A Single Man by Christopher Isherwood
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Book Reviews of A Single Man
Book Review: In awe of Isherwood
Summary: 5 Stars
I recently finished reading "A Single Man" and remember a Gore Vidal quote on the back of the novel's cover stating,"Isherwood is the best prose writer in English." Well said, Mr. Gore. I find myself struggling to piece together adequate commentary - the length of the novel belies the dense richness packed into every sentence, chapter, and word that went into conveying George's story. It is melancholy at times and I doubt that I could have read it with any real understanding or empathy when I was in my twenties or thirties. However, I am now probably in the same age group as George and I am in awe of the talent that could so finely articulate the nuances of thoughts, questions, and emotions threaded from beginning to end in the narrative. I could very much identify and laugh when George stopped at the gym to work out - thinking to himself that he wasn't bad providing he didn't wear his glasses, so he wouldn't see the sags or wrinkles. Or when speaking to one of his students he states that experience did not provide wisdom rather you merely found yourself saying - yes, that again.
Read it if only to admire Isherwood's talent as a writer and ability to communicate the interior dialogs and thoughts we may have but are unable to express as well as he did in his poignant novel.
Book Review: The Act of Living
Summary: 5 Stars
A single man, a single day, a single life. Christopher Isherwood masterfully reveals the character of George, a middle-aged English professor, in a matter of hours. The story is told through George's stream of consciousness as he wakes up to begin his ordinary day until he lays down to sleep at the end of his day. His day is quite simple and routine; however, Isherwood creates a deep, rich, and complex text in which the reader is able to become George. The reader experiences George: his inescapable lonliness, which stems from his lover's death, his deep anger and resentment with the laws of society, his trivial and obligating "friendships", and his confused and frustrating lust for a student.
It is only with 'A Single Man' that I have ever completed a novel and immediately began to re-read it. It's a very satisfying read, short but absolutely memorable and surprisingly contemporary, considering it was published in 1964. It is now my all-time favorite book.
Book Review: Read this book!
Summary: 5 Stars
This short novel follows one day in the life of George, a 58-year-old English professor at San Tomas State College in Los Angeles, CA. From the moment he wakes up and shuffles to the bathroom, we are immediately thrust into his perception of life both as a gay man in the 1960s, and without his partner Jim who died in a car accident. His views are based upon both of these events, sometimes viewing the world as a big, happy joke, and other times as a very hostile place.It's a great character study into something I think we don't read about too often: the life of a gay man in his fifties. Too often, gay books deal with men in their twenties and thirties, and if someone older than that appears, he's a caricature or stereotype of the dirty old man. George is very human and is presented in a very realistic manner.
Beautifully written. Definitely worth reading.
Book Review: I picked the book because the movie was coming out.
Summary: 5 Stars
A month ago I saw that Tom Ford was making a movie with the incredible Colin Firth and amazing Julianne Moore. Pretty much after that I went straight to the book store to go and buy it. This was before I knew the author of the book, who I then realized was also the author of Berlin Stories, from where Cabaret came from (as i was told by the book store person). I went into the book blindly and the story just drew me in. It was written brilliantly, the story was beautiful, and it makes me look forward to the movie even more. It was my first book by Christopher Isherwood and because of this book, it won't be my last. Don't let it pass you by. The movie hasn't been released yet so I can't say for certain if reading the book changed my opinion on the movie, but I strongly urge you to pick up this book.Book Review: A "Single" Masterpiece
Summary: 5 Stars
This is the first Isherwood novel I have read and now I wonder why I waited so long. This is remarkably still fresh novel (despite some 60's historical references) about a gay man who has trajically lost his partner and is trying to move on with his life. A man who through it all loves life and see the humor and irony in daily living. As saying goes, "everything changes but still remains the same." Some readers see this book as "depressing" and a "downer" I see it as a all-too-ultra-real tale of a modern day gay male. While gay literature readers can sometimes get lost in the "fluff and buff gym boys at the beach reads", it is wonderful to see a novel that is a renewal of how gay literature can move and inspire generations of readers.