A Single Man
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When A Single Man was originally published, it shocked many with its frank, sympathetic, and moving portrayal of a gay man in midlife. George, the protagonist, is adjusting to life on his own after the sudden death of his partner, and determines to persist in the routines of his daily life. The course of A Single Man spans 24 hours in an ordinary day.
An Englishman and a professor living in suburban Southern California, he is an outsider in every way, and his internal reflections and interactions with others reveal a man who loves being alive despite everyday injustices and loneliness.
Wry, suddenly manic, constantly funny, surprisingly sad, this novel catches the texture of life itself.
- Listening Length4 hours and 39 minutes
- Audible release dateDecember 22, 2009
- LanguageEnglish
- ASINB0031Q9ZUG
- VersionUnabridged
- Program TypeAudiobook
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Product details
| Listening Length | 4 hours and 39 minutes |
|---|---|
| Author | Christopher Isherwood |
| Narrator | Simon Prebble |
| Whispersync for Voice | Ready |
| Audible.com Release Date | December 22, 2009 |
| Publisher | HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books |
| Program Type | Audiobook |
| Version | Unabridged |
| Language | English |
| ASIN | B0031Q9ZUG |
| Best Sellers Rank | #103,188 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals) #379 in LGBTQ+ Literary Fiction (Books) #511 in LGBTQ+ Literature & Fiction (Audible Books & Originals) #3,944 in Literary Fiction (Audible Books & Originals) |
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I recently viewed the movie and was overwhelmed by its artistry and poignancy. Truly, George was a character that you felt for. Colin Firth's acting being superb, the plotline - about a homosexual man in the early 1960's who loses his lover in an automobile accident - played on your heartstrings. The book fails to bring out the heartrending sense of loss - the drowning sensation that figures so prominently on screen - felt by the film character.
Having first seen the movie, I found the book to be a major disappointment. First of all, the book lacks the sheer poignancy of the movie. The movie leaves you feeling emotionally depleted. The book leaves you feeling not much of anything. The ending is a big question mark and there is no foreshadowing like there is in the movie.
Secondly, while it is usually the case that a movie based on a book must necessarily edit out certain characters and/or scenes, here we have a book that is downright flimsy compared to the film. The book does not contain certain elements that are hugely significant to the film, the primary example being George's attempts at suicide.
Also, Jim is a much stronger presence in the film and by comparison is barely mentioned in passing in the book. The book tells us virtually nothing about Jim, although, oddly, in the book it is Jim that has a heterosexual dalliance, while in the movie it is George.
And then there is the almost climactic scene between George and Charley where Charley wonders aloud to George if Jim was just a "substitute" for something else, resulting in a dramatic outburst. Surprisingly, that scene - meaningful as it is - is nowhere to be found in the book. And in fact the relationship between George and Charley is completely different in the movie and in the book. In the book, Charley is more self-centered, while in the movie she is more George-oriented.
I know this is supposed to be a book review [I have reviewed the movie on another website] but I have to say if I hadn't seen the movie first (and was so impressed with it), I would have found this book entirely forgettable. In fact, I would have had little to say at all about this "blah" book without reference to the movie.
What I did appreciate about the book was the teasing ambiguity in the relationship between George and Kenny (although that relationship was somewhat more detailed in the movie). But the book failed to deliver on the sense of repression and sadness that was so palpable in the movie.
Now that I've read the book, I am even more awestruck by the final product that those behind the movie created out of such bland raw material.
A Single Man all takes place in a day, some time after George's lover has died. Isherwood describes everything very honestly, making no attempt to romanticize anything, and presents everything with blunt accuracy. Though the novel is short, there is a lot that happens during this one day with George, even if most of it is in his mind. Personally I'm very interested in how the movie is going to be done because so much of the novel is the thoughts of George, and there aren't a lot of scenes per se. Every written word is brilliant and beautiful, however. If you are in college, teach college, or have been in college you will relish the detailed descriptions as George teaches his class and goes about the campus. Like I said, this is a very intellectual novel, and if you are only interested in sweeping romance or blockbuster scenes, this isn't the book for you. It is smart, but not hard to read, though, so even if you are one of those people, I think it'd be hard not to enjoy the heartbreaking honesty. It is about love, it's about life, it's about hardship, it's about society.. I really can't justify how good it is in a review, except that I assure: you will gain something from reading this book. Whether you are gay or straight, male or female, or anyone in the world, it is powerful and you will feel moved by it.
Now, there are two sides to George. One side is the outer George, the one who dresses impeccably each day, teaches his students, and makes polite small talk with the neighbors. The other is the internal George, the one who longs for an escape from the monotony of day to day life and contemplates the loaded pistol that's never too far from reach. It is this internal/external dichotomy that fuels the pages of Isherwood's novel.
A Single Man is a tremendous novel. It is the kind of work that should be required reading, but it usually gets passed over for more standard works. Within less than 200 pages, Isherwood writes about love, loss, acceptance, and grief in a way that is as profound as it is engrossing. In George, Isherwood captures the essence of any person labeled 'other' from the crowd, and creates a timeless message of accepting the uniqueness of each individual and living each day as if it is your last. I was completely blown away by this novel.
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Reviewed in India on November 22, 2022