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Publication
[Kbh.] Gyldendal 1963 184 s. Tranebog T120
Description
After a chance encounter on a train the English teacher William Bradshaw starts a close friendship with the mildly sinister Arthur Norris. Norris is a man of contradictions; lavish but heavily in debt, excessively polite but sexually deviant. First published in 1933 Mr Norris Changes Trainspiquantly evokes the atmosphere of Berlin during the rise of the Nazis.
User reviews
LibraryThing member Eyejaybee
Christopher Isherwood is now best remembered for his stories set in Berlin during the demise of the Weimar Republic and the rise of the Nazis. This book, the novella 'Sally Bowles' and the collection of stories published as 'Goodbye to Berlin' inspired John van Druten's play, 'I Am a Camera' which
The book is narrated by William Bradshaw, a young Cambridge graduate who has moved to Berlin where he survives by teaching English to a succession of pupils. On the train from The Hook of Holland he meets and befriends Arthur Norris, a larger than life opportunist who has been living off his wits in Berlin for some years. Norris is a superb creation, a cheery amalgam of Arthur Daley, Falstaff and Mr Pickwick. At first sight cripplingly effete, he is on occasion prepared to live fairly dangerously, though he also suffers from a crippling squeamishness about some of the bleaker realities of life. Like Pickwick, he is slave to an incurable vanity about his appearance, thinning his eyebrows three times a week and revelling in his selection of wigs. I don't, however, recall Pickwick being addicted to robust flagellation delivered by a red-booted dominatrix (though perhaps it's just that my school favoured a bowdlerised version of Dickens's novel to protect our simple country boy innocence).
The novel is clearly drawn from Isherwood's own experiences, catalogued more factually (though less entertainingly) in his memoirs 'Christopher and His Kind'. Interestingly, while the character remains essentially unchanged, William Bradshaw does indeed become Christopher Isherwood in the subsequent stories.
He pulls off a masterly performance. The story is by turns hilarious, sad and chilling, against the backdrop of bitter streetfights between the Nazis and the Communists, with episodes of ghastly anti-semitism in the background. Bradshaw relates the story in a manner similar to Nick Jenkins in Anthony Powell's saga 'A Dance to the Music of Time'. Although he tells the story, we learn almost nothing about him apart from the odd hint gleaned from other characters' passing comments. Events happena round him rather than to him, but his observation is clear and wry.
Isherwood writes with an attractive simplicity - his prose is clear and engaging, and a joy to read.
Show More
in turn inspired the memorable 'Cabaret' which so poignantly captured the simultaneous decadence and political volatility of Berlin in the early 1903s.The book is narrated by William Bradshaw, a young Cambridge graduate who has moved to Berlin where he survives by teaching English to a succession of pupils. On the train from The Hook of Holland he meets and befriends Arthur Norris, a larger than life opportunist who has been living off his wits in Berlin for some years. Norris is a superb creation, a cheery amalgam of Arthur Daley, Falstaff and Mr Pickwick. At first sight cripplingly effete, he is on occasion prepared to live fairly dangerously, though he also suffers from a crippling squeamishness about some of the bleaker realities of life. Like Pickwick, he is slave to an incurable vanity about his appearance, thinning his eyebrows three times a week and revelling in his selection of wigs. I don't, however, recall Pickwick being addicted to robust flagellation delivered by a red-booted dominatrix (though perhaps it's just that my school favoured a bowdlerised version of Dickens's novel to protect our simple country boy innocence).
The novel is clearly drawn from Isherwood's own experiences, catalogued more factually (though less entertainingly) in his memoirs 'Christopher and His Kind'. Interestingly, while the character remains essentially unchanged, William Bradshaw does indeed become Christopher Isherwood in the subsequent stories.
He pulls off a masterly performance. The story is by turns hilarious, sad and chilling, against the backdrop of bitter streetfights between the Nazis and the Communists, with episodes of ghastly anti-semitism in the background. Bradshaw relates the story in a manner similar to Nick Jenkins in Anthony Powell's saga 'A Dance to the Music of Time'. Although he tells the story, we learn almost nothing about him apart from the odd hint gleaned from other characters' passing comments. Events happena round him rather than to him, but his observation is clear and wry.
Isherwood writes with an attractive simplicity - his prose is clear and engaging, and a joy to read.
