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What I've been reading
Feb. 24th, 2010 08:35 am"The Last of Mr. Norris" by Christopher Isherwood. The main character strikes up an acquaintance with a gentleman on a train. Over time, the protagonist, William Bradshaw, discovers that Mr. Norris is a con man, but he likes him well enough to continue the friendship. Of course, eventually William gets conned as well.
and
"Goodbye to Berlin" by Christopher Isherwood. This is a loosely-related set of short stories, set around the same time and with some of the same characters as in "Mr. Norris." It's perhaps best known as the inspiration for "Cabaret." I've seen Cabaret, and the musical is extremely LOOSELY based on the stories, with a lot of added sex and drama
The two short volumes are usually printed together in an ominbus edition as "The Berlin Stories." Both are lightly-fictionalized accounts of the author's time living in Berlin giving English lessons by day and hanging out with entertainers, conmen, prostitutes and other denizens of the city's underworld at night, just as the Nazis were coming into power.
My full comments on both books can be found here.
and
"Goodbye to Berlin" by Christopher Isherwood. This is a loosely-related set of short stories, set around the same time and with some of the same characters as in "Mr. Norris." It's perhaps best known as the inspiration for "Cabaret." I've seen Cabaret, and the musical is extremely LOOSELY based on the stories, with a lot of added sex and drama
The two short volumes are usually printed together in an ominbus edition as "The Berlin Stories." Both are lightly-fictionalized accounts of the author's time living in Berlin giving English lessons by day and hanging out with entertainers, conmen, prostitutes and other denizens of the city's underworld at night, just as the Nazis were coming into power.
My full comments on both books can be found here.
