The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro

Spending your life to figure out what Dignity is with your career…… Is it worth it?

Mr. Stevens devotes his whole life to his career as a butler which he puts before anything - his lover, his father, and himself.

This is the second Kazuo Ishiguro book I’ve read. He never disappoints. Another masterpiece that leads you to reflect on your life.

With immense pride to pursue the dignity and perfection of his profession, Mr. Stevens lets a lot of things slip through his fingers - regrets.

Ishiguro paints a vivid portrait of Mr. Stevens’ journey of self-discovery using his road trip to visit Miss Kenton, the lover he missed, where he begins to question his life choices and sacrifices he has made.

‘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.’

Rather than pursing societal expectations of what dignity is and looking back to the past, with the remaining days ahead, Mr. Stevens learns to loosen up a little, that having some bantering isn’t too bad after all. ‘After all, what can we ever gain in forever looking back and blaming ourselves if our lives have not turned out quite as we might have wished?’

If you get to do what you enjoy as your job, good on you and lucky you. It’s not as easy as it seems to have a job which you can enjoy. There are a lot of external factors to be considered other than just getting to do “what you like”.

Don’t let your job or the societal expectations out there to get ahead of you. Take this as a reminder to take a pause in your life to appreciate and be grateful with what you have in front of you. There are a lot of things we often miss, especially the small things. By the time we look back and think about all the should’ves, could’ves and would’ves, it’ll all be too late.

Now - think about 3 things around you that you’re most grateful for.

Get yourself a copy now: The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro 📚