A Single Man

English language

Published Feb. 11, 2001 by University of Minnesota Press.

ISBN:
978-0-8166-3862-8
Copied ISBN!

View on OpenLibrary

View on Inventaire

(11 reviews)

A Single Man is a 1964 novel by Christopher Isherwood. Set in Southern California during 1962, it depicts one day in the life of George, a middle-aged Englishman who is a professor at a Los Angeles university. The university might reflect CSULA, where Christopher Isherwood taught for some time. In 2009, fashion designer Tom Ford directed a film adaptation of the novel, with additions made to the original plot in the screenplay by David Scearce and Ford.

1 edition

Review of 'A Single Man' on 'Goodreads'

Good lord the first and last portions of this one are brutal

Lot of weird complicated feelings on this one. Had a lot of stuff you could call “of its time” that doesn’t make it excusable. But the overall vibe resonates hard, and that feeling of social, emotional, and physical isolation hits with ferocity.

Review of 'A Single Man' on 'Goodreads'

"Who says I have to be brave? George asks. Who depends on me now? Who cares?"

I'd seen this movie years ago, and honestly forgot most of the details, but reading this book was like a pile driver to the chest. Isherwood is a master at exploring the extreme complexities of grief, solitude, and identity through an extremely vivid narration. The setting was so crisp and the emotions were so powerful. Spending the day with George, Charlotte, and Kenny made me grow to love them each in the span of a short 175 pages.

Aside from being a queer story, which made me appreciate it even more, it was so plainly human.

"What is left out of the picture is Jim, lying opposite him at the other end of the couch, also reading; the two of them absorbed in their books yet so completely aware of each other's presence."

The …

None

Heartbroken after the loss of his lover, weighted down by depression, oppressed by the persona he has to embody for the sake of social protocol, George battles with all sorts of inner demons.

He is one of the most genuine, relatable, and heartfelt characters I ever came across. I wanted to attend more virtual lectures with him. Hear him recount Greek mythologies in order to clarify a book’s title. Read his thoughts when he was with Charley.

George simply blurred the frontline segregating reality from book fiction.

“I want like hell to tell you. But I can’t. I quite literally can’t. Because, don’t you see, what I know is what I am? And I can’t tell you that. You have to find it out for yourself. I’m like a book you have to read. A book can’t read itself to you. It doesn’t even know what it’s about. I …
avatar for magije

rated it

avatar for baerwolf

rated it

avatar for jmccyoung

rated it

avatar for OrangutansLibrary

rated it

avatar for ray.coshow

rated it

avatar for smobe

rated it

avatar for oatmilk_alex

rated it

Subjects

  • Loss (Psychology) -- Fiction
  • Middle-aged men -- Fiction
  • Gay men -- Fiction
  • Grief -- Fiction