of Gianni Quilici
A small masterpiece. Small in size and composition structure. Masterpiece, because it gives a tangible sense, layered and complex flow of life.
A novel to read, before or after does not matter, he may see the film self-titled "A Single Man" Tom Ford with a large Colin Firth.
Isherwood himself writes at the beginning of "Goodbye to Berlin": " I am a camera with the lens open, I do not think, passively accumulate impressions "
Here is more: not only records what he sees as a camera, but does not stop to choose the decisive moment, but snaps in succession to take psychology; also deciphered the invisible, what goes through George, the protagonist, thoughts and feelings, which often go to the root in the desire for truth, even against himself, his limits, the requirement of "loss" with the recent death of his young "lover".
Three small examples to give a measure, although limited .. The first: the awakening of George at the beginning of the novel.
"The awakening begins with two words, and are hours. Then what has been lying awake for a moment staring at the ceiling, and himself, to recognize I, and infer I am now. Here is later, and is, at least in the negative, reassuring since this morning is here that we expect to be, as it were, home. "
An opening original and unpredictable, where the word of an "I Intellectual digs in that mixture of awe that can arise when you wake up you have no knowledge of time and place.
The second example: George heads, accompanied by his student, to the classroom for the lecture notes and two boys engaged in a single court.
" Nudity approaches them, puts them face to face, body to body, such as wrestlers. If was a wrestling match, however, would learn, because the guy on the left is a lot smaller. A Mexican, perhaps: hair blacks, well done, cat, cruel, compact, agile, muscular, quick and graceful in the footwork. The body is a natural dark golden brown, a black curly hair on his chest, belly and thighs. Play hard and fast, with ruthless skill, revealing white teeth: the ball is not smiles and replies ... "
It 'just this brief description to understand how the representation of Isherwood is detailed and vibrant, as is imbued by an erotic drive, which at the same time, which makes plastic the image you makes sense with their senses.
Third example: the meeting in the evening with George Kenny, another student of his, in a bar, where the professor is usually go to. A match full of subtlety, changes of mood, conceptual dialogues, words behind which teem with thoughts of groundwater, defensive and seductive, with sudden changes of scene and psychological situations. At the bar drinking until drunk, argue, without uncovering, when suddenly, for no apparent reason, Kenny George is proposing to go for a swim. The entire sequence, from jogging on the beach, the impact with the ocean waves, soaked until they go to the teacher's home, with everything that happens inside the apartment, it's great literature. Here is a short sequence:
" lights behind them already seem far, far away. They are bright, but does not illuminate, and perhaps shine in a blanket of fog. The waves are seen with difficulty. Are black, immensely cold, damp. Kenny you are tearing your clothes with primal screams. Even if the last bit of caution lights, and reminded him of the possibility of patrol cars, George does not hesitate, it's too late, and the headlong rush from the bar can not end up in the water. It strips awkwardly, stumbling in his pants. Kenny, already naked, it was and dived forward like a brave warrior indigenous attack of the waves. The suction is very violent. For a while, 'George is struggling in a storm of stones. When she finally overcomes it, and feel the sand beneath your feet, Kenny rises from the night riding a wave and squirts over without a glance, merged aquatic creature with its own element. For George those waves are too high. The mountains seem fearful of water, darkness that unfold from the darkness, mysterious, horribly bright (...)"
There is already in this short fragment of a much larger sequence, visionary realism psycho-physical, that is almost dreamlike, in cui i due protagonisti si stagliano, nella forza spaventosa delle onde e delle tenebre, diversamente: l'uno spavaldo e trionfante dominatore delle onde; l'altro incerto e pieno d'un controllato spavento.
Christopher Isherwood. Un uomo solo. (A Single Man). Traduzione di Dario Villa. Adelphi.
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