Show Less
LibraryThing member alanteder
Grifter in the dying days of the Weimar Republic
Review of the Vintage Classics paperback (c.1999) of the 1935 original
The recent TV series of Fosse/Verdon (2019) with its recreation of Bob Fosse's directing work on the film "Cabaret" (1972) made me nostalgic for the early work of Isherwood. His
Mr Norris Changes Trains has actually little in common with the plots of the later works which are centred on Sally Bowles except for sharing a few characters in the author's proxy of William Bradshaw and the landlady Fraulein Schroeder. Bradshaw becomes friends with the mysterious Mr Norris on a train journey and the book follows their occasional meetings and forays from 1930 to 1933. The ...Changes Trains of the title presumably refers to Norris having to constantly switch businesses and residences to keep ahead of his creditors. Bradshaw discovers that there is much intrigue behind the surface of the somewhat comical wig-wearing businessman who also has a taste for dabbling in spying for the German Communist Party and for S&M. The thug-like tactics of the Nazi Party in its usurpation of power from the dying democracy of the Weimar Republic in 1933 simmers mostly behind the scenes until the end.
I did now discover that Isherwood's inspiration for the Mr Norris character was Gerald Hamilton (1890-1970) who wrote his own book on the subject Mr. Norris and I: An Autobiographical Sketch, so my deep-dive of Isherwood has more to follow up on.
Review of the Vintage Classics paperback (c.1999) of the 1935 original
The recent TV series of Fosse/Verdon (2019) with its recreation of Bob Fosse's directing work on the film "Cabaret" (1972) made me nostalgic for the early work of Isherwood. His
Show More
Berlin Stories became the basis of the play I Am a Camera (1951) and then the later Broadway musical (1966) before the multi-Oscar Award winning film crafted by Fosse.Mr Norris Changes Trains has actually little in common with the plots of the later works which are centred on Sally Bowles except for sharing a few characters in the author's proxy of William Bradshaw and the landlady Fraulein Schroeder. Bradshaw becomes friends with the mysterious Mr Norris on a train journey and the book follows their occasional meetings and forays from 1930 to 1933. The ...Changes Trains of the title presumably refers to Norris having to constantly switch businesses and residences to keep ahead of his creditors. Bradshaw discovers that there is much intrigue behind the surface of the somewhat comical wig-wearing businessman who also has a taste for dabbling in spying for the German Communist Party and for S&M. The thug-like tactics of the Nazi Party in its usurpation of power from the dying democracy of the Weimar Republic in 1933 simmers mostly behind the scenes until the end.
I did now discover that Isherwood's inspiration for the Mr Norris character was Gerald Hamilton (1890-1970) who wrote his own book on the subject Mr. Norris and I: An Autobiographical Sketch, so my deep-dive of Isherwood has more to follow up on.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Eyejaybee
Christopher Isherwood is now best remembered for his stories set in Berlin during the demise of the Weimar Republic and the rise of the Nazis. This book, the novella 'Sally Bowles' and the collection of stories published as 'Goodbye to Berlin' inspired John van Druten's play, 'I Am a Camera' which
The book is narrated by William Bradshaw, a young Cambridge graduate who has moved to Berlin where he survives by teaching English to a succession of pupils. On the train from The Hook of Holland he meets and befriends Arthur Norris, a larger than life opportunist who has been living off his wits in Berlin for some years. Norris is a superb creation, a cheery amalgam of Arthur Daley, Falstaff and Mr Pickwick. At first sight cripplingly effete, he is on occasion prepared to live fairly dangerously, though he also suffers from a crippling squeamishness about some of the bleaker realities of life. Like Pickwick, he is slave to an incurable vanity about his appearance, thinning his eyebrows three times a week and revelling in his selection of wigs. I don't, however, recall Pickwick being addicted to robust flagellation delivered by a red-booted dominatrix (though perhaps it's just that my school favoured a bowdlerised version of Dickens's novel to protect our simple country boy innocence).
The novel is clearly drawn from Isherwood's own experiences, catalogued more factually (though less entertainingly) in his memoirs 'Christopher and His Kind'. Interestingly, while the character remains essentially unchanged, William Bradshaw does indeed become Christopher Isherwood in the subsequent stories.
He pulls off a masterly performance. The story is by turns hilarious, sad and chilling, against the backdrop of bitter streetfights between the Nazis and the Communists, with episodes of ghastly anti-semitism in the background. Bradshaw relates the story in a manner similar to Nick Jenkins in Anthony Powell's saga 'A Dance to the Music of Time'. Although he tells the story, we learn almost nothing about him apart from the odd hint gleaned from other characters' passing comments. Events happena round him rather than to him, but his observation is clear and wry.
