Customer Reviews
Essential - By: Erastes, 07 Aug 2008 
When I told a friend about this book, I said "it's very well written" & she said "Well, der! Isherwood!" & I laughed. But then I've only read Goodbye to Berlin & I was very young then, & didn't know good from bad.
It's possibly one of the most perfect little books I've read, absorbing from the first page & writtenin such a way that it feels like first person but it's actually writtenin third, astoundingly clever to my eyes. You get as easily into George's head as if it were first person.
Set over 24 hours, it simply covers his thought processes as he moves through the day & you learn a lot about him & the worldin which he lives. From the first section he touches your heart as - as anyone who has suffered bereavement will understand - he wakes up & remembers again that his lover is dead. But he's not pessimistic about his outlook - he doesn't like the way that conservatism is encroaching upon the once bohemian area where he lives - once where there was artists & poets & easy sexual values, families are moving in, with more straight-laced ideals, butin juxtaposition to this, he loves youth.
He teaches at the University & the scenes with the Gidget-era youth are rather sweet & truly give a window into a lost American world. He does watch the athletes for his own enjoyment which was a nice touch.
I loved his optimism, despite how much he missed Jim, & the way that he finds the light & the darkin his life. He interacts with many people throughout the day, he's not at all an isolated person, but I was left feeling that he was spinning on the spot, lonely despite all the people who know & care from him. Without the one intimate friend he needed.
And really - that's about it apart from(spoilers below) He's a truly likeable guy, & towards the end of the book he's feeling optimistic about life. He had a lovely drunken evening first with a neighbour & then with a student friend, skinny dipping & a lot of drink. It's difficult to tell whether anything happened, but I don't think it did. He goes to bed at the end of his 24 hours feeling that it was time that he moved on with his life & that he was ready to look for love again. What would have been far more realistic & upbeat would have been if Isherwood had left it there. It would have been lovely to think that's what George does next. But - whether for literary merit - or for the tradition that -in books of this period - all gay guys MUST die at the end - he doesn't. And it was the ending that spoiled it for me & made me want to throw the book across the room, & made it lose a five star ranking.
brilliant but flawed - By: Erastes, 28 Jul 2008 When I told a friend about this book, I said "it's very well written" & she said "Well, der! Isherwood!" & I laughed. But then I've only read Goodbye to Berlin & I was very young then, & didn't know good from bad.
It's possibly one of the most perfect little books I've read, absorbing from the first page & writtenin such a way that it feels like first person but it's actually writtenin third, astoundingly clever to my eyes. You get as easily into George's head as if it were first person.
Set over 24 hours, it simply covers his thought processes as he moves through the day & you learn a lot about him & the worldin which he lives. From the first section he touches your heart as - as anyone who has suffered bereavement will understand - he wakes up & remembers again that his lover is dead. But he's not pessimistic about his outlook - he doesn't like the way that conservatism is encroaching upon the once bohemian area where he lives - once where there was artists & poets & easy sexual values, families are moving in, with more straight-laced ideals, butin juxtoposition to this, he loves youth.
He teaches at the University & the scenes with the Gidget-era youth are rather sweet & truly give a window into a lost American world. He does watch the athletes for his own enjoyment which was a nice touch.
I loved his optimism, despite how much he missed Jim, & the way that he finds the light & the darkin his life. He interacts with many people throughout the day, he's not at all an isolated person, but I was left feeling that he was spinning on the spot, lonely despite all the people who know & care from him. Without the one intimate friend he needed.
And really - that's about it apart from(spoilers below) He's a truly likeable guy, & towards the end of the book he's feeling optimistic about life. He had a lovely drunken evening first with a neighbour & then with a student friend, skinny dipping & a lot of drink. It's difficult to tell whether anything happened, but I don't think it did. He goes to bed at the end of his 24 hours feeling that it was time that he moved on with his life & that he was ready to look for love again. What would have been far more realistic & upbeat would have been if Isherwood had left it there. It would have been lovely to think that's what George does next. But - whether for literary merit - or for the tradition that -in books of this period - all gay guys MUST die at the end - he doesn't. And it was the ending that spoiled it for me & made me want to throw the book across the room, & made it lose a five star ranking.
Brilliant - By: Jamie Harrows, 15 Nov 2007 
This is Isherwood's finest piece of writing. Chanced upon itin a library, having heard about his Berlin novels & decided to give "Single Man" a go.
Isherwood's brilliance is his attention to detail, bringing to the reader's attention the world with an almost visceral quality, whilst retaining a resounding subtlety that makes this book really stand out. It is truly outstanding & a book for those who know about books.
Easily readin one sitting it is a book you can return to every now & again without feeling like you could be doing something better with your time.
The story revolves around an old man, lecturer at an LA university & a stranger to his neighbours. The people he meets during his routine are cause for much of the story's development, addressing key themesin the process.
This is my favourite book. It is well worth a read. If at all interestedin North American literature (J.D. Salinger, Sylvia Plath, Douglas Coupland to name a few) & its concern with lonliness & the search for meaning & identity then this will be a book for you.
Stunning! undervalued masterpiece from an undervalued author - By: c westwood, 07 Nov 2001 Isherwood's writing had as many ups & downs as a rollercoaster, which he would have been the first to admit, but this is (I think) the rose amongst the thorns that were his 'middle' books - a sensitive, heart warming & tender depiction of the life of a middle aged, gay malein mid-century America. This was the first of his books I read, & lead me to read all the others.
