Bücher von Christopher Isherwood

Goodbye to Berlin, a captivating novel by Christopher Isherwood, was first published in 1989 by Vintage Publishing. This masterpiece, which falls under the genre of semi-autobiographical novels, paints a vivid picture of Berlin in the early 1930s, just as Hitler was rising to power. Isherwood brilliantly captures the spirit of that time, immersing readers in the city's dark underbelly, its vibrant nightlife, and its people's resilience amidst political and social upheaval. This book is a must-read for any lover of historical fiction or anyone interested in the effects of politics and ideology on ordinary people's lives. As always, Vintage Publishing has done a fantastic job of bringing this important work to the public. This English language edition is a testament to Isherwood's powerful storytelling and his ability to transport readers to a different time and place.

The love story between Christopher Isherwood and Don Bachardy-in their own wordsThe English novelist and screenwriter Christopher Isherwood was already famous as the author of Goodbye to Berlin when he met Don Bachardy, a California teenager, on the beach in Santa Monica in 1952. Within a year, they began to live together as an openly gay couple, defying convention in the closeted world of Hollywood. Isherwood was forty-eight; Bachardy was eighteen. The Animals is the testimony in letters to their extraordinary partnership, which lasted until Isherwood's death in 1986-despite the thirty year age gap, affairs and jealousy (on both sides), the pressures of increasing celebrity, and the disdain of twentieth-century America for love between two men. The letters reveal the private world of the Animals: Isherwood was "Dobbin," a stubborn old workhorse; Bachardy was the rash, playful "Kitty." Isherwood had a gift for creating a safe and separate domestic milieu, necessary for a gay man in mid-twentieth-century America. He drew Bachardy into his semi-secret realm, nourished Bachardy's talent as a painter, and launched him into the artistic career that was first to threaten and eventually to secure their life together. The letters also tell of public achievements-the critical acclaim for A Single Man, the commercial success of Cabaret-and the bohemian whirl of friendships in Los Angeles, London, and New York with such stars as Truman Capote, Julie Harris, David Hockney, Vanessa Redgrave, Gore Vidal, and Tennessee Williams. Bold, transgressive, and playful, The Animals articulates the devotion, in tenderness and in storms, between two uniquely original spirits.

Isherwoods letztes und persönlichstes Buch: Am Vorabend des Zweiten Weltkriegs reist der überzeugte Pazifist Isherwood nach Kalifornien, um die überkommenen linksintellektuellen Überzeugungen, die die Welt an den Rand des Abgrunds geführt haben, hinter sich zu lassen und ein neues Mindset zu finden. Er trifft auf Swami Prabhavananda, einen hinduistischen Mönch, der von nun an sein spiritueller Begleiter sein wird. Es folgt ein Leben zwischen den Extremen: Nächtliche Trinkgelage, freie Liebe und Hollywoods Glamour-Welt wechseln sich ab mit Meditation und Abstinenz - ein beständiges Ringen von Weltlichkeit und Religiosität, von dem Mein Guru und sein Schüler virtuos erzählt.

"I make myself remember. I am afraid of forgetting. I will have to forget if Iwant to go on living."California, 1962. College professor George is grieving the death of his long-termpartner Jim. As a middle-aged gay Englishman living in the Los Angelessuburbs, he is an outsider in every way. Haunted by his past and unable tomove forward, we follow him on one very ordinary day. But for George, this isgoing to be a day like no other...A Single Man features in the Guardian's 100 Best Novels Written in English,where it is described as 'a work of compressed brilliance.' Known to manythrough Tom Ford's film, Christopher Isherwood's masterpiece is now givena wry and compassionate retelling in Simon Reade's new adaptation for thestage.Powerful and sexy, A Single Man is a darkly amusing study of grief, love andloneliness from the celebrated writer of Goodbye to Berlin, the inspiration forCabaret.

