The Last of Mr. Norris

Christopher Isherwood
1935
Rating: 8

The Last of Mr. Norris is the first of two novels that comprise The Berlin Stories. I vaguely remember reading Down There on a Visit and really liking it, so I gave this one a go. It’s set in a rich milieu, Berlin in the run-up to the Nazis seizing power, and it more than does the period justice.

It’s an interesting, well-structured plot, the characters are complex, colorful, funny, pathetic, and I found myself getting attached to them over the course of the book.

The approach to the era’s politics was pitch-perfect and even-keeled; it’s not really a political thriller; the strife and the terror play out on the margins for much of the story, although it doesn’t shy away from the period’s particulars.

Anyway, it’s a great book, I recommend it highly.