书名：The Remains of the Day 长日留痕/长日将尽
难度：Lexile蓝思阅读指数1210L
作者：Kazuo Ishiguro
出版社名称：Vintage 
出版时间：1990
语种：英文
ISBN：9780679731726
商品尺寸：13.1 x 1.4 x 20.3 cm
包装：平装
页数：256

The Remains of the Day《长日留痕》是2017年诺贝尔文学奖得主石黑一雄的代表作之一，1989年布克奖获奖作品，被《卫报》评为“你一生离不开的100本书”。根据小说改编的同名电影（中文名《告别有情天）由安东尼·霍普金斯和埃玛·汤普森联合主演，此片获奥斯卡奖、金球奖、英国电影学院奖等多项大奖提名。

精彩书评：
“《长日留痕》结构精巧，节奏优美，以幽默和感伤的调子刻画了一个令人难忘的人物，探讨了阶级、传统和责任这些宏大而富有争议性的主题。”——大卫·劳奇，1989年布克奖评委会主席
“书中的地点可以是任何地方；人物可以是任何人；时间也可以是任何时代。每一件应为真实的事件可以是不真实的，反之亦然。我喜欢这种让人激动的感觉，并且只有读他的书我才能体会得到。”——村上春树
“石黑一雄是‘动人的咏叹过去的诗人之一’。”——乔伊斯·卡罗尔·欧茨
“这部小说温文尔雅，对语调的掌控无懈可击。”——朱利安·巴恩斯
“我们读这本书也许奢侈。它是对真正的高贵精神的反省和嘲讽，而不是对虚假的。”——李海鹏

From the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, here is the universally acclaimed novel—winner of the Booker Prize and the basis for an award-winning film.
This is Kazuo Ishiguro’s profoundly compelling portrait of Stevens, the perfect butler, and of his fading, insular world in post-World War II England. Stevens, at the end of three decades of service at Darlington Hall, spending a day on a country drive, embarks as well on a journey through the past in an effort to reassure himself that he has served humanity by serving the “great gentleman,” Lord Darlington. But lurking in his memory are doubts about the true nature of Lord Darlington’s “greatness,” and much graver doubts about the nature of his own life.

Review
“An intricate and dazzling novel.” — The New York Times
“Brilliant and quietly devastating.” — Newsweek 
“A virtuoso performance ... put on with dazzling daring and aplomb.” — The New York ReviewofBooks
“A perfect novel. I couldn’t put it down.”  — Ann Beattie
“The novel rests firmly on the narrative sophistication and flawless control of tone ... of a most impressive novelist.”  — Julian Barnes

小说的主人公史蒂文斯是一位深受英国传统熏陶的典型的男管家，冷漠无情、曲意逢迎、造作虚伪。在史蒂文斯看来，只有效忠主人、格尽职守才能体现一个管家的价值和尊严。为此，他以服务达林顿勋爵为自豪，在他眼里达林顿勋爵是那些影响世界进程的伟人，自己不过是个小人物，他所做的仅是“全神贯注于属于我们的范畴的事情；那就是说，我们应全力以赴地为那些伟大的绅士们提供尽可能好的服务，因为在他们的手中真正掌握这文明的命运”。就这样一步一步地丧失自我，为达林顿府服务了近30年。期间，肯顿小姐与史蒂文斯在达林顿府一起工作多年，两人由工作关系日久生情，相互爱慕。为了他伟大的事业，他努力压抑自己的感情，眼睁睁地看着自己深爱的女人远嫁他人。后几经辗转，在思念的驱使下，史蒂文斯走出了达林顿府。在英格兰的乡村美景的熏陶下，史蒂文斯开始了反思，终在大海边幅然悔悟，痛哭流涕，然而他的人生也近日暮。
The Remains of the Day is a profoundly compelling portrait of the perfect English butler and of his fading, insular world postwar England. At the end of his three decades of service at Darlington Hall, Stevens embarks on a country drive, during which he looks back over his career to reassure himself that he has served humanity by serving “a great gentleman.” But lurking in his memory are doubts about the true nature of Lord Darlington’s “greatness” and graver doubts about his own faith in the man he served.
A tragic, spiritual portrait of a perfect English butler and his reaction to his fading insular world in post-war England. A wonderful, wonderful book.

