The Memorial

By Christopher Isherwood

Book Overview

With The Memorial, Christopher Isherwood began his lifelong work of rewriting his own experiences into witty yet almost forensic portraits of modern society. Set in the aftermath of World War I, The Memorial portrays the dissolution of a tradition-bound English family. Cambridge student Eric Vernon finds himself torn between his desire to emulate his heroic father, who led a life of quiet sacrifice before dying in the war, and his envy for his father's great friend Edward Blake, who survived the war only to throw himself into gay life in Berlin and the pursuit of meaningless relationships.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0380018144
• ISBN13: 9780380018147
• Release Date: January 1977
• Publisher: Avon Books
• Weight: 0.35 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Not all that memorable....

This is admittedly only the second Isherwood novel I have read...and the first half sets up what I thought was going to be a really good finish...but I was a bit disappointed. Regarding the various relationships of several members of a family, and a few outsiders, there is really one one thread that comes through as a focal point or 'main' story, and that is of the relationship between the character of 'Eric' and his cousin 'Maurice', as well as the involvement of Maurice and Edward, an older man in the habit of making life more cushy for Maurice, much to Eric's disdain. Citing moral corruption and the decline of character of his cousin, Eric strives to barr Edward from continuing his support of Maurice with an appeal to the man's better judgement. Again, this book has a lot of potential, but it just didn't move me the way The World in the Evening did. I give it four stars for Isherwood's writing style, but cannot give an additional mark for content.