A Single Man
Show Notes:
A Single Man by Christopher Isherwood was our book club pick for August 2023. This is a teaser of the playback from our live book club.
To get the FULL discussion, join us on Patreon, because we won't ever share the actual chat here. Join the Jelly Pops Book Club BOOK CLUB only tier.
Transcript:
Julia: Welcome to jelly pops book club, where we read book to screen adaptations and compare them to their screen counterparts. I'm your host, Julia Washington. And on today's show, we're getting into a single man by Christopher Isherwood. Now, listen, I first saw this movie in 2010 and only recently learned that it was a book first, which is kind of embarrassing because In the film's credits, it literally says based on a book by Christopher Isherwood.
Julia: As a reminder, our show is always full of spoilers, but this one's a little different because we did this book as our live book club chat this month. So what you're getting today is just a smidge about the book and the movie. And if you want the full live discussion, you got to join us on Patreon. With our live book club being a perk on Patreon, you get to be a part of the community in a way that you don't really get to necessarily invest in when something is offered for free.
Julia: Listen, I love free shit. Don't get me wrong. We do put a lot of work into the live book club and this, and this show as well. So we're just, we're just looking for a little bit of support. We are running a free trial through August 31st, so if you join Patreon for a seven day free trial, you get to tune in to this full discussion before your free trial runs out.
Julia: Okay, now here we go to the show.
Julia: So we're going to start with a summary of the book from Google. The summary says this, set in Southern California during 1962, shortly after the Cuban Missile Crisis. It depicts one day in the life of George, a middle aged Englishman who is a professor at Los Angeles University. At the time of its review.
Julia: Kirkus had this to say, a single man, like its forerunner down there on a visit is perhaps not best read as a novel and is just hazily fiction. Its title character is George, a flaccid 58, not only the victim of his failing functions, but emotionally devastated now that Jim is dead. This is his nasty commentary on the world he views as the enemy.
Julia: Intermittent sequences take him from his home, where he's given to some petulant picture window observation of his neighbors, to his classroom in California State College, to a drunken evening with an ever hopeful Charlotte, whom he had first known in England, to a night with a student whom he Initiates as Jim successor, there are here and there some fine passages as the I am a camera eyes take in a supermarket, a gym, a hospital, the campus, and some strange California blooms.
Julia: There is a certain brilliance to what George calls his wild word fights. From another miserable Don to whose spiteful, playful, vinegar prose he refers. Sadly enough, it is not only the warped heterosexual world which brands him as a misfit, the homosexual has never appeared more wretchedly alone than he does here through his own admission.
Julia: Some will read about it with some discomfiture.
Julia: The New York Times also said the tone of this book is clinical combined with a touch of sharply disciplined compassion. Okay, so now for the summary of the movie from Google. Mourning the loss of his partner, Jim, George Falconer, an English professor working in Los Angeles, is finding life increasingly difficult to face after being ignored by The family of his partner upon his death, George has now decided to end it all by committing suicide while preparing for his departure, George encounter some of the people he has met during his time in Los Angeles.
Julia: And they notice a change in the man.
Julia: The New York Times had this to say about the performances, Mr. Firth's delicately shaded performance no doubt helped steady Mr. Ford's nerves. Certainly the director knows how to exploit his actor's reserve to terrific effect as when he sets the camera in front of Mr. Firth's face in one critical scene and just lets the machine record the tremors of emotion cracking the facade.
Julia: If you have read A Single Man, Or have seen the movie, talk to us about it, head on over to Instagram at jelly pops books. And let's talk about this film and what it all means. If there was something about the screen adaptation that I missed and you're dying to discuss, you can find me on Instagram at the Julie Washington.
Julia: You can find the show on IG at jelly pops books. If you enjoyed this episode, well, since you guys are only getting a teaser, you can't really share it, but you can join us on Patreon to get the full episode discussion for September. Our book. Is reading the sun is also a star by Nicola Yoon. It is the story of two young teenagers on the cusp of ever changing life decisions.
Julia: It is a wonderful book. It's a YA novel. I read it years ago and it's just, it sticks with me every day. I'm so excited. We're reading it. So go borrow it from your library. Buy it from your favorite independent bookshop, however you get your hands on it. If you choose to listen to it via audio book, they do have different readers for each character, which is so fantastic.
Julia: The film adaptation released in 2019 and it stars Yara Shahidi, Charles Melton, John Leguizamo, and a bunch of other people that are just make the story so rich and fun.
Julia: You can read along with us, but in order to join our book club, like I mentioned, I know I keep saying pushing Patreon for just 5 a month. You can join us on Patreon. Just go to patreon. com slash Julia Washington and choose the book club only tier. Jelly pops book club is a completely independent production and is written and edited by me, your host.
Julia: And the best thing you can do to support this independent creator is by liking and sharing our shit on Instagram, sharing our episodes with your friends or rating and reviewing us on Apple podcasts, you got a lot of options that are free to you to show your support to this show tune in next time where we will cover, are you there?
Julia: God, it's me. Margaret. Thanks for tuning in, y'all. Until next time.
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