BOOK · [196]
The Remains of the Day
Literary Fiction
Ishiguro's Booker-winning novel about an English butler reckoning, on a six-day drive through the West Country, with a life of dignified service that quietly cost him everything. Bezos has called it his favorite novel of all time and credits it with teaching him that a few hours inside a great novel can deliver more about life and regret than years of nonfiction — the same regret-minimization logic he used to leave finance and start Amazon.
Endorsed By
1 PERSON-
Jeff Bezos
“If you read The Remains of the Day, which is my favorite book of all time, you can't help but come away and think, I just spent 10 hours living an alternate life and I learned something about life and about regret.”
Inc.'s piece tying Ishiguro's Nobel to Bezos quotes Bezos's 2009 remark and links the novel to the regret-minimization framework he has cited as the reason he left D.E. Shaw to start Amazon.