石黑一雄（Kazuo Ishiguro），日裔英国小说家，1954年生于日本长崎。1989年获得“布克奖”，与奈保尔、拉什迪并称“英国文坛移民三雄”。被英国皇室授勋为文学骑士，并获授法国艺术文学骑士勋章。
2017年，石黑一雄获得诺贝尔文学奖。瑞典学院给出的获奖理由为“石黑一雄的小说，以其巨大的情感力量，发掘了隐藏在我们与世界联系的幻觉之下的深渊。”
石黑一雄文体以细腻优美著称，几乎每部小说都被提名或得奖，其作品已被翻译成二十八种语言。
虽然拥有日本和英国双重的文化背景，但石黑一雄却是极为少数的、不专以移民或是国族认同作为小说题材的亚裔作家之一。他致力于写出一本对于生活在任何一个文化背景之下的人们，都能够产生意义的小说。于是，石黑一雄的每一本小说几乎都在开创一个新的格局，横跨了欧洲的贵族文化、现代中国、日本，乃至于1990年代晚期的英国生物科技实验，而屡屡给读者带来耳目一新的惊喜。
石黑一雄的出版作品如下：1982年《群山淡景》（A Pale View of Hills），获得“英国皇家学会”（Royal Society of Literature）温尼弗雷德．霍尔比奖（Winifred Holtby Prize）。1986年《浮世画家》（An Artist of the Floating World），获英国及爱尔兰图书协会颁发的“惠特布莱德”年度小说奖（Whitbread Book of the Year Award）和英国布克奖（Booker Prize）的提名。1989年《长日留痕》（The Remains of the Day），荣获英国布克奖，并荣登《出版家周刊》的畅销排行榜。1995年《无可慰藉》（The Unconsoled）赢得了“契尔特纳姆”文学艺术奖（Cheltenham Prize）。2000年《我辈孤雏》（When We Were Orphans），再次获得布克奖提名。2005年《别让我走》（Never Let Me Go），也入围了布克奖后决选名单，并获全世界文学奖奖金zui高的“欧洲小说奖”（European Novel Award）。2009年短篇故事集《夜曲》（Nocturne）。2015年，睽违十年后推出长篇小说《被掩埋的巨人》，再度席卷欧美与亚洲书市。
Kazuo Ishiguro is the 2017 winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature. His work has been translated into more than 40 languages. BothThe Remains of the Day andNever Let Me Go have sold more than 1 million copies, and both were adapted into highly acclaimed films. Ishiguro’s other work includesThe Buried Giant,Nocturnes,A Pale View of the Hills, andAn Artist of the Floating World.

PROLOGUE • JULY 1956
Darlington Hall
It seems increasingly likely that I really will undertake the expedition that has been preoccupying my imagination now for some days. An expedition, I should say, which I will undertake alone, in the comfort of Mr Farraday’s Ford; an expedition which, as I foresee it, will take me through much of the finest countryside of England to the West Country, and may keep me away from Darlington Hall for as much as five or six days. The idea of such a journey came about, I should point out, from a most kind suggestion put to me by Mr Farraday himself one afternoon almost a fortnight ago, when I had been dusting the portraits in the library. In fact, as I recall, I was up on the step-ladder dusting the portrait of Viscount Wetherby when my employer had entered carrying a few volumes which he presumably wished returned to the shelves. On seeing my person, he took the opportunity to inform me that he had just that moment finalized plans to return to the United States for a period of five weeks between August and September. Having made this announcement, my employer put his volumes down on a table, seated himself on the chaise-longue, and stretched out his legs. It was then, gazing up at me, that he said:
“You realize, Stevens, I don’t expect you to be locked up here in this house all the time Γm away. Why don’t you take the car and drive off somewhere for a few days? You look like you could make good use of a break.”
Coming out of the blue as it did, I did not quite know how to reply to such a suggestion. I recall thanking him for his consideration, but quite probably I said nothing very definite, for my employer went on:
“I’m serious, Stevens. I really think you should take a break. I’ll foot the bill for the gas. You fellows, you’re always locked up in these big houses helping out, how do you ever get to see around this beautiful country of yours?”
This was not the first time my employer had raised such a question; indeed, it seems to be something which genuinely troubles him. On this occasion, in fact, a reply of sorts did occur to me as I stood up there on the ladder; a reply to the effect that those of our profession, although we did not see a great deal of the country in the sense of touring the countryside and visiting picturesque sites, did actually “see” more of England than most, placed as we were in houses where the greatest ladies and gentlemen of the land gathered. Of course, I could not have expressed this view to Mr Farraday without embarking upon what might have seemed a presumptuous speech. I thus contented myself by saying simply:
“It has been my privilege to see the best of England over the years, sir, within these very walls.”
Mr Farraday did not seem to understand this statement, for he merely went on: “I mean it, Stevens. It’s wrong that a man can’t get to see around his own country. Take my advice, get out of the house for a few days.”
As you might expect, I did not take Mr Farraday’s suggestion at all seriously that afternoon, regarding it as just another instance of an American gentleman’s unfamiliarity with what was and what was not commonly done in England. The fact that my attitude to this same suggestion underwent a change over the following days — indeed, that the notion of a trip to the West Country took an ever-increasing hold on my thoughts — is no doubt substantially attributable to — and why should I hide it? — the arrival of Miss Kenton’s letter, her first in almost seven years if one discounts the Christmas cards. But let me make it immediately clear what I mean by this; what I mean to say is that Miss Kenton’s letter set off a certain chain of ideas to do with professional matters here at Darlington Hall, and I would underline that it was a preoccupation with these very same professional matters that led me to consider anew my employer’s kindly meant suggestion. But let me explain further.