Rating: 
Summary: Isherwood's Neglected Masterpiece
Review: "A Single Man" is one of the dozen or so genuine masterworks to appear in English since World War II. A quiet, unassuming story about a quiet, unassuming man (who bears a strong resemblance to the book's author), its painful and profound emotional undercurrents may escape the careless reader. This is writing so precise and clear that the characters -- George, Kenny, Charlotte -- come to exist in your mind almost as vividly as people in your own life. The book is partly modelled on "Ulysses," and so will be of extraordinary interest to students of Joyce, but I hasten to add that the novel is brief and easy-to-read. Indeed, I have read "A Single Man" countless times and will read it countless times more. Isherwood will always be best known for his "Berlin Stories" (and that largely because the musical and movie "Cabaret" was based on one of them), but this unforgettable short novel is his masterpiece.
Rating:
Summary: Isherwood's Neglected Masterpiece
Review: "A Single Man" is one of the dozen or so genuine masterworks to appear in English since World War II. A quiet, unassuming story about a quiet, unassuming man (who bears a strong resemblance to the book's author), its painful and profound emotional undercurrents may escape the careless reader. This is writing so precise and clear that the characters -- George, Kenny, Charlotte -- come to exist in your mind almost as vividly as people in your own life. The book is partly modelled on "Ulysses," and so will be of extraordinary interest to students of Joyce, but I hasten to add that the novel is brief and easy-to-read. Indeed, I have read "A Single Man" countless times and will read it countless times more. Isherwood will always be best known for his "Berlin Stories" (and that largely because the musical and movie "Cabaret" was based on one of them), but this unforgettable short novel is his masterpiece.
Rating: 
Summary: Nothing left
Review: A depressing book about the survival to loneliness, to remind us we all are lonely sometimes and maybe we could be lonely for the whole life, I would have written more about Kenny and George, it would have make closer two different generations and it would have developed a good topic, the friendship and the eye-love of the young and the old. It is incredible this book was written more than thirty years ago but I wonder if in my university I could find George..
Rating:
Summary: READ THIS BOOK!!!
Review: Deceptively simple, this classic of gay literature from 1964 is a funny, sad, smart, political, and strangely prophetic read. A dynamic character study and day-in-the-life novel of cantankerous George, a 58 year-old gay widower and literature professor living, lusting, and loathing in California. The book engagingly explores the various roles he plays and displays to the world and hints at the reality of the role we all play as human beings. A SINGLE MAN is utterly fascinating, full of intriguing observations, poignant, and just as deep as you want it to be. It's a true work of genius.
Rating:
Summary: My Favorite All-time Novel & My Crystal Ball
Review: First of all: Good concept. A day in the life. Isherwood's stream of consciousness is more readable than James Joyce's, whom I love for a different set of reasons. Second of all: A believable blend of the mundane and the transcendent. We catch the lead character George eating poached eggs for breakfast and masturbating in order to sleep at night. Before our eyes, he farts, fantasizes, converses with friends and co-workers, and generally just goes through his work day as an English professor at a state college in Los Angeles and his evening as a man seeking company.If he's seeking company with special ardor, it's because he's lost his male companion, Jim, to an auto accident, something the dreary late autumn approach to Christmas makes even harder to bear. The ghost of Jim flits in and out of so many of the novel's passages. George makes connections throughout his day, but we see one by one how they fall short of the intimacy he shared with Jim. His best friend Charlotte "Charley" and he have the kind of witty, boozy conversation longtime pals might have, but Charley's efforts to turn things romantic crash into George's homosexuality. George has friends on his school's faculty who kibbitz with him over lunch about their shared left-leaning politics, but these are hardly deep bonds. Also, George has a sickening feeling that, despite his oratorial brilliance as a teacher, he's not really reaching his students. George visits a dying woman, also involved in the Ohio car crash that killed Jim. Once upon a time, Doris was a rival for Jim's affection. George's ambivalent reaction to her sad condition, somewhere between grieving and vanquishing a foe, testifies to the unflinching honesty of this portrait. George raves about the hour he spends at his health club, entering a lively sit-up competition with a 14-year-old he finds incipiently attractive. "How delightful it is to be here," Isherwood writes, "If only one could spend one's entire life in this state of easygoing physical democracy." George's only hope for a full communion with another person comes with a happenstance nighttime meeting with one of his students, Kenny, at a beachside bar. The 60-year-old man and the 19-year-old youth enjoy smart, witty, and flirtateous conversation, which culminates in a Pacific Ocean skinny-dip and a visit to George's place. The visit is sensual but not sexual, leaving George short of the Jim standard again--but not without hope. A ordinary day of an ordinary (but for his intellect) man. Why then is this book so spectacular? The prose flows. Check out these stunning sentences: (Of Doris dying in a hospital room) "Here on the table...is a little paper book, gaudy and cute as a Chrstmas card: The Stations of the Cross. Ah, but when the road narrows to the width of this bed, when there is nothing in front of you that is known, dare you disdain any guide?" (Of George diving into the ocean nude with Kenny) "He washes away thought, speech, mood, desire, whole selves, entire lifetimes, again and again he returns, becoming always cleaner, freer, less." Isherwood's warts-and-all approach to his semi-autobiographical lead character is so refreshing! And the novel makes the most of its beautiful, decadent SoCal setting. Who would have thought that one of the greatest novels of the 20th century could be so simple and honest? I'll always love this book. It is my crystal ball, since I may be very much like George one day. Don't ask me in what ways!