Isherwood writes with an attractive simplicity - his prose is clear and engaging, and a joy to read.
Show More
in turn inspired the memorable 'Cabaret' which so poignantly captured the simultaneous decadence and political volatility of Berlin in the early 1903s.The book is narrated by William Bradshaw, a young Cambridge graduate who has moved to Berlin where he survives by teaching English to a succession of pupils. On the train from The Hook of Holland he meets and befriends Arthur Norris, a larger than life opportunist who has been living off his wits in Berlin for some years. Norris is a superb creation, a cheery amalgam of Arthur Daley, Falstaff and Mr Pickwick. At first sight cripplingly effete, he is on occasion prepared to live fairly dangerously, though he also suffers from a crippling squeamishness about some of the bleaker realities of life. Like Pickwick, he is slave to an incurable vanity about his appearance, thinning his eyebrows three times a week and revelling in his selection of wigs. I don't, however, recall Pickwick being addicted to robust flagellation delivered by a red-booted dominatrix (though perhaps it's just that my school favoured a bowdlerised version of Dickens's novel to protect our simple country boy innocence).
The novel is clearly drawn from Isherwood's own experiences, catalogued more factually (though less entertainingly) in his memoirs 'Christopher and His Kind'. Interestingly, while the character remains essentially unchanged, William Bradshaw does indeed become Christopher Isherwood in the subsequent stories.
He pulls off a masterly performance. The story is by turns hilarious, sad and chilling, against the backdrop of bitter streetfights between the Nazis and the Communists, with episodes of ghastly anti-semitism in the background. Bradshaw relates the story in a manner similar to Nick Jenkins in Anthony Powell's saga 'A Dance to the Music of Time'. Although he tells the story, we learn almost nothing about him apart from the odd hint gleaned from other characters' passing comments. Events happena round him rather than to him, but his observation is clear and wry.
Isherwood writes with an attractive simplicity - his prose is clear and engaging, and a joy to read.
Show Less
LibraryThing member CarltonC
Told in an autobiographical style by Bradshaw, the narrator, this delightfu portrait of the disreputable Arthur Norris in early 1930's Berlin is a treat to read, especially as it was published in 1935, before the evil that today we take for granted in thinking of the rise of Hitler to power in
I have reread the Folio edition, with delightful illustrations by Beryl Cook of the eponymous Mr Norris.
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Germany, can have been accepted.I have reread the Folio edition, with delightful illustrations by Beryl Cook of the eponymous Mr Norris.
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LibraryThing member pokarekareana
Fascinating characters and engaging plot, set against the intriguing backdrop of Berlin in the early 30s. Some of the dialogue seemed a little stilted in places, but apart from that, a very well written short novel.
LibraryThing member Maura49
This is the first of the "Berlin" novels written by Isherwood. Mr Norris and William Bradshaw meet on a train. William is intrigued by the nervous little man wearing an excellent wig who seems to have travelled widely.
They become friends and through Arthur Norris William meets an amazing gallery of
Gradually William learns about the seedier side of Arthur's life while life in Berlin becomes more tense as the influence of the Nazis grows.
This is a comic novel with deep undertones of impending tragedy. The brilliance of the Weimar era characters and setting thrown into relief by the gradually increasing darkness of life in a city on the edge.
They become friends and through Arthur Norris William meets an amazing gallery of
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Berliners including Sally Bowles (who features more prominently in "Goodbye to Berlin" and Baron von Preglitz with whom William attends a memorably louche party.Gradually William learns about the seedier side of Arthur's life while life in Berlin becomes more tense as the influence of the Nazis grows.
This is a comic novel with deep undertones of impending tragedy. The brilliance of the Weimar era characters and setting thrown into relief by the gradually increasing darkness of life in a city on the edge.
Show Less
LibraryThing member soylentgreen23
I enjoyed "Goodbye to Berlin" but found it a touch disjointed; this is the more complete book, a story with characters that develop and who you learn to care about tremendously. I'm glad that the story did not finish where other writers might have been tempted to let it, and instead Isherwood
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showed us, in a kind of epilogue, how Germany suddenly shifted with the ascendance of the Nazi Party. Show Less
LibraryThing member DeltaQueen50
Mr. Norris Changes Trains by Christopher Isherwood was drawn from his experiences as an expatriate living in Berlin during the early 1930’s and received rave reviews when originally published in 1935, but Isherwood later denounced his work as shallow and dishonest. The book was originally planned
These two characters strike up a friendship and Bradshaw goes on to find many aspects of Mr. Norris intriguing. He is a member of the communist party and his frequent disappearances and fluctuating finances raise a certain amount of speculation. He is also a sexual deviant and introduces Bradshaw to the murky side of Berlin. The character of William Bradshaw is that of an observer, while the author delves into the more complex character of Mr. Norris who can be crafty, charming, vain and hedonistic. The author has also added other memorial characters that help to flesh out the story.
