The Remains of the Day - by Kazuo Ishiguro

"I believe strongly that 'dignity' is something 

one can meaningfully strive for throughout one's career."

- Mr. Stevens

I have a goal (more like a dream!) to finish reading all the Top 100 Books of the Last 100 Years. This is now my 33rd. So here goes!  (Warning: May contain spoilers.)  


One of the things I always look forward to in a book is deep character development. When I read The Remains of the Day I found it to be just that - a full profile of an honest to goodness English butler. Set in the 1940s, The Remains of the Day was written by Kazuo Ishiguro and published in 1988.

You are like me if you have the impression that butlers usually have trivial roles in books or movies, if not the culprit in whodunits - hence the adage "the butler did it".  But in this novel the main character is the butler himself.  The story is a flashback of Mr. Stevens' life, as he recalls his days of service in the household of his master Lord Darlington. 

Perhaps the value that is central to Mr. Stevens' character is his reflection on the meaning of "dignity".  Stevens saw dignity as "not removing one's clothing in public."  It was like playing the role of a butler and never taking your costume off, even during breaks, no matter the circumstances. This is my favorite excerpt which to me captures essentially Mr. Stevens' character:

"He [my father] not only knew all there was to know about how to run a house, he did in his prime come to acquire that 'dignity in keeping with his position,"  There was a certain story my father was fond of repeating over the years… It gives a vital clue to his thinking.  

The story was an apparently true one concerning a certain butler who had travelled with his employer to India and served there for many years maintaining amongst the native staff the same high standards he had commanded in England. One afternoon, evidently, this butler had entered the dining room to make sure all was well for dinner, when he noticed a tiger languishing beneath the dining table. The butler had left the dining room quietly, taking care to close the doors behind him, and proceeded calmly to the drawing room where his employer was taking tea with a number of visitors. There he attracted his employer's attention with a polite cough, then whispered in the latter's ear: "I'm very sorry, sir, but there appears to be a tiger in the dining room. Perhaps you will permit the twelve-bores to be used?"

And according to legend, a few minutes later, the employer and his guests heard three gun shots. When the butler reappeared in the drawing room some time afterwards to refresh the teapots, the employer had inquired if all was well.

"Perfectly fine, thank you, sir," had come the reply. "Dinner will be served at the usual time and I am pleased to say there will be no discernible traces left of the recent occurrence by that time."

….I can see with hindsight that he must have striven throughout his years somehow to become that butler of his story. And in my view, at the peak of his career, my father achieved his ambition."

It seemed as if Stevens had all the values on how to be great at work, but none at all on how to live one's life.

This becomes evident is his relationship with the housekeeper Ms. Kenton.  Any romance between them was hinted but never really acknowledged. Mr. Stevens mentions two particular instances that clearly remained in his memory - of him standing outside Ms. Kenton's door with a sensation rising within him that Ms. Kenton was in fact crying on the other side of the door. This happened twice but he never acted on it.  Only at the end of the story when Stevens finally meets Ms Kenton again after 20 years did Ms Kenton mention "a life I may have had with you, Mr. Stevens." This reveals that she may have been in love with him once and he with her but then Ms Kenton was already married and expecting her first grandchild.  So this was a failure on Mr. Stevens' part.

Another curious aspect of Stevens' 30-year service at Darlington Hall was the question of the real character of Lord Darlington himself.  Throughout the novel, hints about who Lord Darlington really was are dropped here and there, but Stevens' only goal was to be a "great" butler and to serve his master well, regardless of who the master was.  In fact, according to Ms. Kenton Mr. Stevens was known for his "pep-talks" to his staff when he would tell them how "history could well be made under this roof" but refusing to open his eyes to what was really happening.  So this was also another failure on his part - that Mr. Stevens' may have wasted his long career in the service of a man whose real character was in question. 

Perhaps this is why the title is as it is - "The Remains of the Day". Literally it means the evening of Mr. Stevens' life when he is reviewing it in a flashback.  But it can also mean "remains" as in "ruins" because though Mr. Stevens was a great butler he had not lived his life well, so he had ruined it.   "The remains of the day" can also mean the last of Mr. Stevens' kind -  of true English Butlers. 

For those interested, here is a trailer of the film adaptation starring Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson.  Hopkins plays a very compelling portrayal of Mr. Stevens.

