Mr. Norris Changes Trains

"Mr. Norris Changes Trains" is a fascinating story about the misdeeds of an eccentric English crook in pre-WWII Berlin. As I was reading it, I felt that it was "very Fassbinder" (the grotesque characters, the bleak settings, the sexual vices and homosexuality, the oppression) and indeed, I later found out, Fassbinder was admittedly and profoundly influenced by Christopher Isherwood's "Berlin Novels" (of which "Mr. Norris Changes Trains" is a part of). "Cabaret" was also inspired by the "Berlin Novels".
Christopher Isherwood's writing is in itself extremely enjoyable for its clear, simple and apparently effortless style (reminded me of Hemingway), but what is truly fascinating about this 1935 book is the insight on Germany and Berlin in between the two world wars. The near-civil war between communists and Nazis, the daily struggle of normal people to lead a normal life, the up-close glimpses of some of the events leading up to WWII, all of these make this book a must for anyone who appreciates good literature or is interested in the history of the 20th century.

Synopsis

This book portrays a series of encounters in Berlin in the early thirties between the narrator, William Bradshaw, and Mr.Norris.