Mr Norris Changes Trains: Christopher Isherwood (Vintage classics)

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Ma forse mi dovrei correggere perché anche Greene ha all’attivo una parte della sua produzione in chiave decisamente ironica, se non addirittura comica (penso alla satira di Il nostro agente all’Avana, per esempio).

Mr. Norris changes trains : Isherwood, Christopher, 1904-1986 Mr. Norris changes trains : Isherwood, Christopher, 1904-1986

The early days of their unusual friendship, in which it’s hard to tell who is using whom and for what purpose, are full of surreal moments. At a New Year celebration, Bradshaw becomes drunk while eating supper with his landlady and fellow lodgers, then heads to a party where he becomes aware of just how drunk he is.Nei primi giorni di marzo, dopo le elezioni, il tempo si fece d’improvviso mite e caldo. “E’ il clima di Hitler” diceva la moglie del portinaio; e suo figlio osservava scherzosamente che dovevamo essere grati al giovane Van der Lubbe, perché l’incendio del Reichstag aveva sciolto la neve. “Un così bel ragazzo” osservò la signora Schroeder con un sospiro. “Come mai può aver fatto una cosa tanto terribile?”. La moglie del portinaio sbuffò.

Mr Norris Changes Trains – What I Think About When I Think Mr Norris Changes Trains – What I Think About When I Think

The author prefers introspection to action in this novel, fed by his memories. He positions himself as a "cameraman," observes the characters, and graciously unfolds their stories while sharing their daily lives.

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Isherwood even has the oblivious Norris deliver a moment of ironic awareness of the situation in Germany.

Mr Norris Changes Trains - Penguin Books Australia Mr Norris Changes Trains - Penguin Books Australia

And that Berlin was caught between the carefree hedonism of its cabarets (heirloom of the 1920s) and an economic and political crisis which quite helped the Nazis to kidnap Germany and throw it to the dogs. I believe at one point this novel was going to be called Miserable Mopey English Sod has Absolutely No Fun in Berlin which would have left the reader in no doubt. The rise of Hitler is starting to intrude on their lives, and one of Christopher’s friends makes an observation that could apply to politics today. ”The political moral is certainly depressing: these people could be made to believe in anybody or anything.”Isherwood, Christopher (1945). "Preface", The Berlin Stories. New Directions Publishing Corporation. After Isherwood wrote joke answers on his second-year exams, Cambridge University in 1925 asked him to leave. He briefly attended medical school and progressed with his first two novels, All the Conspirators (1928) and The Memorial (1932). In 1930, he moved to Berlin, where he taught English, dabbled in Communism, and enthusiastically explored his homosexuality. His experiences provided the material for Mister Norris Changes Trains (1935) and Goodbye to Berlin (1938), still his most famous book. And what did they use to give you on Sundays?’ he was asking as I came in. ‘We got pea-soup with a sausage in it. Not so bad.’ I love the interaction of the characters and how Isherwood introduces them to us. I thoroughly enjoyed the milieu of the boarding-house, and the decadence of Berlin circa 1930. Yes, there were Nazis, but their presence added a sense of tension and romance to Isherwood’s grand adventure. British-born American writer Christopher William Bradshaw Isherwood portrayed Berlin in the early 1930s in his best known works, such as Goodbye to Berlin (1939), the basis for the musical Cabaret (1966). Isherwood was a novelist, playwright, screenwriter, autobiographer, and diarist.