Try free for 2 months

  • The Remains of the Day

  • By: Kazuo Ishiguro
  • Narrated by: Dominic West
  • Length: 7 hrs and 5 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (527 ratings)

1 credit a month to use on any title, yours to keep (you’ll use your first credit on this title).
Stream or download thousands of included titles.
Access to exclusive deals and discounts.
AUD $16.45/mo after 2 months. Renews automatically. Cancel anytime.
The Remains of the Day cover art

The Remains of the Day

By: Kazuo Ishiguro
Narrated by: Dominic West
Try for $0.00

AUD $16.45/mo after 2 months. Renews automatically. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $21.26

Buy Now for $21.26

Pay using voucher balance (if applicable) then card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions Of Use and Privacy Notice and authorise Audible to charge your designated credit card or another available credit card on file.

Publisher's Summary

From the winner of the 2017 Nobel Prize for Literature

A contemporary classic, The Remains of the Day is Kazuo Ishiguro's beautiful and haunting evocation of life between the wars in a Great English House. In the summer of 1956, Stevens, the ageing butler of Darlington Hall, embarks on a leisurely holiday that will take him deep into the countryside - and into his past.

©2012 Kazuo Ishiguro (P)2012 Faber & Faber

What listeners say about The Remains of the Day

Average Customer Ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    375
  • 4 Stars
    109
  • 3 Stars
    33
  • 2 Stars
    8
  • 1 Stars
    2
Performance
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    397
  • 4 Stars
    68
  • 3 Stars
    4
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    2
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    320
  • 4 Stars
    109
  • 3 Stars
    30
  • 2 Stars
    11
  • 1 Stars
    4

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Beautifully Written, Intelligent Book.

Kazuo subtly opens up on the English class system and the way in which the working class thought "entering service" was a way out of the subclasses and those who live in and around the great homes. Stevens (Butler) is an excellent study of a way of life that no longer exists (if ever) of a person totally dedicated to satisfying his lord without a hint of self-awareness. This book is sad and at the same time eye-opening. A man who tried to live a life exemplified by his father, who in turn was not perfect.

Dominic West is an excellent narrator and one can only wonder how the book would have sounded if young Anthony Hoppins had narrated the book. This thought does not take away from Dominic West who made the imagery of the "House Manager" "Butler" realistic.

The Remains of the Day brings back a world long past. Of a class system in decay and the growth of a realisation of identity and self-actualisation of human rights of the working classes. That they have a voice....of a realisation of a world outside the cloistered realms of the noble houses.

Highly recommended reading/listening.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Masterful and frustrating.

Ishiguro was once described to me as a Japanese expat who wrote about emotionally repressed Englishmen. Well, nothing could have prepared me more for this novel, perhaps his most famous. Compelling in the detail and importance it brought to seemingly insignificant matters, such as the shine on silverware, the story tells a story of emotionally incapable man and the love affair he somehow manages to never find himself in. It’s a story of love for duty, dignity and role. It was difficult not to empathise with the protagonist, but also easy to be utterly infuriated with him; it’s very easy to see why one would be prompted to move to Cornwall just to annoy him. I suspect I’ll be digesting this book for some time.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A true classic

Narration was sublime. Really enjoyed this book. The inner workings of a foregone era leave me strangely both regretful at its loss and yet thankful for the freedom we enjoy today.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Pure delight

A wonderful glimpse into the customs and culture of a period in time when restraint mattered.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Subtle, thoughtful, mature and beautiful

I’m so glad I listened to this. So powerful yet subtle. The main character is so perfect yet so flawed. I cried in the end.

Some will not enjoy this. I feel sorry for these people.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

In a class of its own

The perfection of the narration, so aptly formal and proper, demonstrated the distinguished yet constrained life of one who had dedicated their life to serving another. Reflecting the unseemly view of displaying one's emotions, the emotional constipation of the protagonist is evident. To my mind, his actions and lack thereof draw parallels to the Queen. Beautiful prose. I found it fascinating.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant, beautifully written tale

A deeply moving tale of an unwitting victim of the British class system who lives his life for an aristocracy that viewed him as a " loyal" but inferior servant. The death of his father reveals the subtle cruelty the narrator accepts as he strives to be a "first rate butler".

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Enjoyed this Meandering Tale

Beautiful to submerse yourself in a regal and dignified time and culture sadly gone by. Beautifully written, slow and simple story by today’s standards, but full of depth. Exceptionally narrated.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Relax and let Dominic tell you a story

A descriptive but easy to follow story. Dominic West should narrate more books! I preferred this one to Artist of the Floating World.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Masterly

Dignified master butler Stevens (Hopkins in the movie) is an omniscient but feelings suppressing narrator. It takes a roadtrip for him to glimpse how he lost a true love for the sake of self-contrived duty. Masterfully written thru Stevens skewed vision. The final chapter is heart-breaking. Both a keeper and returnable I can't fault the narration either.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.