Now this last part probably isn't related but by writing this review I couldn't help but recall a few memorable butler characters in history, namely

Cadbury, in Richie Rich

Alfred, in Batman

Niles, in The Nanny

So there you have it!  Enjoy!

Free Comic Book Day - Today at Fully Booked Eastwood

Today I went to the Fully Booked Eastwood for the Free Comic Book Day. This branch opens at 11 am.  

When I got there at 10:45 am there was already a queue



I got in line and there were around 15 persons ahead of me

  

Here's the queue getting longer at around 10:55 am



 Then finally at 10:55 they opened the doors and started letting people in one at a time.


At 10:55:  Entry was one person at a time.


A table of comic books will greet you as you enter. 

And I was asked to take my pick among the followng titles:

• Spider-Man
• Green Lantern
• Star Wars
• Kung Fu Panda
• Geronimo Stilton
• Thor
• Richie Rich
• Justice League

The policy is 1 comic book per person only, on a first come first served basis.

The queue picking out their comic book


Finally, here's my free copy!  Kung Fu Panda! Hehe

My Free Comic Book!



Plus there was a 20% discount on all Graphic Novels, so I went and bought this one on my wish list:

One of Marvel's Classic Graphic Novels

Fully Booked celebrates Free Comic Book Day every 3rd Saturday of May! 

For a list of participating Fully Booked branches, click here.

Till next year!

Free Comic Book Day!

Fully Booked will be celebrating FREE COMIC BOOK DAY on May 21, 2011!

  

Visit and get a comic book ABSOLUTELY FREE! No purchase requirement needed. Comic giveaway starts at 10AM. First come, first served! 

Participating branches:

• Bonifacio High Street
• Rockwell
• Promenade GH
• Greenbelt 5
• Gateway
• SM North The Block
• Mall of Asia
• Trinoma
• Eastwood
• Ayala Center Cebu
• Marquee Pampanga
• SM City Clark

List of Fully Booked Branches

The Woman in White - by Wilkie Collins (Illustrated Walker Books)

This is a story of what a Woman’s patience can endure,
and what a Man’s resolution can achieve.

What a first line! This is actually the reason why I decided to read this book. This captivating first line is one of the most famous in English fiction. But then the rest of the story captivated me as much as the first line did, and more.  I must say I have included The Woman in White in my top 10 books read ever!



The Famous First Line

Published in 1860, the Woman in White is considered to be one of the first mystery novels or detective fiction. It is written by Wilkie Collins in the style of an epistolary novel, where each part of the story is told from the point of view of one of the persons involved in the story until it is completed. This is similar to the style that Collins’ used in The Moonstone, another notable early example of detective fiction.


Laura Fairlie
Illustration by Anatoly Slepkov


The story begins one moonlit night when a young art teacher, Walter Hartright, was walking in the streets of London.  Suddenly he meets a woman dressed all in white, a meeting that would mark the beginning of a web of suspense and intrique.   The next day he is asked to tutor a young lady, Laura Fairlie, in her residence at an English countryside mansion.   He quickly discovers that the two incidents are inevitably linked.

Walter Hartright
Illustration by Anatoly Slepkov

First of all I was captivated by the story itself, at how Collins was able to create and start many elements which can still be found in modern day detective stories, such as the appearance of a “white lady”, marriages where the inheritance of the spouse is the motive, mental facilities, English countryside manors, and long lost relatives, all in one book!

Anne Catherick in the graveyard scene
Illustration by Anatoly Slepkov

Next I admired Collins’ genius in his ability to write as several different persons. I would imagine that writing in an epistolary style would be difficult because you had to show each character to be different in the way they thought or spoke. But Collins managed it beautifully. Each character is clearly unique and different in their way of speaking or thinking. Collins swings this wonderfully and his creativity shines through beautifully.

Marian Halcombe
Illustration by Anatoly Slepkov

I also enjoyed Collins' unique and developed characters - something I always look for in a book.  Firstly, I admired the character of Marian Halcombe.  She is, to me, Collins' model of a superb woman - strong, sensible and wise.   Then Count Fosco is indeed a unique and interesting villain - one who is always pictured with his pet animals on him - a stereotype of a villain that is still used in books and movies today (such as Captain Barbosa and his monkey in The Pirates of the Caribbean, The Royal Vizier and his owl Iago in Disney's Aladdin).  

Count Fosco
Illustration by Anatoly Slepkov

This beautiful edition of The Woman in White is an abridged version by Jan Needle, published by Walker Books, illustrated by Anatoly Slepkov.  I got it at Fully Booked for P779.

