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taraspinosa's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
charlierhys06's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
I thoroughly enjoyed this short read from cover to cover, Isherwood is wonderfully sensitive and emotional while remaining challenging to the reader - daring us to loosen our chains and live NOW. Love hard and fast and intensely. His comment on prudishness towards the end of the book was particularly striking and made me really reconsider my own thoughts on desire and the body.
Content Warnings
Minor: Racial slurs
yeehaw_agenda's review against another edition
4.0
I read this book every few years, and every time it punches me in the gut.
captaincook97's review against another edition
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.75
A Single Man follows a man in grief of a loss and spans over a day discussing his activities and his inner monologue/thoughts. This book was mildly engaging at times but for the most part it didn't do much for me. It has lines that I really liked and small parts that I enjoyed but overall I wasn't a big fan.
harveyrichardwilson's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-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
4.0
rymrgard's review against another edition
5.0
If there was a favourite-favourite shelf this book would be on it. God I cried so much reading this.
telemachus_ii_260's review against another edition
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
wm94's review against another edition
5.0
a melancholic and defiant book with a beating heart. george is extremely flawed as a person, but there are so many pieces of erudite wisdom that emanate from him that it’s hard not to get swept up in his grief, in his humanity, in the life of this single man.
the title works on two levels: george is now single because he has lost his lover jim, but also it speaks to the interiority, to the inner world, of the way the book is written. in this inner world, george has some candid and most assuredly problematic views about women, minorities, politics, and surely for this book some people may be put off like i initially was, but a commitment to finish it soon overrode my misgivings and i’m glad i did.
i love the way george calls out pseudo-liberal sentimentality and forces us to really examine the differences between minorities, for it is through these differences that understanding, change, and growth can take place. it’s certainly a departure from eliding these differences into simply “we’re all human”. it’s like a big fuck you to “all lives matter”, which was pretty radical for the 60’s, and for this country’s knee jerk reaction to black lives and queer lives demanding that their lives matter just as much BECAUSE they are different. this whole “love is love is love is love” is just another way of saying “we’re all human”, too, when it fact george is oppressed and can’t grieve his partner normally like straight people were allowed to because he is gay. liberals can be poorly disguised centrists, even thinly masked conservatives sometimes, and this book has solidified in me the belief that differences do matter.
this book will forever hold a special place in my heart because it started a spectacular friendship and i can see why it was rated so highly, for its biggest strength is in its ability to illuminate the importance of reaching out to someone and trying to create connections.
the title works on two levels: george is now single because he has lost his lover jim, but also it speaks to the interiority, to the inner world, of the way the book is written. in this inner world, george has some candid and most assuredly problematic views about women, minorities, politics, and surely for this book some people may be put off like i initially was, but a commitment to finish it soon overrode my misgivings and i’m glad i did.
i love the way george calls out pseudo-liberal sentimentality and forces us to really examine the differences between minorities, for it is through these differences that understanding, change, and growth can take place. it’s certainly a departure from eliding these differences into simply “we’re all human”. it’s like a big fuck you to “all lives matter”, which was pretty radical for the 60’s, and for this country’s knee jerk reaction to black lives and queer lives demanding that their lives matter just as much BECAUSE they are different. this whole “love is love is love is love” is just another way of saying “we’re all human”, too, when it fact george is oppressed and can’t grieve his partner normally like straight people were allowed to because he is gay. liberals can be poorly disguised centrists, even thinly masked conservatives sometimes, and this book has solidified in me the belief that differences do matter.
this book will forever hold a special place in my heart because it started a spectacular friendship and i can see why it was rated so highly, for its biggest strength is in its ability to illuminate the importance of reaching out to someone and trying to create connections.
danchrist's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75