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lauriestein's review
4.0
I read this quasi-simultaneously with watching the circa-1980 Masterpiece series on Netflix and loved both. Such wonderful, memorable, identifiable characters. Although the narrative flows almost effortlessly the developmental process the reader undergoes along with Powlett-Jones is emphatically not. The book has a hard-fought, draining, rewarding feel to it. And if P-J retains his innate idealism about education and democracy through two wars and a depression who am I to be so cynical in 2011?
hagbard_celine's review
5.0
Man, what a wonderful book. You know exactly what it's doing the whole time, and it still gets you - especially at the end.
maink's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
malta's review
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
cookewitch's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
Well, I can’t remember what made me add this to my TBR, and when I started it and saw the estimated reading time I anticipated it being a bit of a slog.
I could not have been more wrong!! I loved every page of this book and would go as far to say it is probably up there in my top 5 reads, ever!!!!
Just a beautiful, quiet, funny, sad, happy and exquisite read ❣️
📖📕📖
I could not have been more wrong!! I loved every page of this book and would go as far to say it is probably up there in my top 5 reads, ever!!!!
Just a beautiful, quiet, funny, sad, happy and exquisite read ❣️
📖📕📖
hannicogood's review
5.0
Such a lovely book and an excellent portrayal of England between the world wars. The setting in a school manages to highlight the main events of the years between 1918 and 1940. A criticism I do ha e is that the female characters either seemed half developed or ended up giving up their dreams for motherhood or being a wife. That being said....this book isn’t really about the feminine characters. The tone and plot would have been able to remain mostly in tact without any romantic subplots, I feel.
Another note - the characters are all so likable. This is the first book I think I’ve ever teared up at while learning about a certain character’s passing towards the end of the novel.
Another note - the characters are all so likable. This is the first book I think I’ve ever teared up at while learning about a certain character’s passing towards the end of the novel.
sophb84's review
4.0
A wonderful story of how a man suffering from shell shock finds himself at a private school in Devon on the advice of his psychiatric doctor. It follows David Powlett-Jones through from the Great War to the Second World War. It accounts for his struggles with some of the boys (ones who later become great friends and call him 'Pow-Wow'), to his rise of power through the school to the tragedies that befall his private life.
A very well written account that pulls you through and leaves you at the end hoping that the boys make it through the Second World War safely but knowing that many wouldn't have done. A heart-warming tale of determination and the development of character after suffering in the Trenches of 1917.
I read this because of the TV series which aired in England in the '80s I think. A very good adaptation but the book is different enough to make it not just reading a book of the series. I would definitely recommend this book.
A very well written account that pulls you through and leaves you at the end hoping that the boys make it through the Second World War safely but knowing that many wouldn't have done. A heart-warming tale of determination and the development of character after suffering in the Trenches of 1917.
I read this because of the TV series which aired in England in the '80s I think. A very good adaptation but the book is different enough to make it not just reading a book of the series. I would definitely recommend this book.
marcar's review
4.0
Well, it took me 2 months, but worth it! (Told you I was a slow reader - most would not take that long to get through its 678 pages). I have actually read this before and also have loved the BBC’s Masterpiece Theatre presentation of it, which we own - so now I know what I will be bingeing next...
Set in Britain on the moors of Devon, this is the story of David Powlett-Jones, a Welshman devastated by the trauma of WWI trench warfare in France, sent to Bamfylde School to become a teacher as a means of regaining himself and healing the internal scars, restored by the wilds of an isolated part of England, the beautiful girl he meets by chance and the comradeship of his headmaster, colleagues and students. But tested again by the course of love, life and calling. Yes, it is a saga, of sorts, but of a different kind. It doesn’t follow generations of family. It bridges the time between Ypres and Dunkirk, between lost and found, grief and love, idealism and purpose. In the quintessential boy’s school atmosphere, David is able to reconcile the hardest parts of life with the sweetest. And to confirm his headmaster’s assertion that the most important parts of an education are not found in the classroom.
One of my favorite aspects of the book is the way it brings the story full circle. Early on, the harsh reality of the losses the school has suffered to the long, difficult war - beloved boys - is echoed at the other end as war returns and David must face the reality of losing his own students in the defense of Britain and all that is right. Undergirding the entirety of the story is the heart of English culture - history, loyalty, passion, identity. How this gradual progression from disenchantment to mature self-understanding unfolds over twenty-plus years is the real story. Everything else wraps it up in scenic beauty and heartfelt emotion.
The story has its weaknesses. Written in 1972, set in the 1920’s-1930’s predominantly, it has some out-of-date attitudes and language, but in keeping, to some degree, with the time period. The story deals far more with David’s relationships with his colleagues and students than with his own children to a degree that they seem almost overlooked at times. But, as a whole, it is far more than the sum of its faults. I read this again for two reasons: 1) that Masterpiece Theatre thing: had to read it again so I can watch it again
Set in Britain on the moors of Devon, this is the story of David Powlett-Jones, a Welshman devastated by the trauma of WWI trench warfare in France, sent to Bamfylde School to become a teacher as a means of regaining himself and healing the internal scars, restored by the wilds of an isolated part of England, the beautiful girl he meets by chance and the comradeship of his headmaster, colleagues and students. But tested again by the course of love, life and calling. Yes, it is a saga, of sorts, but of a different kind. It doesn’t follow generations of family. It bridges the time between Ypres and Dunkirk, between lost and found, grief and love, idealism and purpose. In the quintessential boy’s school atmosphere, David is able to reconcile the hardest parts of life with the sweetest. And to confirm his headmaster’s assertion that the most important parts of an education are not found in the classroom.
One of my favorite aspects of the book is the way it brings the story full circle. Early on, the harsh reality of the losses the school has suffered to the long, difficult war - beloved boys - is echoed at the other end as war returns and David must face the reality of losing his own students in the defense of Britain and all that is right. Undergirding the entirety of the story is the heart of English culture - history, loyalty, passion, identity. How this gradual progression from disenchantment to mature self-understanding unfolds over twenty-plus years is the real story. Everything else wraps it up in scenic beauty and heartfelt emotion.
The story has its weaknesses. Written in 1972, set in the 1920’s-1930’s predominantly, it has some out-of-date attitudes and language, but in keeping, to some degree, with the time period. The story deals far more with David’s relationships with his colleagues and students than with his own children to a degree that they seem almost overlooked at times. But, as a whole, it is far more than the sum of its faults. I read this again for two reasons: 1) that Masterpiece Theatre thing: had to read it again so I can watch it again
skyanth's review
1.0
I don't get the fantastic ratings for this book... I thought it was all tell, no show, and the sweeping, bird's eye way of writing meant there was nothing to connect me to any of the characters. I couldn't make it through this book, but the high score here on Goodreads does give me the feeling I've missed something.