While I would consider this more of a character study than an actual story, this was an interesting and informative book. The setting is of Berlin at a critical point in history, Hitler and his Nazis are about to come into power and set aside Germany’s democratic institutions. The understated and dry manner of the story-telling, even the glossing over of incidents of political violence in no way took away my knowledge of the sinister and dangerous future that was on the horizon.
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to be much longer and more comprehensive about conditions in Germany at the time, but the author decided instead to mostly concentrate the story around the character of Mr. Arthur Norris whom the young and naive narrator of the story, William Bradshaw meets on a train going from the Netherlands into Germany.These two characters strike up a friendship and Bradshaw goes on to find many aspects of Mr. Norris intriguing. He is a member of the communist party and his frequent disappearances and fluctuating finances raise a certain amount of speculation. He is also a sexual deviant and introduces Bradshaw to the murky side of Berlin. The character of William Bradshaw is that of an observer, while the author delves into the more complex character of Mr. Norris who can be crafty, charming, vain and hedonistic. The author has also added other memorial characters that help to flesh out the story.
While I would consider this more of a character study than an actual story, this was an interesting and informative book. The setting is of Berlin at a critical point in history, Hitler and his Nazis are about to come into power and set aside Germany’s democratic institutions. The understated and dry manner of the story-telling, even the glossing over of incidents of political violence in no way took away my knowledge of the sinister and dangerous future that was on the horizon.
Show Less
LibraryThing member zasmine
The narrative is very fast-paced and engaging. Arthur Norris tries everything to stay afloat and then sinks with his least-favorite weight strapped around his leg. The other characters don't get as much attention as of course Kuno. Ludwig Bayer was decent. I think it was the woman characters (few
Nothing remarkable abut the book except it telling the tale of its times.
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as they were) that lacked depth- especially Anni. Fraulein Schroeder wasn't too bad. Nothing remarkable abut the book except it telling the tale of its times.
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LibraryThing member Eyejaybee
Christopher Isherwood is now best remembered for his stories set in Berlin during the demise of the Weimar Republic and the rise of the Nazis. This book, the novella 'Sally Bowles' and the collection of stories published as 'Goodbye to Berlin' inspired John van Druten's play, 'I Am a Camera' which
The book is narrated by William Bradshaw, a young Cambridge graduate who has moved to Berlin where he survives by teaching English to a succession of pupils. On the train from The Hook of Holland he meets and befriends Arthur Norris, a larger than life opportunist who has been living off his wits in Berlin for some years. Norris is a superb creation, a cheery amalgam of Arthur Daley, Falstaff and Mr Pickwick. At first sight cripplingly effete, he is on occasion prepared to live fairly dangerously, although he also suffers from a crippling squeamishness about some of the bleaker realities of life. Like Pickwick, he is slave to an incurable vanity about his appearance, thinning his eyebrows three times a week and revelling in his selection of wigs. I don't, however, recall Pickwick being addicted to robust flagellation delivered by a red-booted dominatrix (though perhaps it's just that my school favoured a bowdlerised version of Dickens's novel to protect our simple country boy innocence).
The novel is clearly drawn from Isherwood's own experiences, catalogued more factually (though less entertainingly) in his memoir 'Christopher and His Kind'. Interestingly, while other aspects of the character remain essentially unchanged, William Bradshaw does indeed become Christopher Isherwood in the subsequent stories.
He pulls off a masterly performance. The story is by turns hilarious, sad and chilling, against the backdrop of bitter street fights between the Nazis and the Communists, with episodes of ghastly anti-semitism in the background. Bradshaw relates events in a manner similar to Nick Jenkins in Anthony Powell's saga 'A Dance to the Music of Time'. Although he tells the story, we learn almost nothing about him apart from the odd hint gleaned from other characters' passing comments. Events happen around him rather than to him, but his observation is clear and wry.
