Christopher Isherwood draws on his time in Berlin from 1929 to 1933, as the Nazis rose to power. The book is made up of six sketches linked by the narrator, who is named Christopher Isherwood, a young English teacher living in a rented room. Its characters include Sally Bowles, a cabaret singer with a taste for glamour, the landlady Fräulein Schroeder, and a Jewish department-store family, the Landauers. Isherwood presents Berlin at the end of the Weimar Republic through short, precise scenes, and the political threat gradually enters the ordinary lives of the characters.
Readers who like slice-of-life fiction set in historic cities, and anyone who knows the musical Cabaret, will find the source text.
Deep, contemplative and thought-provoking; a moderate read.
Best for readers like The Wisdom Collector. Which reader are you?
- Published
- 2004
- Publisher
- Ullstein
- ISBN
- 9783548262994
- Language
- DE
