Down There on a Visit: A Novel (FSG Classics)

Of The Berlin Stories and Christopher and His Kind. The last section is the author at his best. I’m ready to watch A Single Man and finish my Isherwood project.

I had never heard of this book by Isherwood but found his four men to be interesting characters and loved connecting them with his real life progression. It's in many ways a fictional autobiography. Well worth the read.

I have read several of Isherwood's novels but somehow had never heard of this one. Loved it!

Interesting read in light of his other work.

I found some of the chapters interesting, which really are like different short stories. I read it because the author is famous and it was suppose to be about traveling. It was average writing. I found it not as strong as for example Herman Hesse, Hawthorne, Melville, Hemmingway, Golding, Conrad or other classic writers. The story about living on a greek island was memorable. The first story does have a quick turn and unexpected ending which was interesting. The other stories I didn't relate to.

This was my first Christoper Isherwood book and if the rest of his books are half as good I can't wait to read them. He, as the narrator, paints portraits of four men who are completely different and yet effect his life.Mr. Lancaster leads a quiet, lonely, regimented, unhappy life. He unexpectedly invites a very distant connection to visit him in Germany just before WWII. The connection is our narrator who isn't related by blood but by marriage. Lancaster mourns for a lost love in secret and Christopher senses there is a secret to uncover and he sets about finding it out. He learns Lancaster's secret and is caught by Lancaster in the process of searching his desk. It was time for Christoper to leave Germany anyway and Lancaster chose not to mention what had happened. Christopher only really connected, during this time, with a young man who works in Lancaster's office named Waldemar.Waldemar is Christopher's connection to the next character to have an influence on him, Ambrose. Leaving Germany abruptly with Waldemar on an adventurerous whim and a job offer from Waldemar's friend Hans, they journey to a a Greek Island and end up living rough in tents with bugs and rats for company. Ambrose, their host, has a frenetic energy which embraces the impossible project of building a house, a retreat, a utopia on this island. He is a dictator, a conductor of their lives and the lives of the workmen and his employees, Waldemar and Hans and the three Greek boys. When it eventually becomes clear that utopia is only a dream Christopher returns to England.A few years later Waldemar reappears in Christopher's life through Dorothy who bumps into Christopher on a cross channel boat returning from Paris. Dorothy introduces the love of her life to Christopher and it just happens to be an older and slightly frayed at the edges, Waldemar. It's questionable whether he can stay long in England and this worries Dorothy who bemoans the fact that marrying him would not make him a citizen. She attempts to get money from her family for them to go abroad but Waldemar loses faith with her and makes the decision to return to Germany. Christopher is surprised since Waldemar will surely be taken into the German army but he is bitter and feels he belongs nowhere so he will return to Germany.Our last character, Paul, appears after Christoper moves to California to write for the movies. Christopher has a guru now and seeks "It", while Paul is a self described male prostitute who runs in the highest society circles in Europe. Paul appears destitute on Christoper's doorstep claiming to be seeking something more, a higher power or Christopher's "It". Paul is all flash and a user but Christopher hopes to help him change. We know this will end in disaster and so it eventually does.My first impression after reading the first story was there was a theme of desperation which carried through the other three stories but there was also a seeking of something more, perhaps, Christoper's "It". Wonderfully written characters who you either love or hate. Well done!

When I was fortunate enough to find several Christopher Isherwood hardcovers in a used book store shelf-clearing sale, I thought that perhaps 'Down There' would be one of the last that I read, due to it being a four-part 'novel' where the stories have the common thread of the protagonist being narrator. I have never been a great fan of what I deem 'short stories'.However, there are far more threads to weave the tales together of this fine example of why Isherwood was one of the most highly regarded authors of his time, and why his works endure to this day.An observation of various stages in his own life, the 'narrator' at times seems an entirely autonomous character from the protagonist, as his wisdom, experience, and reflection are so evident in the way he describes four important chapters in his life. The youth becomes the adult, the adult becomes the observer, and the observer becomes the chronicler in this caring, thoughtful memoir.Isherwood's four observances begin with 'Mr. Lancaster'...a portrait of an encounter with a gruff, abrasive man who Chris visits, reluctantly..and teaches him that appearances are not all that they might seem.'Ambrose,' the second section, concerns a summer in the Greek Isles as Chris finds freedom to express his hidden desires while basking in the warm sun, and living in the near seclusion of an island setting with little distractions, but plenty of experiences to shape his young adulthood.'Waldemar,' the third novella, follows Christopher's adventures in Germany, as he immerses himself into a foreign culture, and finds that some experiences, some people, some situations are universal, no matter where you roam, and sometimes the masks we wear, daily, are all too similar, no matter what the circumstances.'Paul,' the culmination of the work, follows Christopher's encounters with a seemingly rootless, care-free acquaintance as he floats from experience to experience, and then asks to share in Christopher's Hindu teachings, before enlisting in the service. Christophers finds himself in a more care-taking role at this stage of his life, as he bails Paul out of situation after situation, and learns how to be a true friend, without expectations, without thought of self, and therefore without, many disappointments that can come with those who occasionally let us down in our lives.An excellent read, cover to cover, 'Down There' is as fine a work as any other Isherwood offerings, and certainly one to explore for any fan of his works.

The first two parts of this four part novel are simply wonderful. So humane, so candid, so poignant. Part 3 is frankly boring. Part 4, the one that sets up what was to be the rest of Isherwood’s long life, never gets to grips with its subject. That’s okay. Parts one and two are really about big themes. Loneliness, empathy, the human condition. Maybe if part 3 could have been a better hinge between the two halves of this novel, it would have worked as a whole.

What a writer! gripping and extremely well written; an excellent addition to his biographical journey

Fascinating stuff. An insightful personal saga.

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