A Single Man by Christopher Isherwood

[Nikki]

Michael, very interesting links about gay history in LA.  This makes a nice addendum to the book.

[tfferg]

I guess it's the worry that the litters of kids wll have the same attitudes as their parents.

[janjo]

Do you think that George, or perhaps Christopher Isherwood, likes women and children very much?

[Nikki]

8.)  There seems to be an underlying tension and revulsion with 'progress' in the book.  On page 17 we read how Camphor Tree Lane has changed from the period when the 'pioneer escapists' founded the neighborhood to the present and when is driving to work the book points out that he is hyperconscious of all bylaws and feels a nerve-crawling sensation when merging into traffic.  Is this just part of George's irritability with the world and does it saw something about his coping mechanisms?  Is his dissatisfaction with the changes in the world related to his concerns about mortality?  Why is he unhappy with the world he finds himself living in?

Change affects people differently.  In George's case, he seems more aware and irritable about changes now than before. Jim's death seems to have made him hyperconscious of the changes around him which seem to have invaded his comfort zone.  His coping mechanisms are at a low ebb since Jim's death much like someone who has physically passed through a severe illness.  Like a recovering patient, he is aware of his mortality which he feels has been invaded by the changes around him, so for him there can be no happiness.

[Nikki]

Michael asked if the book reminded us of other books or authors.  It occurred to me that 'A Single Man' reminded me of Albert Camus and 'L'etranger -- The Stranger.'  It seems to have that existential quality that Camus's writing depicted in some of his characters who were detached or alienated from life.  Of course, it's been some time since I read Camus, so I may be waaaaaay off. 

[dejavu]

Michael asked if the book reminded us of other books or authors.  It occurred to me that 'A Single Man' reminded me of Albert Camus and 'L'etranger -- The Stranger.'  It seems to have that existential quality that Camus's writing depicted in some of his characters who were detached or alienated from life.  Of course, it's been some time since I read Camus, so I may be waaaaaay off. 

Thanks for saying this, Nikki.  I had previously said that A Single Man's introduction left me with a vague recollection of some existential writer's book we read in high school.  I did read Camus back then, and his may be one of the books I'm thinking of. 

(The name I halfway wanted to mention yesterday was Franz Kafka, but since I can't remember anything at all of him, I knew I was probabably waaaaaaaaaay off, and didn't even want to put it in writing.    )

[dejavu]

8.)  There seems to be an underlying tension and revulsion with 'progress' in the book.  On page 17 we read how Camphor Tree Lane has changed from the period when the 'pioneer escapists' founded the neighborhood to the present and when he is driving to work the book points out that he is hyperconscious of all bylaws and feels a nerve-crawling sensation when merging into traffic.  Is this just part of George's irritability with the world and does it saw something about his coping mechanisms?  Is his dissatisfaction with the changes in the world related to his concerns about mortality?  Why is he unhappy with the world he finds himself living in?

When reading this book, I noticed several things mentioned in the question’s second sentence, but I think they have to be addressed separately.  First, there’s the apparent revulsion against progress (not only Camphor Tree Lane’s “Change” from a bohemian colony to a “breeding” grounds, but also the current construction of the new condominium which will block the view of the beach); second, there’s the mention of George’s hyperconsciousness of society’s bylaws; and third, there’s the mention of his nerve-crawling sensation when merging into traffic.  I don’t think these three things all stem from the same part of George’s mental functioning.