Isherwood writes with an attractive simplicity - his prose is clear and engaging, and a joy to read.
Show More
in turn inspired the memorable 'Cabaret' which so poignantly captured the simultaneous decadence and political volatility of Berlin in the early 1903s.The book is narrated by William Bradshaw, a young Cambridge graduate who has moved to Berlin where he survives by teaching English to a succession of pupils. On the train from The Hook of Holland he meets and befriends Arthur Norris, a larger than life opportunist who has been living off his wits in Berlin for some years. Norris is a superb creation, a cheery amalgam of Arthur Daley, Falstaff and Mr Pickwick. At first sight cripplingly effete, he is on occasion prepared to live fairly dangerously, although he also suffers from a crippling squeamishness about some of the bleaker realities of life. Like Pickwick, he is slave to an incurable vanity about his appearance, thinning his eyebrows three times a week and revelling in his selection of wigs. I don't, however, recall Pickwick being addicted to robust flagellation delivered by a red-booted dominatrix (though perhaps it's just that my school favoured a bowdlerised version of Dickens's novel to protect our simple country boy innocence).
The novel is clearly drawn from Isherwood's own experiences, catalogued more factually (though less entertainingly) in his memoir 'Christopher and His Kind'. Interestingly, while other aspects of the character remain essentially unchanged, William Bradshaw does indeed become Christopher Isherwood in the subsequent stories.
He pulls off a masterly performance. The story is by turns hilarious, sad and chilling, against the backdrop of bitter street fights between the Nazis and the Communists, with episodes of ghastly anti-semitism in the background. Bradshaw relates events in a manner similar to Nick Jenkins in Anthony Powell's saga 'A Dance to the Music of Time'. Although he tells the story, we learn almost nothing about him apart from the odd hint gleaned from other characters' passing comments. Events happen around him rather than to him, but his observation is clear and wry.
Isherwood writes with an attractive simplicity - his prose is clear and engaging, and a joy to read.
Show Less
LibraryThing member robfwalter
This book is a very compelling collision of lightness, optimism and flippancy with sinister events and a terrible sense of foreboding. Isherwood is masterful in his ability to balance the two moods even within the same page. I struggled a bit to get my head around the first two (short) chapters,
I don't think there is any resolution of the two counterpoints of the story - the Nazis are both ludicrous and terrifying, Kano is both predator and victim, and so on - but the conclusion was satisfying nonetheless.
There are few fireworks in the writing, but it is elegantly written with wit and perfect pacing.
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maybe because I was confused by this contradiction - is Arthur Norris endearing or grotesque? But then chapter 3 is laugh out loud funny and I was entirely on board.I don't think there is any resolution of the two counterpoints of the story - the Nazis are both ludicrous and terrifying, Kano is both predator and victim, and so on - but the conclusion was satisfying nonetheless.
There are few fireworks in the writing, but it is elegantly written with wit and perfect pacing.
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LibraryThing member jeffome
This was an odd one for me. Ive been working on it for 2 months (my fault, not the book), but having finished it 20 minutes ago, the following things jump to my mind. I did not like Mr. Norris at all. Thus i had to rely on our first person storyteller, William. I tried to like William.....but my
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dislike for Mr. Norris prevented me from taking William seriously, since the character he was portrayed to be, would never in a million years put up with his quirky weirdness for as long as he did. Having been written in 1935...pre WWII....this was also a political tome dancing through the mire of Communists, Nazis and the others through campaigns and elections during that turbulent period leading up to Hitler's rage against humanity. Set in Berlin mostly, I felt that through all of those parts, I was sitting in preparation class for a college final, and i realized i must have missed a whole bunch of classes! I tried to figure it out....but i also did not care enough about these characters to pause long enough to look it up. so, i struggled. Interesting, then quirky....then disturbing on a few levels. Cannot go above a 3. Show Less
Awards
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1935
Physical description
184 p.; 18.8 cm
Local notes
Omslag: Mogens Poulsen
Omslaget viser nogle togskinner
Indskannet omslag - N650U - 150 dpi
Oversat fra engelsk "Mr. Norris changes trains" af Svend Kragh-Jacobsen
Gyldendals Tranebøger, bind 120
Omslaget viser nogle togskinner
Indskannet omslag - N650U - 150 dpi
Oversat fra engelsk "Mr. Norris changes trains" af Svend Kragh-Jacobsen
Gyldendals Tranebøger, bind 120
Similar in this library
Pages
184
DDC/MDS
| 823.912 |