Prater Violet

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name = Prater Violet


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author = Christopher William Bradshaw Isherwood
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country = England
language = English language
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genre = literary fiction
publisher = Farrar, Straus and Giroux
release_date = 1945
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media_type = Print (Hardback & Paperback)
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"Prater Violet" (1945) is Christopher Isherwood's fictional first person account of film-making. The Prater is a large park and amusement park in Vienna, a city important to characters in the novel for several reasons. Though Isherwood broke onto the literary scene as a novelist, he eventually worked in Hollywood as a screenwriter. In this novel, Isherwood comments on life, art, commercialization of art, and Nazism.

tructure

Written in one continuous, expressive breath "Prater Violet" follows Isherwood's involvement in the creation of an eponymous film. Much of the novel records the remarks of film industry workers and Isherwood's conversations with a brilliant Austrian film director, Friedrich Bergmann. Only at the conclusion of the novel does Isherwood significantly separate his voice from dialogue to provide a deeper philosophic commentary on his frustration with life. He asks, "What makes you go on living? Why don't you kill yourself? Why is all this bearable? What makes you bear it?" (154).

Plot introduction

Set in pre-World War II era England, both Nazism and filmmaking are on the rise. Characters in "Prater Violet" are used to personify various aspects of the enigmatic creative process. Isherwood also uses his characters to express the varying views about Hitler, mainly the alarming measure of indifference prevalent during the 1930s.

Characters in "Prater Violet"

The main character, Isherwood himself, is a moderately successful author of fiction. He is a detailed observer of the filmmaking process and the gathering war. Eventually Isherwood confronts his rather passive role in life with frustration.

He finds his only consolation to be dramatic personalities in his life such as Friedrich Bergmann. Bergmann is a loquacious and hand-talking muse for Isherwood. Just as Isherwood translates Bergmann's poor English into film script, Isherwood comes to understand the true horror of Nazism through Bergmann's fear for family in Austria.

As Hitler lays the foundation for war, movie executives such as Mr. Chatsworth stress over the timely production of the film "Prater Violet". Ashmeade (whom we are led to believe is Isherwood's first meaningless lover) and Dorothy (the secretary) both fade into a cast of minor characters who fail to comprehend the truth of life.

The only exception to this monochrome cast is Lawrence Dwight, the chief film editor of Imperial Bulldog Pictures. Dwight sees life as a quest for efficiency through establishing patterns. He represents Nazi ideology in life and art.

Major themes

Efficiency.Art.The Creative Process.Film-as-art.Film-as-entertainment.Nazism.Love.

Based on Isherwood's real-life film work

"Prater Violet" is based on Isherwood's experience as a screenwriter for the British Gaumont film "Little Friend" (1934), directed by Berthold Viertel and starring Nova Pilbeam. (Source: Author's diaries and memoirs)