Two sad books

Recent reading:

The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy and The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro. The books have certain striking similarities, and I think my enjoyment was enhanced by reading them one after another.

The God of Small Things is the story of a tragedy that befalls a Syrian Christian family in India, while The Remains of the Day is about an English butler reminiscing over his life. However, both stories move effortlessly back and forth through time and give the books a dream-like quality. Both books tell most of the story in disturbing hints and intimations that the narrator is not always aware of. Both feature a protagonist looking back over a wasted life. I think haunting is a good word for both books.

I heard that The Remains of the Day was made into a movie - has anyone seen it? It seems like it would be a hard book to make a good movie out of, but I have added it to my Netflix anyway (sorry, B. I'll watch it while you're at yoga or something).