The Temple

To know that The Temple is a semi-autobiographical fiction gives weight to Spender's words. Most everything that happens to the main character, poet Paul Schoner, in The Temple is something that happened to Spender in and around 1929. He thinly disguises his relationship with other writers (most significantly W. H. Auden and Christopher Isherwood) as he travels to Hamburg from Oxford. It is important to remember that in the 1920s censorship was prevalent in England. As a homosexual, Spender needed to live his life in lies. His true identity was hidden like a secret. Germany in 1929, while more forgiving about lifestyles, was also going through its own dark period. Spender includes the growing sense of foreboding as Hitler comes to show more power. Though fascists and Nazis Spender paints a picture of a society that foregoes the history of friendship for the sake of power. It's violent ending is a sign of dark days ahead. show less

This is an enjoyable book, although rather inconsistent. Some of the passages, especially those that are heavy on dialogue, are awkward and with a purpose that is far from clear. Others are bright and evocative. Although none of the characters is simple, nor are they alive or engaging, particularly in the first part of the book.

Spender's novel on his time spent in Germany with Isherwood and Auden. This book is part fiction part non-fiction. The first half is largely just a recount of actual events and accounts of the time he spent in Germany with the aforementioned companions but the second half is largely fiction.
A terrific book it's a lovely story about love, war, friendship, and homosexuality in the early part of the 20th Century.

Spender's own pre-WW2 idyllic romp around 1929 Germany as war slowly encroaches.