I saw the film of this book many years ago. I brought it the other day in a charity shop for a pound. Rarely have I spent a pound more wisely. It is a fantastic book. It would have taken quite something to have put such a fine film in the shade but this manages it and how.
In the film Anthony Hopkins gives a marvellous performance as Stevens. In it we get to imagine Stevens' unrequited love for Miss Kenton. In the book we get so much more. We get to understand more Stevens' feelings for Miss Kenton. And she also reveals her feelings for him and his reaction to this revelation. He is such a beautifully well rounded and wrote figure it is impossible not to fall for him completely.
It is interesting that although the book is very powerful there is nothing in it that is able to convey the emotional impact of the moment in the film where he and Miss Kenton separate at the end with their hands parting as the bus pulls away.
Anyway if you enjoyed the film you will njoy the book ten times more.
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