A review by hmatt
A Single Man by Christopher Isherwood

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.
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