Rating:
Summary: My Favorite All-time Novel & My Crystal Ball
Review: First of all: Good concept. A day in the life. Isherwood's stream of consciousness is more readable than James Joyce's, whom I love for a different set of reasons. Second of all: A believable blend of the mundane and the transcendent. We catch the lead character George eating poached eggs for breakfast and masturbating in order to sleep at night. Before our eyes, he farts, fantasizes, converses with friends and co-workers, and generally just goes through his work day as an English professor at a state college in Los Angeles and his evening as a man seeking company. If he's seeking company with special ardor, it's because he's lost his male companion, Jim, to an auto accident, something the dreary late autumn approach to Christmas makes even harder to bear. The ghost of Jim flits in and out of so many of the novel's passages. George makes connections throughout his day, but we see one by one how they fall short of the intimacy he shared with Jim. His best friend Charlotte "Charley" and he have the kind of witty, boozy conversation longtime pals might have, but Charley's efforts to turn things romantic crash into George's homosexuality. George has friends on his school's faculty who kibbitz with him over lunch about their shared left-leaning politics, but these are hardly deep bonds. Also, George has a sickening feeling that, despite his oratorial brilliance as a teacher, he's not really reaching his students. George visits a dying woman, also involved in the Ohio car crash that killed Jim. Once upon a time, Doris was a rival for Jim's affection. George's ambivalent reaction to her sad condition, somewhere between grieving and vanquishing a foe, testifies to the unflinching honesty of this portrait. George raves about the hour he spends at his health club, entering a lively sit-up competition with a 14-year-old he finds incipiently attractive. "How delightful it is to be here," Isherwood writes, "If only one could spend one's entire life in this state of easygoing physical democracy." George's only hope for a full communion with another person comes with a happenstance nighttime meeting with one of his students, Kenny, at a beachside bar. The 60-year-old man and the 19-year-old youth enjoy smart, witty, and flirtateous conversation, which culminates in a Pacific Ocean skinny-dip and a visit to George's place. The visit is sensual but not sexual, leaving George short of the Jim standard again--but not without hope. A ordinary day of an ordinary (but for his intellect) man. Why then is this book so spectacular? The prose flows. Check out these stunning sentences: (Of Doris dying in a hospital room) "Here on the table...is a little paper book, gaudy and cute as a Chrstmas card: The Stations of the Cross. Ah, but when the road narrows to the width of this bed, when there is nothing in front of you that is known, dare you disdain any guide?" (Of George diving into the ocean nude with Kenny) "He washes away thought, speech, mood, desire, whole selves, entire lifetimes, again and again he returns, becoming always cleaner, freer, less." Isherwood's warts-and-all approach to his semi-autobiographical lead character is so refreshing! And the novel makes the most of its beautiful, decadent SoCal setting. Who would have thought that one of the greatest novels of the 20th century could be so simple and honest? I'll always love this book. It is my crystal ball, since I may be very much like George one day. Don't ask me in what ways!
Rating: 
Summary: Didn't do it for me
Review: I dunno why this one just isn't one of my favorites. I think the writing was gorgeous, the characters were fabulous, and the story was good enough to keep me hooked. And I realize that the point of the book is to be rather mundane and maybe alittle melancholy (?) but it wasn't something I particularly enjoyed reading. It seemed like instead of focusing on some kind of story or plot it was focusing on ridiculous details. Plus there's nothing particularly deep about it. I was left at the end like, "Oh, ok . . ." But if you're into that kind of book then go for it, honey!
Rating:
Summary: This book is very sad, except for the time spent with Charli
Review: I thought George is a very sad person and we can understand why of course, he lost his best friend. But other than that, he's kind of weird. This book is a bit old so younger people might not be able to relate to it as well as older folks.
Rating:
Summary: The most amazing book I have ever read
Review: It was 7 years ago that I read this book, as I was studying English at College, my tutor put me on to the works of Christopher Isherwood. I passed my exams with a discursive essay on 'A single Man',which inspired me to learn more about the author. The similarities between author and main character (sorry, can't recall his name...it was 7 years ago...and this is off the cuff!) were astounding.
Christopher Isherwood managed to put words together, that no other surely could begin to manipulate to form such imagery. His use of medical terms, so accurate, I was not surprised when I found out that he was a medical student. His thoughts, entwined with reality .......amazing!
My book got lost in Thailand and although I have read subsequent C.Isherwood novels, along with his diaries....no other book made me feel so inspired that I would take the time to study the author.
I must get this book in print!!!!
Rating:
Summary: The most amazing book I have ever read
Review: It was 7 years ago that I read this book, as I was studying English at College, my tutor put me on to the works of Christopher Isherwood. I passed my exams with a discursive essay on 'A single Man',which inspired me to learn more about the author. The similarities between author and main character (sorry, can't recall his name...it was 7 years ago...and this is off the cuff!) were astounding.
Christopher Isherwood managed to put words together, that no other surely could begin to manipulate to form such imagery. His use of medical terms, so accurate, I was not surprised when I found out that he was a medical student. His thoughts, entwined with reality .......amazing!
My book got lost in Thailand and although I have read subsequent C.Isherwood novels, along with his diaries....no other book made me feel so inspired that I would take the time to study the author.
I must get this book in print!!!!
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