Kazuo Ishiguro's The Remains of the Day

I was prepared for how perfect the writing was, but not for how moving the plot and characters. Not just Stevens, but also Miss Kenton, and the two Jewish housemaids. Robert Stone describes Stevens's condition as "an extraordinary spiritual imprisonment," and so it is, but what a confession! Ishiguro enrolls the reader into a priest-like responsibility, and we are devastated by what we hear.

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