I’d like to address the second issue first:  the hyperconsciousness of society’s bylaws.  I think this feeling of having “an acute criminal complex” comes from George’s constant awareness that his homosexuality makes him a deviant in the eyes of society.  Being gay is breaking the rules.  He has become used to creating a mask to protect himself from being recognized as gay in many social situations (perhaps, for example, at work).  By extension, he imagines that any people everywhere (the agent who stamps his passport, or the postal clerk who checks his identity) may see that he is breaking the law in some way, presenting a false identity, or otherwise doing wrong.  It’s like the man who knows he left his driver’s license at home, or the woman who knows her friend left some marijuana in the car’s glove box:  they might drive below the speed limit and check the rearview mirror all the time to be sure no police car is following them.  And if a cop does happen to be following them, they will just try all the harder to be sure not to commit the slightest infraction.  The result is a rigidity which George does seem to be experiencing as he drives.  But I don’t think this has anything to do with progress, or an antipathy toward progress.  Homosexuality (rather than a missing driver’s license or the presence of marijuana) seems to be the underlying issue here, in George’s case.  It's not something a cop would stop him for, but he's aware of it nevertheless.

As for the third issue, the nervousness when merging into traffic:  This is only a very brief sensation, described in just a few sentences.  He might have that same nervousness when merging even on a smaller highway than the LA freeway system, and I think it’s a momentary nervousness that many of us experience.  The LA freeways themselves (as opposed to the merge lanes) are the representation of progress in American life, and George actually likes the freeways, he “feels a kind of patriotism for the freeways.”  He likes them because other people get lost on them, whereas George can still cope with them.  They are a test of his skill, and proof that he is still young enough to handle them.  He can still get by, he can keep up with progress in this case.  Despite being middle aged, he is not “over the hill,” not a doddering old man, when it comes to the freeways.  So I think middle-age is the underlying issue here, for George.

Now, back to the first issue:  I do agree that there’s a revulsion against progress when it comes to the “Change” in the population of Camphor Tree Lane (and the construction of the condominium).  To answer the rest of Michael’s question, this dissatisfaction may be related to George’s concerns about mortality in that all the young kids remind him that he is no longer young.   (The new condominium may also be proof that more new families and new kids are on the way, but I’m not sure George is making that connection; he’s just irritated that a nice view will be replaced by an ugly one.)  Overall, when George sees the “old world” which he liked being modernized into one which he doesn’t care as much for, he is reminded of the span of years which have gone by.  Regardless of the state of his body or the loss of his lover, George’s eyes and ears give him proof that he has lived long enough to be “old,” or at least, much older than he once was.

One thing that I did find interesting was the way George puts himself on “autopilot” and feels that a “chauffeur” is taking over the driving, while leaving his mind to mull and dwell on other things.  What he’s dwelling on, gets into the next question, but just the fact that he makes this mind-body separation is another example of how the “it” and the thinking “George” are both at work here.  Again and again in this book, we see George adjusting his mask to try to bring the “it” under the control of the “George” part, so that he can function properly with other people.  The separation and the rejoining of “it” and “George” does seem like a coping mechanism, of some sort, but there could be several reasons for it.  The mask suggests a way of covering up his homosexuality.  The personality-less nature of “it” suggests his state of grieving about Jim.  It’s also possible that the “it,” which is the body, may be more affected by being middle-aged than is the personality part, the “George.”

[dejavu]

Can we assume that George lived in LA during and after World War II? It seems likely. He would have witnessed The Change, the social and demographic changes he describes in the city and its suburbs.

You're right, Tony.  Later in the book we learn that George met Jim in LA, not far from Camphor Tree Lane, just before the end of WW II, so that would have been before The Change.  George probably lived somewhere else in the city, but close enough to be aware of the changes. 

Although it wasn't until some years later, apparently, that they moved to the house on Camphor Tree Lane, because by then, the yellow sign about "Children At Play" was up.

[michaelflanagansf]

Sarah, I think more scathing than fearful.  Sounds like (Isherwood) George thinks that the litters of tots will overrun their little paradise -- like rabbits!

Interesting - and yes.  What interests me is that George's reaction to children is almost a match to the revulsion that Mr. Strunk feels toward George's sexuality.  And I can't help but wonder if it isn't (at least in part) a reaction to that feeling - sort of 'every action has an opposite and equal reaction.'

