The Oxford Book of Schooldays - Hardcover

Craig, Patricia

9780192142030: The Oxford Book of Schooldays

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0192142038 ISBN 13: 9780192142030

Publisher: Oxford Univ Pr, 1994

`School', wrote Henry Green, `is no odder than the world outside, only more concentrated.' It is also an experience that everyone has to undergo, and many people have left accounts of their schooldays inspired either by repugnance or regret. The old school, whether you compare it to a Fascist
state (as W.H. Auden famously did), a hothouse, a prison, or a place of lost content, remains with you for the rest of your life. Drawing on fiction, memoirs, autobiography, poetry, and letters Patricia Craig presents an enthralling selection of attitudes to schools and schooling.

All manner of institutions are described, from village schools to state comprehensives, charity schools, public schools, private schools and grammar schools, with some (usually) fond reminiscences of primary schools for good measure. But the emphasis is on individual experience - on the playing
field, in the classroom, making friends and enemies, encountering inspiring or eccentric schoolmasters. Pupils and teachers have their say, Miss Jean Brodie alongside Dr Arnold, Winston Churchill rubbing shoulders with Nicholas Nickleby. Through it all run the anarchic exploits of the heroes and
heroines of the school story - Billy Bunter and the Greyfriars mob, Stalky and Co., William Brown, Tom Brown, and the creations of T.B. Reed and Angela Brazil.

Ranging from the sixteenth century to the present day, and focusing on Great Britain and Northern Ireland, this anthology sheds incidental light on attitudes to children, educational systems, and the divisions of British society. It will strike a chord with every pupil, past or present, in
revealing the glories and defects of British education.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

About the Author:

Patricia Craig is a freelance critic, reviewer, and writer. She is the editor of The Oxford Book of English Detective Stories (1990).

Review:

'a fascinating read'
Peter Grosvenor, Daily Express

'What this fascinating, terrifying book shows is that nothing is as a subject to the whims of fashion as a universal truth.'
Simon Hoggart, The Observer

'most excellent collection of writings ... It is a stimulating mixture of fact and fiction, of autobiography and poetry. All in all this is a lovely book; fascinating and informative and, for good or ill, a poignant reminder of one's own school days.'
Barry Took, London Evening Standard

'The Oxford Book of Schooldays is more than just a splendid pot-pourri of such memories ... It is also excellently edited, by Patricia Craig, and handsomely produced.'
Rt Hon John Patten, MP, Sunday Express

'Beautifully produced ... a book that will brighten many a dull day.'
Michael O'Toole, Irish Press

'In a most readable and entertaining anthology we meet a rich variety of characters and incidents and throughout it all can pick out developments in education. There is something here to stir memories.'
Bill Spence, Yorkshire Gazette and Herald

'edited with some panache and a firm sense of purpose ... a collection as wide ranging as this there are bound to be joys'
Matthew Fort, Mail on Sunday

'Patricia Craig's book is presumably meant to be more than an aid to nostalgia, and in this it succeeds admirably. But any book that provides a reminder of the humbug of schooling is worth an extra mark.'
The Economist

'Reviewers of anthologies traditionally like to patronise the compiler with a few suggestions from their own reading. But Patricia Craig has done her job too well. She has not only found a classic bit of Kingsley Amis form one of his best, but lesser known, books (What Became of Jane Austen?),
but she has rescued an equally good bit of Evelyn Waugh from one of his worst, A Little Learning. That is good editing.'
Sebastian Faulks, Independent on Sunday

'Patricia Craig's selection, as will have been seen, is imaginative, wide-ranging, comprehensive, with many items from unexpected sources, but for those who read through it from beginning to end the impression of school can only be a sad one.'
Times Educational Supplement

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.