate and dazzling novel” (The New York Times) about the perfect butler and his fading, insular world in post-World War II England. This is Kazuo Ishiguro's profoundly compelling portrait of a butler named Stevens. Stevens, at the end of three decades of service at Darlington Hall, spending a day on a country drive, embarks as well on a journey through the past in an effort to reassure himself that he has served humanity by serving the "great gentleman," Lord Darlington. But lurking in his memory are doubts about the true nature of Lord Darlington's "greatness," and much graver doubts about the nature of his own life.

When We Were Orphans

When We Were Orphans PDF Author: Kazuo Ishiguro
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 0375412654
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 481

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Book Description
From the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature and author of the Booker Prize–winning novel The Remains of the Day comes this stunning work of soaring imagination. Born in early twentieth-century Shanghai, Banks was orphaned at the age of nine after the separate disappearances of his parents. Now, more than twenty years later, he is a celebrated figure in London society; yet the investigative expertise that has garnered him fame has done little to illuminate the circumstances of his parents' alleged kidnappings. Banks travels to the seething, labyrinthine city of his memory in hopes of solving the mystery of his own painful past, only to find that war is ravaging Shanghai beyond recognition—and that his own recollections are proving as difficult to trust as the people around him. Masterful, suspenseful and psychologically acute, When We Were Orphans offers a profound meditation on the shifting quality of memory, and the possibility of avenging one’s past.

Self-deception and Insight. The Concept of Unreliable Narration in Kazuo Ishiguro's "The Remains of the Day"

Self-deception and Insight. The Concept of Unreliable Narration in Kazuo Ishiguro's Author: Sebastian Göb
Publisher: GRIN Verlag
ISBN: 3638055450
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 19

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Book Description
Seminar paper from the year 2008 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 1,75, University of Frankfurt (Main), language: English, abstract: This text examines the concept of unreliable narration in Kazuo Ishiguro's "The Remains of the Day". Against the background of the novel's plot the questions arises to what extent the reader can trust the first person narrator Stevens, who is recalling events that have taken place almost 30 years ago. Is he always telling nothing but the truth or does he deliberately leave out important facts that might cast a slur at him or other persons in the novel or perhaps might destroy his self-image as a professional butler. Stevens pretends to be an honourable butler but how far can he be regarded to be honest to the reader respectively the narratee whome he addresses explicitly (Ishiguro 2005: 8 “Nevertheless, I think you will understand [...]”)? In this context it is even more important to question his honesty towards himself; does he relentlessly tell the truth or does he betray even himself? In order to answer these evolving questions it is first of all necessary to give a brief outline of the literal terms point of view and unreliable narration in general. Being familiar with these expressions the next step that leads to a better understanding of the protagonist’s character is the analysis of the narrative structure in “The Remains of the Day”. This chapter includes the examination of the novel’s language as well as the point of view and the (un)reliability of the narrator. As far as the question of (un)reliability is answered it is mandatory to consider Stevens’ blindness and to ask if in the end a possible insight can be detected. This chapter has to be subdivided which means it has to be regarded in either an ideological /political context as well as in a private /social context. Finally, in the conclusion the findings will be summarized in order to answer the question: To what extent can self-deception and insight be detected with the (un)reliable narrator Stevens in Kazuo Ishiguros Novel “The Remains of the Day”?

The Unconsoled

The Unconsoled PDF Author: Kazuo Ishiguro
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 030776415X
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 546

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Book Description
From the universally acclaimed author of The Remains of the Day comes a mesmerizing novel of completely unexpected mood and matter--a seamless, fictional universe, both wholly unrecognizable and familiar. When the public, day-to-day reality of a renowned pianist takes on a life of its own, he finds himself traversing landscapes that are by turns eerie, comical, and strangely malleable.

Kazuo Ishiguro's The Remains of the Day

Kazuo Ishiguro's The Remains of the Day PDF Author: Adam Parkes
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 1441149643
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 94

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Book Description
Continuum Contemporaries will be a wonderful source of ideas and inspiration for members of book clubs and readings groups, as well as for literature students.The aim of the series is to give readers accessible and informative introductions to 30 of the most popular, most acclaimed, and most influential novels of recent years. A team of contemporary fiction scholars from both sides of the Atlantic has been assembled to provide a thorough and readable analysis of each of the novels in question. The books in the series will all follow the same structure:a biography of the novelist, including other works, influences, and, in some cases, an interview; a full-length study of the novel, drawing out the most important themes and ideas; a summary of how the novel was received upon publication; a summary of how the novel has performed since publication, including film or TV adaptations, literary prizes, etc.; a wide range of suggestions for further reading, including websites and discussion forums; and a list of questions for reading groups to discuss.

An Artist of the Floating World

An Artist of the Floating World PDF Author: Kazuo Ishiguro
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 0307829065
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 212

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Book Description
From the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature and author of the Booker Prize–winning novel The Remains of the Day In the face of the misery in his homeland, the artist Masuji Ono was unwilling to devote his art solely to the celebration of physical beauty. Instead, he put his work in the service of the imperialist movement that led Japan into World War II. Now, as the mature Ono struggles through the aftermath of that war, his memories of his youth and of the "floating world"—the nocturnal world of pleasure, entertainment, and drink—offer him both escape and redemption, even as they punish him for betraying his early promise. Indicted by society for its defeat and reviled for his past aesthetics, he relives the passage through his personal history that makes him both a hero and a coward but, above all, a human being.

Klara and the Sun

Klara and the Sun PDF Author: Kazuo Ishiguro
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 0593318188
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 273

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Book Description
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Once in a great while, a book comes along that changes our view of the world. This magnificent novel from the Nobel laureate and author of Never Let Me Go is “an intriguing take on how artificial intelligence might play a role in our futures ... a poignant meditation on love and loneliness” (The Associated Press). • A GOOD MORNING AMERICA Book Club Pick! Here is the story of Klara, an Artificial Friend with outstanding observational qualities, who, from her place in the store, watches carefully the behavior of those who come in to browse, and of those who pass on the street outside. She remains hopeful that a customer will soon choose her. Klara and the Sun is a thrilling book that offers a look at our changing world through the eyes of an unforgettable narrator, and one that explores the fundamental question: what does it mean to love?

A Pale View of Hills

A Pale View of Hills PDF Author: Kazuo Ishiguro
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 0307829073
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 185

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Book Description
From the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature and author of the Booker Prize–winning novel The Remains of the Day Here is the story of Etsuko, a Japanese woman now living alone in England, dwelling on the recent suicide of her daughter. In a novel where past and present confuse, she relives scenes of Japan's devastation in the wake of World War II.

Conversations with Kazuo Ishiguro

Conversations with Kazuo Ishiguro PDF Author: Kazuo Ishiguro
Publisher: Univ. Press of Mississippi
ISBN: 9781934110621
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 244

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Book Description
Nineteen interviews conducted over the past two decades on both sides of the Atlantic and beyond with the author of the Booker Prize-winning The Remains of the Day