The Remains of the Day is one of the books I picked up from this video by Ruby Hart on how each country has its own literary voice. She uses it twice: once as an example of Ishiguro’s restraint and focus on memory, and again to show how class and institutions shape British characters.
Stevens, the most important thing in his life is doing the right thing as a butler.
The same video gave me Oblomov, The Glass Bead Game, and East of Eden.