My Personal Book Catalog

iTunes for my music, Book Collector for my books!

Have you ever wondered how many books you really have?

Have you ever loaned a specific book to someone but couldn’t remember to whom?

Were you ever shopping for a book and couldn’t remember if you already have a copy of the same book?

I have! so I decided to use my own home book cataloging system and since then I’ve never had a problem keeping track of all my books! It’s called Book Collector and I’ve enjoyed using it so much I want to share it here!

Book Collector is like iTunes, only for books! It keeps all the information about each book that you have, not just title and author, but also the cover art, publisher, ISBN, year published, date purchased, date read, notes, plot, ISBN, you name it! I didn’t type all of them of course. As long as you’re connected, you just enter the ISBN number, and voila! All the information appears instantly!

Here are some of my screenshots starting with the main screen. It shows the total books you have at the bottom, (it says I have 700 books in total) and shows an overview of your books in every genre.

Then when you open a genre, you get a view of all the covers of your books in it.

Double clicking on each book pulls out the all the information for each book. Here is the basic information, including publisher and year published.

And some personal information, including where and when you bought it, and when you read it.  This feature I find useful because I can keep track of how many books I’ve read within the year so far....

Cover art, plots, and your own reading notes.

So how did I get all that information into the computer? Easy! I didn’t type all of them of course. As long as you’re connected, you just enter the ISBN number, and voila! All the information appears instantly!  Wow!

How? Book Collector is connected to the book database of major libraries and online bookstores in the world, including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, the Library of Congress, etc etc. No book will not be identified. And if your book still can’t be found, you can always encode all the information manually.

Here’s the best part....the loan manager – to track those who borrow your books! Now you’ll always know where all your books are and when they’re due! :-D  (Now you're starting to sound like a library!)

Going shopping? Easy! Bring your library with you all the time! You can export your Book Collector database into your iPod! Now you can have access to your library anytime, so you know what books you already have and won’t make the mistake of buying duplicate copies.

You can even upload your catalog online and share it with your friends!

So there it is folks! You can download Book Collector at http://www.collectorz.com/book/ and use it free for up to 100 books. If you want to put in more, there is a charge of USD29.95 which for me was well-worth it :-D

Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks

I have a goal (more like a dream!) to finish reading all the Top 100 Books of the Last 100 Years. This is now my 32nd. So here goes!  (Warning: May contain spoilers.)  

When I started reading Birdsong I was immdiately hooked. It is a beautifully written love story about Captain Stephen Wrayford, a British soldier who fought in the 1st World War, and about Elizabeth his granddaughter 60 years later. It is written in an episodic structure which alternates between the past and the present and leaves the reader clues as to what happened to Captain Wrayford to be revealed only at the end where both past and present meet. It's also a novel about Elizabeth's going back to her roots in the hopes of finding her identity and that of her child.  


Sebastian Faulks



I had been putting off reading Birdsong for fear that it would take me through the cruel brutalities of war. To my pleasant surprise I found it beautifully written, instead of just the brutal narration I thought it would have. Of course the trenches, gunfure, mud and blood were still there, but Sebastian Faulks also takes time to dwell into the thoughts of Captain Wrayford and his co-soldiers, into momentary interludes of relaxed conversations over tea, into the lives and loves of these war-torn men and the friendships that sprung between them.

There are a lot of themes that run along the entire novel but reading about these relationships of love and friendship was what I enjoyed most about Birdsong. They were like superhuman triumphs whose goodness were magnified by the contrast of war. Stephen was an orphan and was raised by a guardian who financed his education but failed in terms of devoting any fatherly affection. Perhaps this lack of parental love while growing up contributed to his feeling guilty for surviving the war when all his friends had been killed. In the end Stephen is saved after being trapped in an underground tunnel for several days by a Jewish German soldier, supposedly the enemy, but with whom Stephen shares a passionate embrace. Thus my favorite quote in the book is:

"Where there is real love between people, as there was between all of us, then the details don't matter. Love is more important than the flesh and blood facts of who gave birth to whom."

There are also many references to birds throughout the novel. But I particularly liked the ending:

"In the tree above him they disturbed a roosting crow, which erupted from the branches with an explosive bang of its wings, then rose up above him towards the sky, it harsh ambiguous call coming back in long, grating waves towards the earth, to be heard by those still living".

Birdsong.