The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro

"There will always be, I realise,  those who would claim that any attempt to analyse greatness as I have been doing is quite futile."

I really wanted to like this more. This is one of those novels that I can appreciate in as much as it brilliantly conveys a character, but I just wanted something more/different. Admittedly it was difficult to get greatly enthused about things while waiting in a queue of some 50 people (after a long, long first day at my new job) at a medical centre because my finger was infected (damn nail salon),

The butler at the heart of the novel is a brilliant study of someone who has devoted so much of themselves to their job that they have almost lost their own identity and certainly their ability to relate to the greater public.

Actually, perhaps my reason for deducting a point of my score harks back to the fact that I've had a few jobs that have left me similarly detached from social norms by the level of devotion they required.

Now that I've reflected, I can certainly see how brilliant this work is, that doesn't mean I have to absolutely love it, but it certainly left me feeling a little blue - or perhaps that was just the fault of all the waiting while I read it.

 4 out of 5 trips in Somerset end up in a pub at some point.