Kathleen and Frank is a love story set in the glory days of the British Empire, the last decades before World War I It is the story of Christopher Isherwood's parents, the winsome and lively daughter of a successful wine merchant and the reticent, artistically gifted soldier-son of a country squire. They met in 1895 outside a music rehearsal in an army camp and married in 1903 after Christopher's father returned from the Boer War. Frank was killed in an assault near Ypres in 1915; Kathleen remained a widow for the rest of her life. Their story is told through letters and Kathleen's diary, with connecting commentary by Isherwood. Kathleen and Frank is a family memoir, but it is also a richly detailed social history of a period of striking change- Queen Victoria's funeral, Blériot's flight across the English Channel, Sarah Bernhardt's Hamlet, suffragettes, rising hemlines, the beginning of the Troubles in Ireland-the period that shaped Isherwood himself. As a young man, Isherwood fled the tragedy that engulfed his parents' lives and threatened his own; in Kathleen and Frank, he reweaves the tapestry of family and heritage and places himself in the pattern.

Ein großer Roman darüber, was es bedeutet, jemandem ein Bruder zu seinNach langem Schweigen treffen zwei Londoner Brüder in einem hinduistischen Kloster am Ufer des Ganges wieder aufeinander - und mit ihnen zwei Welten, die nicht vereinbar scheinen. Zwischen den beiden entspinnt sich ein Zwiegespräch, das alte Wunden aufbricht und zu großen Fragen führt.Isherwoods letzter Roman ist eine fein gestrickte Auseinandersetzung mit östlicher Mystik und darüber, was es bedeutet, jemandem Bruder zu sein.

Berlin am Vorabend des Zweiten Weltkriegs: Der junge Engländer William Bradshaw verbringt seine Tage damit, bourgeoisen Damen Englischstunden zu geben, nachts jedoch umgibt er sich mit Gestalten der Halbwelt. Besonderen Eindruck macht die Begegnung mit Arthur Norris auf ihn, einem Lebemann und Kommunisten - im Deutschland jener Tage eine zunehmend riskante Haltung. Und dann steht der Reichstag in Flammen ...Mit großer Präzision zeichnet Christopher Isherwood das faszinierende Porträt eines Menschen, dem zuletzt alles genommen wird. Und wie schon in Leb wohl, Berlin fängt er auch hier auf einmalige Weise die Stimmung im Deutschland der Vorkriegszeit ein - aus der Perspektive eines scheinbar unbeteiligten Beobachters.

Ein Tag im November 1962. In einem Vorort von Los Angeles lebt George. Seit Jim, sein Freund, ums Leben gekommen ist, ist ihm "das amerikanische Utopia" die Hölle auf Erden. Mühsam schleppt er sich durch den Tag: Er gibt einen Kurs an der Uni, besucht seine beste Freundin, fährt durch die Gegend - vor allem aber seziert er in einem unaufhaltsamen Gedankenstrom seine Umwelt. Auch dieser Tag scheint vorüberzugehen wie all die anderen zuvor, bis George nachts am Strand einem Studenten begegnet ... Ein zutiefst berührender Roman, der von bitterer Einsamkeit und der Furcht vor dem Anderssein erzählt, dem Scheitern zwischenmenschlicher Kommunikation und einer Gesellschaft, die vor all dem die Augen verschließt. - 2009 kongenial von Tom Ford verfilmt, mit Colin Firth und Julianne Moore.

In this brilliantly perceptive novel, a middle aged professor living in California is alienated from his students by differences in age and nationality, and from the rest of society by his homosexuality. Isherwood explores the depths of the human soul and its ability to triumph over loneliness, alienation and loss.

Christopher Isherwood gives fascinating insight into pre-war Berlin. MR NORRIS CHANGES TRAINSThe first of Christopher Isherwood's classic 'Berlin' novels, this portrays the encounter and growing friendship between young William Bradshaw and the urbane and mildly sinister Mr Norris.