Isherwood evokes the Berlin of the early 1930s as the Nazis are on the rise but are opposed by others, particularly the Communists.

Mr. Norris changes trains : Isherwood, Christopher, 1904-1986 Mr. Norris changes trains : Isherwood, Christopher, 1904-1986

It seems that Norris has lived for some time in Germany but he also seems to have lived everywhere else.

Here is a man, oily, dishonest, deceitful, of not particularly pleasant appearance, always out to make some money, even if at the expense of others, including his friends, yet we cannot help but have a soft spot for him. The Lost was initially planned as a much more comprehensive work, but Isherwood jettisoned much of the material and many of the characters, including Sally Bowles, the Nowaks and the Landauers, to focus on Mr Norris. There is nothing in them but new rules, new punishments, and lists of people who have been "kept in. The novel follows the movements of William Bradshaw, its narrator, who meets a nervous-looking man named Arthur Norris on a train going from the Netherlands to Germany. With interconnected stories, Isherwood describes his surroundings and tells the story of “lost” characters most likely to be destroyed by the Nazis coming to power.

Mr Norris Changes Trains - Christopher Isherwood - Google Books Mr Norris Changes Trains - Christopher Isherwood - Google Books

What didn’t work for me was the excessively detached style and the fact that references to the political situation appeared mostly as exposition, lacking the subtlety and nuance that Cabaret delivered so well. The vignettes read like a collection of photographic snap-shots, illuminating the various characters Isherwood knew in 1930’s Berlin, as it has a strong autobiographical connection, Isherwood’s prose is simple and straightforward, his characters are a collection of various misfits and miscreants who populate the Berlin in which Isherwood lurched from one sordid adventure to another. George is a gay middle-aged English professor, adjusting to solitude after the tragic death of his young partner. Between 1929 and 1939 he lived mainly abroad, spending four years in Berlin and writing the novels Mr Norris Changes Trains and Goodbye to Berlin on which the musical Cabaret was based.The only genuine monster was the young foreigner who passed gaily through these scenes of desolation, misinterpreting them to suit his childish fantasy.