This was an absolutely glorious (there's no other adjective) book featuring quite possibly the most unreliable narrator ever. Kazuo Ishiguro is a genius author who writes brilliant characters, of which the protagonist of The Remains of the Day, Stevens, is a shining examples. Stevens holds what is likely the most British job on the face of the planet: the head butler of a large country manor. But Stevens is no Jeeves and his previous employer is most definitely not Bertie Wooster. Instead Ishiguro presents us, the readers, with a highly complex character whose emotions and personality are revealed with masterful subtlety. With Stevens, all you can ever really do is read between the lines. He is rigid in his loyalty to his employer and hall, to the class system, and to his quest for dignity. It is only through carefully sifting through the smallest hints and highly biased admiration of Stevens that we begin to to see what The Remains of the Day is truly above. A shorter novel, the book is an excellent character study, filled with moments of humor, irony, romance, and scandal (downplayed by Stevens, but sensational to us). This book is highly recommended for everyone who enjoys British literature (and film, as it was made into a great movie adaptation starring Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson).

I watched the movie, The Constant Gardener, a couple of weeks ago and was inspired to read this book. I've heard people criticize this book for not being enough of a spy novel, but I personally enjoyed that it focused more on the characters than on the crazy cover-up. I can't really objectively review this novel because I loved the movie and the actors in it so much that this couldn't really be anything but a little disappointing. I will, however, say that the writing style was really interesting and had I not seen the movie first, I would have really, really liked this book. However, this is one of those stories where if you've seen the movie you don't need to really read the book. There is very little to be added by the book and it's almost like it's not worth 500 pages - there are no major plot changes and we get only a very little more insight into the main characters. But if you haven't seen the movie, I think this would be really good, though-provoking novel about pharmaceutical companies, Africa, and, most importantly, the loss of a loved one.