''Christopher and His Kind'' is a 1976 memoir by Anglo-American writer

Christopher Isherwood Christopher William Bradshaw Isherwood (26 August 1904 – 4 January 1986) was an Anglo-American novelist, playwright, screenwriter, autobiographer, and diarist. His best-known works include '' Goodbye to Berlin'' (1939), a semi-autobiographical ...

, first printed in a 130-copy edition by

Sylvester & Orphanos Sylvester & Orphanos was a publishing house originally founded in Los Angeles by Ralph Sylvester, Stathis Orphanos and George Fisher in 1972. When Fisher moved to New York City, ''Sylvester & Orphanos'' specialized in limited-signed press books. Or ...

, then in general publication by

Farrar, Straus & Giroux Farrar, Straus and Giroux (FSG) is an American book publishing company, founded in 1946 by Roger Williams Straus Jr. and John C. Farrar. FSG is known for publishing literary books, and its authors have won numerous awards, including Pulitzer ...

. In the text, Isherwood candidly expounds upon events in his life from 1929 to 1939, including his sojourn in Berlin which was the inspiration for his popular 1939 novel ''

Goodbye to Berlin ''Goodbye to Berlin'' is a 1939 novel by Anglo-American writer Christopher Isherwood set during the waning days of the Weimar Republic. The novel recounts Isherwood's 1929–1932 sojourn as a pleasure-seeking British expatriate on the eve of Ado ...

.''

Background

Isherwood decided late in his life that he had a moral obligation to renounce the

self-censorship Self-censorship is the act of censoring or classifying one's own discourse, typically out of fear or deference to the perceived preferences, sensibilities, or infallibility of others, and often without overt external pressure. Self-censorship is c ...

that marked his early novels, specifically the excision of any hint of his homosexuality. Accordingly, in ''Christopher and His Kind'', he recounts his experiences as a young gay

expatriate An expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person who resides outside their native country. The term often refers to a professional, skilled worker, or student from an affluent country. However, it may also refer to retirees, artists and ...

enticed by the liberated atmosphere of

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state (Germany), German state of Thuringia, in Central Germany (cultural area), Central Germany between Erfurt to the west and Jena to the east, southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together w ...

Berlin into a quest for sexual and intellectual emancipation. To earn a living Christopher offers English lessons. One of his students is Wilfrid Landauer (loosely based on the businessman and philanthropist

Wilfrid Israel Wilfrid Berthold Jacob Israel (11 July 1899 – 1 June 1943) was an Anglo-German businessman and philanthropist, born into a wealthy Anglo-German Jewish family, who was active in the rescue of Jews from Nazi Germany, and who played a significant ...

), the wealthy Jewish owner of a department store. He entreats Christopher to take a political stand against Nazism but Christopher, as an artist, initially demurs. Herr Landauer's home is ransacked by the Nazis and they lead a boycott against his and other Jewish-owned businesses. As portrayed in the 2011 film adaptation, Christopher last sees Wilfrid when their eyes sorrowfully meet over a bonfire of books the Nazis are burning. Isherwood posits that his

homosexuality Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or Human sexual activity, sexual behavior between people of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexu ...

, far from a marginal private shame to be suppressed, was a central element in his human and creative development, an identity he cherished and shared with many others ("my tribe", "my kind") with whom he felt a special kinship. This candid autobiography was, in Isherwood's view, the way to discharge the obligation he felt due to "his kind", and thus make his own contribution to the cause of

gay liberation The gay liberation movement was a social and political movement of the late 1960s through the mid-1980s in the Western world, that urged lesbians and gay men to engage in radical direct action, and to counter societal shame with gay pride.Hoff ...

Reception

In his review of Isherwood's memoir, critic

Peter Stansky Peter David Lyman Stansky (born January 18, 1932) is an American historian specializing in modern British history The history of the British Isles began with its sporadic human habitation during the Palaeolithic from around 900,000 years ago ...

noted that ''Christopher and His Kind'' unmasks Isherwood as "a good deal less dedicated to political passion than the legend has had it." Stansky asserted the memoir revealed Isherwood to be a politically indifferent hedonist whose outlook on life closely resembled his fictional character of

Sally Bowles Sally Bowles () is a fictional character created by English-American novelist Christopher Isherwood and based upon 19-year-old cabaret singer Jean Ross. The character debuted in Isherwood's 1937 novella ''Sally Bowles'' published by Hogarth Pre ...

. In particular, Isherwood's "remark that the 'original' of Sally Bowles 'wasn't a victim, wasn't proletarian, was a mere self-indulgent upper middle class foreign tourist who could escape from Berlin when she chose,' comes perilously close to describing his own situation."

Adaptation

A television film, ''

Christopher and His Kind ''Christopher and His Kind'' is a 1976 memoir by Anglo-American writer Christopher Isherwood, first printed in a 130-copy edition by Sylvester & Orphanos, then in general publication by Farrar, Straus & Giroux. In the text, Isherwood candidly exp ...

'', directed by

Geoffrey Sax Geoffrey Sax (sometimes credited as Geoff Sax) is a British film and television director, who has worked on a variety of drama productions in both the United Kingdom and the United States. Life and career He began his directing career in the l ...

, and starring

Matt Smith Matthew Robert Smith (born 28 October 1982) is an English actor. He is known for playing the Eleventh Doctor in the BBC science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'' (2010–2013), Prince Philip in Netflix's historical series ''The Crown ( ...

as Isherwood and

Imogen Poots Imogen Gay Poots (born 3 June 1989) is an English actress. She played Tammy in the post-apocalyptic horror film ''28 Weeks Later'' (2007), Linda Keith in the Jimi Hendrix biopic ''Jimi: All Is by My Side'' (2013), Debbie Raymond in the Paul Ray ...

Jean Ross Jean Iris Ross Cockburn (; 7 May 1911 – 27 April 1973) was a British people, British journalist, political activist, and Film criticism, film critic. During the Spanish Civil War (1936–39), she was a war correspondent for the ''Daily Expres ...

, debuted in 2011.

References

Citations

Bibliography

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External links

* 1976 non-fiction books British autobiographies Gay non-fiction books Literary autobiographies Works by Christopher Isherwood LGBTQ autobiographies Farrar, Straus and Giroux books LGBTQ literature in the United Kingdom {{LGBT-book-stub