The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro

Title: The Remains of the Day
Author: Kazuo Ishiguro
Pages: 245
Published: 2005 (first published 1988)
Challenges: Historical Fiction, Blogger Summer Reading, Roofbeemer TBR, Bookish TBR
Genre: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Contemporary, Literary Fiction
Edition: Paperback
Source: Personal

Description: The novel's narrator, Stevens, is a perfect English butler who tries to give his narrow existence form and meaning through the self-effacing, almost mystical practice of his profession. In a career that spans the second World War, Stevens is oblivious of the real life that goes on around him -- oblivious, for instance, of the fact that his aristocrat employer is a Nazi sympathizer. Still, there are even larger matters at stake in this heartbreaking, pitch-perfect novel -- namely, Stevens' own ability to allow some bit of life-affirming love into his tightly repressed existence. (from Goodreads.com)

Thoughts: This was the third Ishiguro novel that I read (first two were When We Were Orphans and Never Let Me Go) and this was by far my most enjoyable experience, probably because I had already knew what the story was about due to the Merchant Ivory movie of the same title that was based on this book (the one that starred Emma Thompson, Anthony Hopkins, Hugh Grant and Christopher Reeve).

I did have some issues with the book, namely that when Stevens was in the 'present'.  I found that those sections dragged and that when he was reflecting on his life just prior to World War II seemed to fly by and go more quickly.  It also didn't help that it took me the majority of the book for me to find a rhythm and get a sense for the book.

What I did like was that the ending was a bit ambiguous and Ishiguro allows for the reader to draw their  own conclusions about what happened in the end.

Bottom line:  I would probably say that if you have really enjoyed any of Ishiguro's other pieces of fiction, you probably will enjoy this book as well.  Also if you enjoyed the film, you probably will like the book as well.  Highly recommended.

Rating: 4.25/5

Pages for 2014: 13,061

If you have read the book, what did you think of it?

A Clash of Kings - George R.R. Martin

Title: A Clash of Kings (A Song of Fire and Ice #2)
Author: George R.R. Martin
Pages: 1009
Published: 2005 (first published 1998)
Challenges: Chunkster, Blogger Summer Reading, Bookish TBR, Roof Beam TBR
Genre: Fiction, Fantasy
Edition: Mass-Market Paperback
Source: Personal

Description:  A comet the colour of blood and flame cuts across the sky. And from the ancient citadel of Dragonstone to the forbidding shores of Winterfell, chaos reigns. Six factions struggle for control of a divided land and the Iron Throne of the Seven Kingdoms, preparing to stake their claims through tempest, turmoil, and war. It is a tale in which brother plots against brother and the dead rise to walk at night. Here a princess masquerades as an orphan boy; a knight of the mind prepares a poison for a treacherous sorceress; and wild men descend from the Mountains of the Moon to ravage the countryside. Against a backdrop of incest and fratricide, alchemy and murder, victory may go to the men and women possessed of the coldest steel...and the coldest hearts. For when kings clash, the whole land trembles. (from Goodreads)

Thoughts: After reading A Game of Thrones, I suspected that I would be a bit let down with the second book.  What I found with the book was that it tended to be bleak and dreary to the point that at times I wondered when I was ever going to get end the least bit happy and I felt that the book seemed to plod on for pages on end, with the book never seeming to end (felt like I was going through torture myself at times), especially since the first book seemed to be full of action and plot twists coming left and centre.

Being it the case, since I have gotten this far in the series, I am definitely in it for the long haul and will find out who gets to claim the throne, if there is anybody left in the end.

Bottom line:  Even though it did seem to plod along at times, I did enjoy it and am planning on finishing up the series, whenever that may be.  And yes, you do need to read the first book in the series, as the story basically picks up from the end of the book and there are characters and events you need to have a little background about.  Highly Recommended.

Rating: 4.25/5

Pages for 2014: 11909