Mr Norris Changes Trains: Christopher Isherwood (Vintage classics)

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Though Berlin was a progressive, “left-wing” city, there existed conflict and tension among communists, monarchists, fascists, socialists, and republicans. Faced with the prospect of a long and tiresome journey, he strikes up a conversation with the man in his carriage, Mr Arthur Norris, a gentleman of ‘independent means.

Mr Norris Changes Trains - Wikipedia

Looking back with full knowledge of what the Nazis did, it’s hard to acknowledge that a lot of people at the time would have embraced their less heinous policies, in the way a lot of people in the US embraced the values represented by Trump and a lot of people in the UK embraced the lies told by Cameron, Johnson and Gove before and during the EU Referendum.That's because most pre-WWII writing was written post-WWII and takes a look at the oncoming darkness head-on. A recent read was Dorothy Whipple’s, “Someone at a Distance,” which I initially thought would be boring, but found that I loved.

Mr. Norris Changes Trains | novel by Isherwood | Britannica

We take pride in offering a wide selection of used books, from classics to hidden gems, ensuring there? Just as the Baron’s monocle is holding up the mask of politeness which hides the Baron’s sexual depravity, so Mr Norris’s sad, shifty light-blue eyes symbolise his shifty yet sympathetic character and Sally Bowles’s ugly, uncomely hands with their unflattering green nail polish show us the superficial and supercilious nature. Drawing from his own life to a degree few other authors had done, these two books are among the best portrayals of that time and place.I always say that I only wish to have three sorts of people as my friends, those who are very rich, those who are very witty, and those who are very beautiful. I thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed the accounts of wild raves and Isherwood’s uncanny prescience, but ultimately I expected more from a time so enriched with flourishing creativity and political instability. This is partially because there are those worse than him (the Nazis and Schmidt) and partially because we see him through Bradshaw’s eyes who, despite Norris’ behaviour, clearly also has a soft spot for him. When I finished, I felt the same as after eating tiramisu, that calorie bomb disguised as a light dessert, The Berlin Novels are a rich slice of history which surpasses any list of its ingredients. Isherwood's writing is so delightful, his characters so well-drawn and his portrait of Berlin so fascinating that you almost miss the despair, particularly in "Sally Bowles.