"He is mexican, maybe black-haired, handsome, catlike, cruel, compact, lithe, muscular; quick and graceful on his feet."

Nothing wrong with multiple adjectives if used appropriately, for example: "I bought a beautiful, antique, red, Italian, silk tie ...".  Five adjectives! But this is economical writing  - it conveys a lot of information with the minimum words. I've not read any Christopher Isherwood - shame on me - so I can't comment on his overall writing style, but I'm guessing this use of multiple adjectives is not typical of his writing style - which would make for a tiresome read So I have no problem with the sentence you quoted because it too is economical writing, conveying much information about the character in a single sentence with the minimum words. It's also distinctive and memorable - you picked it out - and therefore interesting. These are welcome attributes of effective writing.

The problem with uniform adherence to prescriptive rules is that they make everything ... uniform. Do we really want every novel to read like Stephen King? I like variety - variety is the spice of life as they say As for A Single Man, widely recognised as his finest novel, I'd be happy to receive a fraction of the acclaim this has received from literary critics And who would not be happy to produce writing of this distinctive quality:

The creature we are watching will struggle on and on until it drops.  Not because it is heroic.  It can imagine no alternative.

Staring and staring into the mirror, it sees many faces within its face – the face of the child, the boy, the young man, the not-so-young man – all present still, preserved like fossils on superimposed layers, and, like fossils, dead.  Their message to this live dying creature is: Look at us – we have died – what is there to be afraid of?

I can read through crap as long as you write pretty.

 

Yes! I sometimes wonder why I read something...that's why.

I have no problem with his use of multiple adjectives either.  I was just making fun of it b/c they are writing rule nazis out there who would tell you to strip two adjectives to one, three is anathema. 

Actually if I was going to be critical of the sentence, I had more trouble with its repetitive ideas and contradictory images.  But it seems to be a stream of consciousness kind of sentence, so the repetition and the contradiction can be forgiven. 

Like I said, despite the nine adjectives, I like his writing style. But there was enough eye-rolling content to make me bristle. 

As for his literary acclaim and all what not, well I'm an aspiring writer, so I have to pay close critical attention to what I read. Because I'm always on the lookout for techniques to imitate, and techniques to avoid. Therefore if I find something that turns me on or off in hallowed books, I will make note of them.

Douglas Bader the famous WW2 fighter pilot who'd lost both his legs said: "Rules are for the guidance of wise men and the obedience of fools". In his case there's a delicious irony because it was breaking rules [on low flying aerobatics] that caused him to have the accident that cost him his legs but, still, there's an important truth in what he said. And I firmly believe this applies equally to writing. What is important is to find your own style or "voice". Yes, to be inspired but not to slavishly copy what other people - often dead people - have done before. Applies to life generally too

 writing rule nazis out there 

Ah, the writing rule nazi, such arresting and delicate creatures. They flit about in their multi-colored robes, flicking their arms and hands to and fro in a manner that the casual onlooker may misinterpret as suffering from a combination of heavy autism and Parkinson's disease, but is actually the mark of a haunted and shimmering intelligence lost in the beauty of the written word. In the day, they spin around from room to room in balletic gestures, their wide-eyed whispers to each other like gossamer threads, "Show, Don't Tell...Show, Don't Tell." In the evening, the convene on the ceiling in an amorphous blob, indulging in a snoreful sleep until they slowly drip down into distinct parts again in the morning. Ah! Can there be a creature more appropriate for incarceration into Aunt Sally's Home for the Mentally Estranged as the writing rule nazi?