Wednesday, April 7, 2010

#*# A Single Man



I recently finished reading "A Single Man" and remember a Gore Vidal quote on the back of the novel's cover stating,"Isherwood is the best prose writer in English." Well said, Mr. Gore. I find myself struggling to piece together adequate commentary - the length of the novel belies the dense richness packed into every sentence, chapter, and word that went into conveying George's story. It is melancholy at times and I doubt that I could have read it with any real understanding or empathy when I was in my twenties or thirties. However, I am now probably in the same age group as George and I am in awe of the talent that could so finely articulate the nuances of thoughts, questions, and emotions threaded from beginning to end in the narrative. I could very much identify and laugh when George stopped at the gym to work out - thinking to himself that he wasn't bad providing he didn't wear his glasses, so he wouldn't see the sags or wrinkles. Or when speaking to one of his students he states that experience did not provide wisdom rather you merely found yourself saying - yes, that again.

Read it if only to admire Isherwood's talent as a writer and ability to communicate the interior dialogs and thoughts we may have but are unable to express as well as he did in his poignant novel.


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