[Cally]

Thanks for saying this, Nikki.  I had previously said that A Single Man's introduction left me with a vague recollection of some existential writer's book we read in high school.  I did read Camus back then, and his may be one of the books I'm thinking of. 

(The name I halfway wanted to mention yesterday was Franz Kafka, but since I can't remember anything at all of him, I knew I was probabably waaaaaaaaaay off, and didn't even want to put it in writing.    )

*Hanging head in shame*
I read both Kafka and Camus way back when, but now remember extremely little about either, except a few unpleasant details of 'La Peste', and tend to confuse them in my mind anyway. All the same it may be either or both who are ringing the faint bells.  Sorry - not really worth saying....

[dejavu]

Oh, it is worth saying, Sara.  It's interesting.  Maybe those are the faint bells I was hearing, too.

[garyd]

Oh, it is worth saying, Sara.  It's interesting.  Maybe those are the faint bells I was hearing, too.

Sara and Debbie:

This may be the faint bell:

"When Gregor Samsa woke up one morning from unsettling dreams, he found himself changed in his bed into a monstrous vermin." Kafka
The Metamorphosis

At least it is for me.  The opening of A Single Man brings several literary allusions to mind.  If I get a chance, and if you are interested, I will  try to post.
Even so, Isherwood's opening scene, though perhaps echoing other works, certainly becomes unique, I think. Don't you?

Also, Debbie, I would love to discuss in more detail the odd change of narrative voice you mentioned concerning the Mrs. Strunk passage.  It has always mystified me.  Perhaps we can finally put my "mystification" to rest. 

[Cally]

Yes, that could be it, Gary.  And I would interested in any further ideas.

[Cally]

Interesting - and yes.  What interests me is that George's reaction to children is almost a match to the revulsion that Mr. Strunk feels toward George's sexuality.  And I can't help but wonder if it isn't (at least in part) a reaction to that feeling - sort of 'every action has an opposite and equal reaction.'

Yes, George does seem to be a little more than scathing about children, breeding, fecundity.


Mr Strunk now: interesting.  I've been trying to decide whether it's just George's perception of the men, that they are trying so very hard to be real men, and that they are afraid of "the unspeakable that insists, despite all their shushing, on speaking its name".  In fact it all rings so true - I can just hear how they would have sounded - and I think that we are being told that this is the case: it's in the author's voice, not just George's.   Then we have Mr S's attempt at the more 'modern', moderate viewpoint, "I don't give a damn" etc, and the "conclusions which may be reached"...  But I find "The fact remains that Mr Strunk himself, to judge from a photograph… used to be what many would call a living doll” slightly puzzling.  I realise that George is playing with the idea that the most strident homophobes are covering their own inclinations; is he just taking malicious pleasure in that thought or does he seriously think there’s something in it?  I thought that the following paragraph, “But Mrs Strunk…”, was going to elaborate this, but no – the idea is dropped.  So I suppose he was just toying with it.

Any thoughts?

[dejavu]

Sara and Debbie:

This may be the faint bell:

"When Gregor Samsa woke up one morning from unsettling dreams, he found himself changed in his bed into a monstrous vermin." Kafka
The Metamorphosis

At least it is for me.  The opening of A Single Man brings several literary allusions to mind.  If I get a chance, and if you are interested, I will  try to post.
Even so, Isherwood's opening scene, though perhaps echoing other works, certainly becomes unique, I think. Don't you?

Also, Debbie, I would love to discuss in more detail the odd change of narrative voice you mentioned concerning the Mrs. Strunk passage.  It has always mystified me.  Perhaps we can finally put my "mystification" to rest. 

Hi, Gary.  That would be interesting to read any literary allusions brought to your mind by A Single Man.

I do agree (although I may not have a wide enough literary background to judge) that the opening scene is unique among the things I have read.

And yes, any thoughts you have about the Mrs. Strunk passage would be appreciated.  Then maybe we can go from there.