Reviews tagging 'Homophobia'

A Single Man by Christopher Isherwood

15 reviews

pezinho's review against another edition

Go to review page

reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

An interesting character study. I've never read about a character quite like this so I enjoyed it for what it was, however, viewing it through a 21st century lens, there are many problems with it (reason why I think I couldn't enjoy it to it's full extent).
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

kairhone's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

elzmri's review

Go to review page

dark emotional funny reflective sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

Absolutely loved this book, got me out of a reading slump. I only knocked 0.25 off because I found the ending was abrupt and it was sometimes hard following along. Isherwood is now one of my fave authors.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

jeremie's review

Go to review page

emotional reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

gabriel_dingle's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional funny informative reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

This is a must read in understanding life for queer people under oppressive circumstances. The writing is witty, charming, and deliberate, and the whole novel feels very sincere and profound. Reading this novel feels almost intimate, like having a conversation with a close friend. Isherwood is not afraid to be totally and brutally honest, going into even the most trivial details. This quickly became my favourite classic.

Only issue I have, is that there are some scenes and details in the novel which seem a bit random and irrelevant, which don’t affect the story at all.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

maria_winther's review

Go to review page

5.0

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

natthahlyh's review

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

li_reading's review

Go to review page

5.0

4.5 stars

I know that a rating of 4.5 for a classic, and one written by a man at that, probably comes as a surprise to those who know me. It certainly did to me, but I truly loved this book.

A Single Man put me in mind of A Little Life often while reading, and, perhaps surprisingly, not due to the morose subject matter or gay protagonist. But because both have the uncanny ability to make the mundane profound.

Several times while reading I found myself astounded at how much of myself I saw in George, despite having vastly different beliefs and experiences. There was something remarkably human (rather ironically, I suppose) about it all.

Despite being written in 1964, George’s complaints about the world largely remain true, and, while saddening, Isherwood’s prose makes it a joy to read all the same. I expect to find myself pawing through these pages time and time again, and only wish I had read it sooner.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

hmatt's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional funny reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No

3.5

It's a book! I liked it. I'm sure it was pretty progressive when it was published, and I think it stands up relatively well. I'm keenly aware that it ticks a few of my favourite boxes: short, queer, and character-driven. That is to say, I can see why not everyone would like it. 

Here's a passage that made me laugh out loud:
(George can't be absolutely sure if this is the same book he himself read as a young man, during a trip to Paris. At all events, he remembers throwing this, or some other book just like it, into the wastebasket, in the middle of the big screwing scene. Not that one isn't broad-minded, of course; let them write about heterosexuality if they must, and let everyone read it who cares to. Just the same, it is a deadly bore and, to be frank, a wee bit distasteful. Why can't these modern writers stick to the old simple wholesome themes - such as, for example, boys?)

And here's one that I think translates particularly well across time:
In all those old crises of the twenties, the thirties, the war - each one of them has left its traces upon George, like an illness - what was terrible was the fear of annihilation. Now we have with us a far more terrible fear, the fear of survival.

I remember really liking the movie when it came out, so maybe I'll go back and watch that now.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

deathprrrf's review

Go to review page

4.0

such a wierd and funky book. made me feel things though im not sure what those are. definitely reading again when my brain isn't scrambled 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings