Goodbye to Berlin by Christopher Isherwood and Christoph Isherwood

The sequel to Mr. Norris Changes Trains, this is another semi-autobiographical account of Isherwood’s experiences in pre-war Berlin. The author leads the reader on a thoroughly entertaining tour through the seedier side of a particularly decadent time in that city’s history.

A little too slow moving for my current mood, which made me feel disconnected from the characters. The most interesting bits were at the end, where the author puts in some of his actual diary entries from 1932-33 and which describe the small acts of public violence and hatred, and how ordinary citizens responded to them.

Bar hopping young folk
swanning around, strapped for cash
here come the nazis.

I enjoyed this, though it was more disjointed than I had expected.

In so far as I was able to form any impression of Isherwood, I am not sure I liked him much.