Reviews

The Berlin Stories: The Last of Mr. Norris & Goodbye To Berlin by Christopher Isherwood

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chumwhat's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny informative lighthearted mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

kirsten0929's review against another edition

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4.0

Loved the stories, the characters, the writing. He really took me to 1930s Berlin. "The dead cold grips the town in utter silence, like the silence of intense midday summer heat." Love that.

jbash_lo_fi's review against another edition

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4.0

Christopher Isherwood is one of my favourite writers but I didn't enjoy the Berlin Novels as much as I remembered on this read through. Having read Christopher and His Kind since the last time I read these books, they felt a bit diminished in comparison.

Isherwood's later writing is more honest, more confident and more compelling. That's even reflected with this compilation. I'd rate Mr Norris Changes Trains 3/5 and Goodbye to Berlin 4/5. The latter benefits from being more honestly autobiographical, albeit still coy and neutered.

The books are very good, just overshadowed by the evolved versions that followed them. I couldn't read Sally Bowles without thinking of Liza Minnelli in Cabaret and I couldn't read The Nowaks without thinking of the more vividly drawn version of Otto in Christopher and His Kind. So, read The Berlin Novels because they're great, then read Christopher and His Kind because it's even better and fills in the gaps.

prettiestwhistles's review against another edition

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challenging reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

Content Warnings

gadicohen93's review against another edition

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3.0

The problem with most of these stories is that Isherwood casts himself as a complete outsider, so that his main character stands awkwardly on the verge of being an active participant in the action but almost always ends up a passive observer. When the main character speaks of good friends like Otto or Arthur, I never get a sense that those relationships are really as strong as the character says, and the interactions that the reader does glimpse really don't portray these friendships in the most believable light. A symptom of this deficiency is the main character's sexuality -- or lack of one. It seems that beyond concealing Bradshaw's/Isherwood's personality, Isherwood buries any sexual/romantic feelings he may have, too. Or perhaps that's where the root of the problem begins?

But the character's exacting, saucy narration and observations were still fun to read. Isherwood's description of people and places, though simple in style, conveyed a sense of reality that's hard to shake off, and with sarcasm to boot. His characterization of particular people especially -- like Sally Bowles, whom I loved, though I'm biased as a Cabaret fan -- riveted. On the other hand, I really disliked the Otto and Peter parts, which I slogged through, and thought represented Isherwood at his weakest. Were they shameful gay lovers, perhaps? I couldn't tell.

At his strongest, Isherwood reveals a world especially fraught with identity conflicts. That he picked one of the most interesting turning points in history at its epicenter -- the late Weimar Republic as it began to transition into the Nazi dictatorship, with the enfeebled German population compelled to choose between Nazism, communism and, to a much smaller degree, democracy -- only emboldened his sense of setting and character. Perhaps his ability to set his characters in this historical milieu is where he shines most.

fayestrange's review against another edition

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4.0

good book, but hard to read

i really loved the candid writing about berlin and the political environment around the town leading to the war; but because of the stigma around sexuality, you can feel the distance at which isherwood writes. he is obviously an iconic lgbtqia+ figure and laid the ground for everyone after him, i just found myself wishing for that veil of protection to drop