This was an odd one for me. Ive been working on it for 2 months (my fault, not the book), but having finished it 20 minutes ago, the following things jump to my mind. I did not like Mr. Norris at all. Thus i had to rely on our first person storyteller, William. I tried to like William.....but my dislike for Mr. Norris prevented me from taking William seriously, since the character he was portrayed to be, would never in a million years put up with his quirky weirdness for as long as he did. Having been written in 1935...pre WWII....this was also a political tome dancing through the mire of Communists, Nazis and the others through campaigns and elections during that turbulent period leading up to Hitler's rage against humanity. Set in Berlin mostly, I felt that through all of those parts, I was sitting in preparation class for a college final, and i realized i must have missed a whole bunch of classes! I tried to figure it out....but i also did not care enough about these characters to pause long enough to look it up. so, i struggled. Interesting, then quirky....then disturbing on a few levels. Cannot go above a 3. ( )

This book is a very compelling collision of lightness, optimism and flippancy with sinister events and a terrible sense of foreboding. Isherwood is masterful in his ability to balance the two moods even within the same page. I struggled a bit to get my head around the first two (short) chapters, maybe because I was confused by this contradiction - is Arthur Norris endearing or grotesque? But then chapter 3 is laugh out loud funny and I was entirely on board.

I don't think there is any resolution of the two counterpoints of the story - the Nazis are both ludicrous and terrifying, Kano is both predator and victim, and so on - but the conclusion was satisfying nonetheless.

There are few fireworks in the writing, but it is elegantly written with wit and perfect pacing. ( )

Like Goodbye to Berlin I'm not entirely sure what this was about but it was likewise well written and intriguing. ( )

Christopher Isherwood is now best remembered for his stories set in Berlin during the demise of the Weimar Republic and the rise of the Nazis. This book, the novella 'Sally Bowles' and the collection of stories published as 'Goodbye to Berlin' inspired John van Druten's play, 'I Am a Camera' which in turn inspired the memorable 'Cabaret' which so poignantly captured the simultaneous decadence and political volatility of Berlin in the early 1903s.

The book is narrated by William Bradshaw, a young Cambridge graduate who has moved to Berlin where he survives by teaching English to a succession of pupils. On the train from The Hook of Holland he meets and befriends Arthur Norris, a larger than life opportunist who has been living off his wits in Berlin for some years. Norris is a superb creation, a cheery amalgam of Arthur Daley, Falstaff and Mr Pickwick. At first sight cripplingly effete, he is on occasion prepared to live fairly dangerously, although he also suffers from a crippling squeamishness about some of the bleaker realities of life. Like Pickwick, he is slave to an incurable vanity about his appearance, thinning his eyebrows three times a week and revelling in his selection of wigs. I don't, however, recall Pickwick being addicted to robust flagellation delivered by a red-booted dominatrix (though perhaps it's just that my school favoured a bowdlerised version of Dickens's novel to protect our simple country boy innocence).

The novel is clearly drawn from Isherwood's own experiences, catalogued more factually (though less entertainingly) in his memoir 'Christopher and His Kind'. Interestingly, while other aspects of the character remain essentially unchanged, William Bradshaw does indeed become Christopher Isherwood in the subsequent stories.

He pulls off a masterly performance. The story is by turns hilarious, sad and chilling, against the backdrop of bitter street fights between the Nazis and the Communists, with episodes of ghastly anti-semitism in the background. Bradshaw relates events in a manner similar to Nick Jenkins in Anthony Powell's saga 'A Dance to the Music of Time'. Although he tells the story, we learn almost nothing about him apart from the odd hint gleaned from other characters' passing comments. Events happen around him rather than to him, but his observation is clear and wry.

Isherwood writes with an attractive simplicity - his prose is clear and engaging, and a joy to read. ( )

The narrative is very fast-paced and engaging. Arthur Norris tries everything to stay afloat and then sinks with his least-favorite weight strapped around his leg. The other characters don't get as much attention as of course Kuno. Ludwig Bayer was decent. I think it was the woman characters (few as they were) that lacked depth- especially Anni. Fraulein Schroeder wasn't too bad.
Nothing remarkable abut the book except it telling the tale of its times. ( )