Paperback, 315 pages
Russian language
Published Jan. 21, 2018 by Эксмо.
A compelling portrait of the perfect English butler, who, at the end of his career in postwar England, reviews his life and secretly questions the "greatness" of the nobleman he served.
There's so much in here. It bears another read, and I'm very curious how they managed the film adaptation.
I didn't start getting into the story until around the 40% mark and even then, I felt like I had to make myself read it. If it hadn't been a book club pick, it'd probably be a DNF. I'm glad I stuck with it until the end. It was worth it from a literary and historical standpoint. But that ending felt incredibly depressing to me and I'm not sure it was meant to be? Was there meant to be little to no growth of the main character? Did he grow, but my own views are just so vastly different I can't see it? I have a lot of feelings to think about before my book club's discussion.
An extraordinarily skillful book. There's so much to respect about and draw from this book and the way it's written, but my single favourite thing is that the entire 'plot' hangs on one sentence, when Mrs Benn/Miss Kenton and Stevens are waiting for Miss K's bus.
I found myself wishing frequently that I hadn't seen the film, as I could picture the protagonists only as they were portrayed by Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson; I wondered what else I might have drawn from the written portrayal of the characters if they'd been a blank slate in my mind.
The book is constructed so well. It has to be one of the best-written books I've ever read. I've given it four stars which I think is unprecedented for me!
