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Product Description
Review
Indispensable for admirers of this truly masterly writer. Peter Stansky, The New York Times Book Review (The New York Times Book Review )
The best prose writer in English. . . . The later Isherwood is even better than the early cameraman. Gore Vidal, The New York Review of Books (The New York Times Review of Books ) --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.
The best prose writer in English. . . . The later Isherwood is even better than the early cameraman. Gore Vidal, The New York Review of Books (The New York Times Review of Books ) --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.
Book Description
Originally published in 1976, Christopher and His Kind covers the most memorable ten years in the writer's life-from 1929, when Isherwood left England to spend a week in Berlin and decided to stay there indefinitely, to 1939, when he arrived in America. His friends and colleagues during this time included W. H. Auden, Stephen Spender, and E. M. Forster, as well as colorful figures he met in Germany and later fictionalized in his two Berlin novels-who appeared again, fictionalized to an even greater degree, in I Am a Camera and Cabaret.
What most impressed the first readers of this memoir, however, was the candor with which he describes his life in gay Berlin of the 1930s and his struggles to save his companion, a German man named Heinz, from the Nazis. An engrossing and dramatic story and a fascinating glimpse into a little-known world, Christopher and His Kind remains one of Isherwood's greatest achievements.
A major figure in twentieth-century fiction and the gay rights movement, Christopher Isherwood (1904-1986) is the author of Down There on a Visit, Lions and Shadows, A Meeting by the River, The Memorial, Prater Violet, A Single Man, and The World in the Evening, all available from the University of Minnesota Press.
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Most helpful customer reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting Read- rewarding for the patient,
By "rihock" (St. Petersburg, FL United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Christopher And His Kind (Paperback)
I will admit to being slightly put off by the text when I first started reading it. However, once past the unique construction of grammar and syntax, it was an enjoyable experience. I found the filter of the English class system, homosexuality and 1920's mores an interesting perspective. I would recommend reading some of Isherwood's other texts before undertaking this one as many of the stories and characters are freely referenced and revealed in a truer light. The descriptions of Germany are unique to his age and thoroughly fascinating. The story of the man he tries to save from the Nazi's is interesting, but I particularly liked the end of the novel where he broaches the future and seeking love, and true companionship. Overall I fine read.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Isherwood discovers Berlin and boys,
By A Customer
This review is from: Christopher and His Kind (Paperback)
Christopher Isherwood makes it clear in his introduction that this book will be candid about his homosexuality. It begins with his move to Berlin and covers the time up to his move to America. There are fascinating anecdotes: the character of Sally Bowles (later made famous by "Cabaret") was named after the then unknown but handsome American Paul Bowles. Isherwood read E.M. Forster's "Maurice" in manuscript, decades before it was published. These are just a few. And note: his "Diaries: Volume 1" begins just *after* this book (the earlier diaries were destroyed)
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
Informative but a bit ponderous,
By Jude B. Thomas "Weltmensch, homophile" (Toronto, Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Christopher And His Kind (Paperback)
I purchased the book after I saw the movie at a gay film festival in Toronto. At first I was intrigued but after most of what the movie had covered, I began to slowly lose interest. The details were informative but it was hard to feel any connection to the writer who is narrating his own story in the THIRD person. This creates a little distance...instead of pulling the reader in, I felt pushed out. However, if you are a Christopher Isherwood fan or you wish to know how his Berlin stories were generated, you must read this book.
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