Episode 714: The Remainders Of The Day

Am approaching the end of Remainder, and I'm really keen to find out how it all ends. I'm anticipating a pretty devastating conclusion, or at least something bleak. I will say though, it's hard to root for the protagonist of the novel, if that's even an appropriate term for his character. While his obsession with reenactments does draw the reader in (and this is largely a function of McCarthy's engaging prose style), the manner in which he pursues his hobby-turned-obsession is distinctly unpleasant, at least to me. I suppose what bothers me is that what facilitates his pursuit is essentially his £8.5 billion, and it's the idea that money can buy anything that rankles. On another level though, the novel addresses the question of authenticity, which I actually think is handled very interestingly because of the way in which the narrator's attempts to recapture what he perceives as a natural way of being escalate. Zadie Smith's analysis of Remainder is extremely illuminating, and it's what made me want to read the novel in the first place. You can check it out here.