A Single Man (1964) By Christopher Isherwood

This book begins with a strikingly familiar scene, perhaps too close to home:  George, a man in his late fifties awakes and goes through his morning routine.  He stares into his bathroom mirror and sees in it little reminders of the various stages of his life, hidden within its current self.  “What it sees there isn’t so much a face as the expression of a predicament.”  He is a single man because he is the survivor of a long term relationship with a man named Jim.

His singularity has multiple sources.  First and foremost, he is alone because few people ever acknowledged their relationship, despite its obvious existence.  He is alone because he can no longer self-define as half of a couple, though he has not a clue how to define his current state.  And, he is alone because is a gay man living an existence a decade before the sexual revolution. 

The book is written by Christopher Isherwood (1904 – 1986) who is best known for Berlin Stories, the source of the movie Cabaret.  I’ve recently begun reading his other works, and I am touched by the staying power of his observations.  Like Berlin Stories, A Single Man, has also been turned into a movie.  It scored a well-deserved Oscar nomination for Colin Firth.  I waited until I finished the book, before watching the movie last night.

Although the Director has taken some artistic license with the script, he has not harmed the impact of Isherwood’s story.  In fact, I will argue that some of the chapters perhaps worked even better on film – the flashbacks telling of George’s relationship with Jim in particular.   The role of his close friend Charley was somewhat enhanced to take advantage of the stature of actress Julianne Moore, but fortunately no attempt was made to assign them a relationship beyond what was in the book. And the role of Kenny, a college student, was somewhat downgraded, unfortunate because actor Nicholas Hoult clearly could have handled the character’s complexity.

As always, my recommendation would be read the book, but knowing that most people will not, let me say the movie is also a recommended – both however, would be better.