Am citit aproape pe nerăsuflate The Remains of the Day, cartea pentru care Kazuo Ishiguro a câștigat premiul Booker în 1999. Este o poveste scrisă impecabil, în care portretizarea majordomului britanic interbelic este făcută cu o acuratețe fotografică și cu o ironie șfichiuitoare. Păstrând proporțiile, m-am amuzat să mă regăsesc într-un solilocviu al domnului Stevens. Puțină auto-ironie nu strică niciodată, așa că vă împărtășesc pasajul, conștient că dau astfel apă la moară unor caracterizări, cum ar spune d-l Stevens, nu dintre cele mai flatante:

Then there was the question of what sorts of costume were appropriate on such a journey, and whether or not it was worth my while to invest in a new set of clothes. I am in the possession of a number of splendid suits, kindly passed on to me over the years by Lord Darlington himself, and by various guests who have stayed in this house and had reason to be pleased with the standard of service here.

Many of these suits are, perhaps, too formal for the purposes of the proposed trip, or else rather old-fashioned these days. But then there is one lounge suit, passed on to me in 1931 or 1932 by Sir Edward Blair – practically brand new at the time and almost a perfect fit – which might well be appropriate for evenings in the lounge or dining room of any guest houses where I might lodge.

What I do not possess, however, is any suitable travelling clothes – that is to say, clothes in which I might be seen driving the car – unless I were to don the suit passed on by the young Lord Chalmers during the war, which despite being clearly too small for me, might be considered ideal in terms of tone.

I calculated finally that my savings would be able to meet all the costs I might incur, and in addition, might stretch to the purchase of a new costume. I hope you do not think me unduly vain with regard to this last matter; it is just that one never knows when one might be obliged to give out that one is from Darlington Hall, and it is important that one be attired at such times in a manner worthy of one’s position.

Tags: butler, costume, haine, kazuo ishiguro, ramasitele zilei, the remains of the day, vestimentatie