Lucasta Miller

A long goodbye to Berlin

Christopher Isherwood’s experiences as a young man in Weimar Germany would be reworked in his autofiction for the rest of his life

Undated photograph of Christopher Isherwood by Humphrey Spender. [Alamy] 
issue 15 June 2024
  • Comments

  • Christopher Isherwood Inside Out

    Katherine Bucknell

    Chatto & Windus, pp. 864, £36

Lucasta Miller has narrated this article for you to listen to.

Christopher Isherwood pioneered what is now known as ‘autofiction’ long before it acquired that label. His best known work, Goodbye to Berlin (1939), which later inspired the musical Cabaret, was based on the diaries he kept while living in the Weimar Republic in his twenties.

GIF Image

Disagree with half of it, enjoy reading all of it

TRY 3 MONTHS FOR $5
Our magazine articles are for subscribers only. Start your 3-month trial today for just $5 and subscribe to more than one view

Read next

Trending

Steerpike

Watch: Labour mayor turns on Starmer

Oh dear. It has been a pretty grim night for Sir Keir Starmer’s party. Loyalists have been out spinning desperately, with Science Secretary Peter Kyle given the thankless task of defending the indefensible on the overnight shows. One ray of sunshine which the party is citing is the North Tyneside mayoralty, where Ros Jones narrowly

More on autofiction

Also by Lucasta Miller

Latest

Comments

Join the debate for just £1 a month

Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for £3.

Already a subscriber? Log in