Take a photo of a barcode or cover
jennifer_silver 's review for:
Down There on a Visit
by Christopher Isherwood
As my first Isherwood novel I wasn't entirely sure what to expect, and coming out of a reading slump I fully intended to struggle through this novel, and perhaps even stop midway and continue another.
Yet I found it to be engaging and insightful, particularly the structure with the 4 different fragments and settings, the transformations interlinking these fragments, such as Waldemar connecting Christopher from Mr Lancaster to Berlin to Greece, in turn created a web linking the narrators wanderings which ensured the reader knew it was the same narrator, despite the change in writing style. Also particularly striking is how the atmosphere of each location and each character is felt palpably, the reader too feels the anxiety over the Sudetenland crisis and the isolation on the Greek islands, and how although the 4 characters Isherwood creates are in themselves entirely forgettable (i.e. Ambrose in his isolation and Mr Lancaster's death), their character is felt assuredly through the page as a great part of the narrator's life.
Likewise, Christopher, the narrator, as a wanderer also has a significant effect, at the beginning of the novel, I personally expected for his settling somewhere, and perhaps a moralistic message at the novel's conclusion, and thus the unexpected continuation of his wanderings left me too asking and reflecting on the reason for life, an idea that came up a few times in the novel (as Paul remarks 'you really are a tourist, to your bones', a poignant note for the novel to finish on, as my suspicion behind the title was confirmed, which left me further reflecting).
The themes of homosexuality, spirituality, and pacifism were also strong (and from my research seem to be common themes of Isherwood's writing), and there were moments of unexpected comedy, where I found myself laughing, along with the occurrence of key events, i.e. the War and the rise of the Nazis, which are not often explicitly referred to (excluding the narrator's anxiety over the Sudetenland crisis and emergence of war) though they impact the atmosphere of a situation which was an interesting point
Overall, a brilliant novel, though I still feel like I am missing a key idea from the novel so hence the 4 stars
Yet I found it to be engaging and insightful, particularly the structure with the 4 different fragments and settings, the transformations interlinking these fragments, such as Waldemar connecting Christopher from Mr Lancaster to Berlin to Greece, in turn created a web linking the narrators wanderings which ensured the reader knew it was the same narrator, despite the change in writing style. Also particularly striking is how the atmosphere of each location and each character is felt palpably, the reader too feels the anxiety over the Sudetenland crisis and the isolation on the Greek islands, and how although the 4 characters Isherwood creates are in themselves entirely forgettable (i.e. Ambrose in his isolation and Mr Lancaster's death), their character is felt assuredly through the page as a great part of the narrator's life.
Likewise, Christopher, the narrator, as a wanderer also has a significant effect, at the beginning of the novel, I personally expected for his settling somewhere, and perhaps a moralistic message at the novel's conclusion, and thus the unexpected continuation of his wanderings left me too asking and reflecting on the reason for life, an idea that came up a few times in the novel (as Paul remarks 'you really are a tourist, to your bones', a poignant note for the novel to finish on, as my suspicion behind the title was confirmed, which left me further reflecting).
The themes of homosexuality, spirituality, and pacifism were also strong (and from my research seem to be common themes of Isherwood's writing), and there were moments of unexpected comedy, where I found myself laughing, along with the occurrence of key events, i.e. the War and the rise of the Nazis, which are not often explicitly referred to (excluding the narrator's anxiety over the Sudetenland crisis and emergence of war) though they impact the atmosphere of a situation which was an interesting point
Overall, a brilliant novel, though I still feel like I am missing a key idea from the novel so hence the 4 stars