1.76k reviews for:

A Single Man

Christopher Isherwood

4.03 AVERAGE

fast-paced

misianyc's review

3.5
emotional funny reflective medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated
adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring sad slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I wanted to love this book and I wanted to love George, but sadly, this book just didn't resonate with me. This book is only 186 pages and it still took me an entire week to read it because I just didn't feel like picking it up. I still want to watch the movie though.

I really don't know what to say about this. There isn't a whole lot of plot - just themes. And I don't think I could do the book justice talking about those in a review. I don't think I want to talk about them besides, for fear of pigeon-holing the book and George.

Remarkably well done. 4.5 stars, rounded down because I need a reason to hate myself, I guess.

It's a gorgeous book. Do recommend.

Vi følger George over en dag, og denne form minder mig utroligt meget om "Mrs Dalloway" af Virginia Wolf, som jeg virkelig nød at læse. Det er altid spændende at se, hvor meget man kan lære om én person, og vedkommendes liv og omgivelser, bare ved at følge dem et helt døgn. George er en meget humørsvingende karakterer, men han er virkelig interessant, og gør sig nogle relevante tanker om sit liv og samfundet generelt.

Der var få passager, som virkede en anelse overflødige, men samtidig var der også passager, som den, hvor han underviser en klasse, der er vildt spændende og gjorde mig helt begejstret. Det var nærmest som at sidde til en spændende forelæsning selv, og George passer perfekt ind i rollen som underviser. Det, at han er homoseksuel, bliver skildret som en naturlig del af hans liv og hverdag, så han netop fremstår ligesom alle andre mennesker - hvilket jo er sådan folk burde se på det i virkeligheden. George er jo et normalt menneske, selvom folk i hans nabolag måske ikke anser ham for at være det.

""Someone has to ask you a question," George continues meaningly, "before you can answer it. But it's so seldom you find anyone who'll ask the right questions. Most people aren't that much interested..."" - citat side 80.

Der var en del fangende beskrivelser, hvor Christopher Isherwood leger med sine sætninger, som jeg virkelig nød, men samtidig slutter jeg også bogen af med en følelse ala "var det dét?" eftersom bogen bliver set, som et af hans mest betydningsfulde værker. Tanken er ikke nødvendigvis negativt, men det er ikke den mest actionfyldte roman, og det behøver den sådan set heller ikke at være. En stilfærdig hverdag skildret, som egentlig vægter store overvejelser om det at leve.
emotional reflective sad fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Beautiful and powerful. A sad, funny, and masterful novel. 

The whole 100 pages are really rambly but contain some witty comments and cynical observations about life that made me chuckle, especially when George is trying to get his students to have a discussion in class. Other than that, I think I need a more in-depth read/analysis of all the elements in the book to truly appreciate it, but i honestly can't be bothered.

I really wanted to read this after watching the movie but my progress has been soooooo slow bc every single time I started reading it I fell asleep within like 2-3 pages … so at this point I am giving up. I really tried though! 

Beautifully written, but the plot left a lot to be desired. Characters for me fell flat.

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