The Remains of the Day
by Kazuo Ishiguro (prize winner)
The Booker Prize Podcast, Episode 35: The Remains of the Day, on screen and in print
This week, The Booker Prize Podcast revisits the 1989 Booker Prize winner, Kazuo Ishiguro’s post-war novel The Remains of the Day, and its big-screen adaptation
Listen to more episodes from The Booker Prize Podcast here.
It’s the third and final installment in our mini-series where we revisit Booker Prize novels whose cinematic adaptations were nominated at the Academy Awards. In this episode, we’re taking a closer look at The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro, which won the 1989 Booker Prize. Ishiguro’s moving portrait of the perfect English butler looking back on his life was adapted for the screen four years later by James Ivory – the film received eight nominations at the Oscars. Tune in to hear Jo and James discuss the novel – which also happens to be our March Monthly Spotlight – and its big-screen counterpart.
Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson in The Remains of the Day.
© COLUMBIA PICTURES / Allstar Picture Library Ltd. / Alamy Stock PhotoIn this episode Jo and James:
Share a brief biography of Kazuo Ishiguro
Summarise the plot of the book, and share their thoughts on it
Explore the character of Stevens and the idea of dignity on which he based his life
Discuss the narrative devices Ishiguro uses throughout the novel
Delve into James Ivory’s adaptation, and the differences between book and film
Kazuo Ishiguro
© Ben Stansall/AFP via Getty Images
