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4.03 AVERAGE
4.03 AVERAGE
This book is a brilliant painting of life, wet with sadness wrapped around your eyes. Why do I like to read such sad books? I am once again hysterically sobbing from a number of words in a certain order
It always feels like such an honor to stumble upon a queer book from before the 80s. Few things can replicate the feeling of reading a voice from fifty, sixty, seventy years ago perfectly relay a sensation or a sentiment you, yourself, are enduring in the now. Looking forward to all the classic queer lit that comes my way in 2025!
edit: just did some research on Isherwood and finding out he met his life partner, who was 30 years his junior, at the beach ON VALENTINES DAY (and likely drew directly inspiration for the george and kenny sequence at that bar/beach ohhhhh god bring back real lovers man)
Some favorite quotes:
'Think of two people, living together day after day, year after year, in this small space, standing elbow to elbow cooking at the same small stove, squeezing past each other on the narrow stairs, shaving in front of the same small bathroom mirror, constantly jogging, jostling, bumping against each other's bodies by mistake or on purpose, sensually, aggressively, awkwardly, impatiently, in rage or in love - think what deep though invisible tracks they must leave, everywhere, behind them! The doorway into the kitchen has been built too narrow. Two people in a hurry, with plates of food in their hands, are apt to keep colliding here. And it is here, nearly every morning, that George, having reached the bottom of the stairs, has this sensation of suddenly finding himself on an abrupt, brutally broken off, jagged edge - as though the track had disappeared down a landslide. It is here that he stops short and knows, with a sick newness, almost as though it were for the first time: Jim is dead. Is dead.
He stands quite still, silent, or at most uttering a brief animal grunt, as he waits for the spasm to pass. Then he walks into the kitchen. These mornings spasms are too painful to be treated sentimentally. After them, he feels relief, merely. It is like getting over a bad attack of cramp.'
(Read this quote at like 2am and I had to stare at my ceiling for ten minutes. What the hell.)
*
"I would love to come. How about tomorrow?"
Her face falls. "Oh well, tomorrow. Tomorrow wouldn't be so good, I'm afraid. You see, tomorrow we have some friends coming over from the Valley, and..."
And they might notice something queer about me, and you'd feel ashamed, George thinks, okay, okay.'
(Something about the "okay, okay" made me PHYSICALLY ill like this quiet devastation buried under this fast acceptance because this is just something he's used to as a gay man in the 60s ohhhhhhh my god)
*
'For a moment, Kenny's face is quite distinct. It grins, dazzlingly. Then his grin breaks up, is refracted, or whatever you call it, into rainbows of light. The rainbows blaze. George is blinded by them. He shuts his eyes. And now the buzzing in his ears is the roar of Niagara.'
(In context, this is just George slipping into an alcohol-induced sleep BUT! THIS!!! THIS IS STUNNING!!!)
edit: just did some research on Isherwood and finding out he met his life partner, who was 30 years his junior, at the beach ON VALENTINES DAY (and likely drew directly inspiration for the george and kenny sequence at that bar/beach ohhhhh god bring back real lovers man)
Some favorite quotes:
'Think of two people, living together day after day, year after year, in this small space, standing elbow to elbow cooking at the same small stove, squeezing past each other on the narrow stairs, shaving in front of the same small bathroom mirror, constantly jogging, jostling, bumping against each other's bodies by mistake or on purpose, sensually, aggressively, awkwardly, impatiently, in rage or in love - think what deep though invisible tracks they must leave, everywhere, behind them! The doorway into the kitchen has been built too narrow. Two people in a hurry, with plates of food in their hands, are apt to keep colliding here. And it is here, nearly every morning, that George, having reached the bottom of the stairs, has this sensation of suddenly finding himself on an abrupt, brutally broken off, jagged edge - as though the track had disappeared down a landslide. It is here that he stops short and knows, with a sick newness, almost as though it were for the first time: Jim is dead. Is dead.
He stands quite still, silent, or at most uttering a brief animal grunt, as he waits for the spasm to pass. Then he walks into the kitchen. These mornings spasms are too painful to be treated sentimentally. After them, he feels relief, merely. It is like getting over a bad attack of cramp.'
(Read this quote at like 2am and I had to stare at my ceiling for ten minutes. What the hell.)
*
"I would love to come. How about tomorrow?"
Her face falls. "Oh well, tomorrow. Tomorrow wouldn't be so good, I'm afraid. You see, tomorrow we have some friends coming over from the Valley, and..."
And they might notice something queer about me, and you'd feel ashamed, George thinks, okay, okay.'
(Something about the "okay, okay" made me PHYSICALLY ill like this quiet devastation buried under this fast acceptance because this is just something he's used to as a gay man in the 60s ohhhhhhh my god)
*
'For a moment, Kenny's face is quite distinct. It grins, dazzlingly. Then his grin breaks up, is refracted, or whatever you call it, into rainbows of light. The rainbows blaze. George is blinded by them. He shuts his eyes. And now the buzzing in his ears is the roar of Niagara.'
(In context, this is just George slipping into an alcohol-induced sleep BUT! THIS!!! THIS IS STUNNING!!!)
A quick read with delicious prose, this book depicts a single day in the life of an English professor whose partner has passed away recently. He's grieving and is going through a midlife crisis that is quite relatable (even at my relatively younger age). I enjoyed it immediately especially the tinge of humour that's ever present in the writing. Overall a good read!
Would have been good in any time, but was extraordinary for its era. Kind of an odd writing style but Isherwood managed to say a great deal in a short amount of time and space; always a plus in my opinion.
One of my favorite books I read this year. I will be rereading
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
“…he begins to feel this utterly mysterious unsensational thing - not bliss, not ecstasy, not joy - just plain happiness - das Glueck, le bonheur, la felicidad - they have given it all three genders but one has to admin, however grudgingly, that the Spanish are right, it is usually feminine, that’s to say, woman-created.”
Was a slow burn for me. Picked up in the second half for me and has stayed with me since. Can’t wait to watch the movie as I’ve heard it’s fantastic.
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
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