The Berlin Stories by Christopher Isherwood

Recently I finished reading the immensely entertaining The Berlin Stories by Christopher Isherwood. It is actually two books in one. The first, 'The Last of Mr. Norris', is the better of the pair & I would actually give 4 stars out of 5, while the second, 'Goodbye to Berlin', although still good & interesting, gets 3.5. Some will know the material because this is the foundation for the movie Cabaret, but so loosely based, No Kit Kat Club, no amazing Sally Bowles performances (she is a singer, but briefly in a low grade nightclub), no bisexual intrigue. One wonders why the musical or the movie, being vastly different, even uses it at all. Why not make up their own characters when you've made up your own scenarios? Isherwood is a genius for detail. He can describe a scene or a character where I am envious as writer, wishing I had half his talent. I highly recommend this as a window into that time when Berlin was on the edge after the First World War & during the global economic collapse, which harmed Germany immensely, when the Communists and Nazis were battling in the streets to get control, and when Jews were beginning to feel the strain of sadism while still remaining in the folds of humanity, able to walk the streets freely.