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To Serve Them All My Days
Mr. Delderfield's main character is a schoolmaster who survives the carnage of the Western Front to become a teacher at a remote English public school, gradually maturing from a shell-shocked veteran scarcely older than his charges into a headmaster whose influence touches and changes the lives of hundreds of boys who pass through his care.
624 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1972
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3387 people want to read
About the author
R.F. Delderfield
87 books193 followersRonald Frederick Delderfield was a popular English novelist and dramatist, many of whose works have been adapted for television and are still widely read.
Several of Delderfield's historical novels and series involve young men who return from war and lead lives in England that allow the author to portray the sweep of English history and delve deeply into social history from the Edwardian era to the early 1960s.
From Wikipedia
Several of Delderfield's historical novels and series involve young men who return from war and lead lives in England that allow the author to portray the sweep of English history and delve deeply into social history from the Edwardian era to the early 1960s.
From Wikipedia
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 330 reviews
May 31, 2020
“He thought, ‘Now who the devil would build a school right out here? Nothing lives here but rabbits,’ but then, as at the station, his awakening senses told him the wilderness was teeming with life, every kind of life, and that there was promise here, in a month or two, of an immensity of colour and movement under the touch of April.
Already the hedgerows were starred with campion and primrose, with dog violets showing among the thistles and higher up, where the rhododendrons tailed off on the edge of a little birch wood, the green spires of bluebell were pushing through a sea of rusty bracken.”
At the start of this novel Second Lieutenant David Powlett-Jones, ‘A’ Company, Third Battalion, South Wales Borderers is dug out from a trench, the only survivor of a mortar shell blast. Davy, the son of a Welsh miner is not a stranger to tragedy, and before the end of this tale he will suffer further tragedies.
Having more or less (give or take some shell shock) recovered from his injuries, Davy sets off for Bamfylde School, Devon, where he is to be interviewed for a teaching post. An intelligent boy and the only one in his mining family with an interest in books, Davy had won a scholarship to Cambridge University, but WWI intervened and in 1914, instead of reading for a degree, Davy had been drafted into the war and the trenches in Flanders. It is not a spoiler to reveal that Davy aces his interview with the headmaster (Reverend Algernon Herries) as the rest of the story takes place at Bamfylde where Davy teaches English to junior levels and History to the seniors.
It is at Bamfylde where Davy becomes part of the fabric of the school and heals his invisible wounds. He familiarises his pupils with the poetry of “Siegfried Sassoon, who had bravely challenged the establishment the previous year”, establishing himself as a “bolshie”. He conveys his love of history by providing links between past and current events and teaching the boys to think rather than simply to memorise dates and battles, and he earns himself the nickname of Pow-Wow for encouraging debate. He establishes his authority with the boys without resorting to a cane, and he doesn’t tolerate bullying. He also channels his passion for history into a nonfiction book titled ‘The Royal Tigress, a study in depth of Margaret of Anjou’, about the wife of the Lancastrian king Henry VI.
Although contented with his job, Davy will of course find obstacles and the inevitable serpent in paradise. Pupils will come and go, teaching staff will move on and even headmasters come and go as time goes by. Change is not always for the better. Outside of Bamfylde changes take place too - momentous changes - and eventually WWII looms. At Davy’s initial job interview Algy Herries had pointed to a photograph of “old boys” of the school, many of whom had died during the Great War. “‘There’s no need to feel isolated from us, least of all from me. That was our 1913 First Fifteen. Twelve are dead and one of the survivors is legless. We’ve lost eighty-seven to date, seventy-two of them known to me personally. My boys.’” Once again the present headmaster is faced with such an ordeal. The story has gone full circle.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this almost 600-paged novel about a dedicated teacher whose life is intertwined with those of the boys, his colleagues and the school during the years between the two world wars. The novel is peppered with interesting snippets of history and the politics of the nineteen twenties and thirties. For the most part it is a quiet, contemplative read.
Extracts:
“Here you could almost reach out and touch the quiet. It was a living thing that seemed to catch its breath up there in the hanging woods and then, at a wordless command, slip down the long hillside and gust over the rails to lose itself in the wood opposite. Its touch was gentle and healing, passing over his scar tissue like the fingers of a woman.”
#
“Never in the past or indeed in the years ahead was he so sharply aware of that heightened sense of time that accompanies the process of self-discovery; of new faces, new experiences, new dimensions of space, shape, texture, colour and relationship that lifted him out of limbo and set his feet squarely upon virgin ground.”
#
“All the time, with whatever period he was dealing, and whatever the age and standard of his audience, he strove to make history come alive, and would compare statesmen of the Tudor and Stuart periods with men like Lloyd George, whose antics featured in the daily headlines.”
#
“I never gave a damn about history before you taught it. I mean, it was no more than a string of dates, and dead mutton to me and to most of the other chaps. But you made it . . .well, mean something. You showed us how it fits in with today, if you see what I mean?’”
#
“He made the discovery, as the autumn mists closed in, that the ache in his own heart enabled him to take unexpectedly close-range peeps into the hearts of others, so that he began to mellow in a way that suited the new furrows on his face and the touch of grey in his hair.”
#
“The older a man grew the less sure he was about anything. In the end, perhaps, he came face to face with the fact that he was still looking through a crack in a door, wondering at the things he saw within.”
#
“If there’s one form of hypocrisy I can’t tolerate it’s sentimental regard for the dead, simply because they are dead. To hear some people talk at a funeral one would suppose dying was limited to the chosen few.’”
September 28, 2011
hello all
friend told me to try this book
thought to myself
my grandparents escaped the slums
of Victorian London
to live in Canada
don't want to read book about training
the English upper class
grabbed hold of me
when it ended
it was as if a small part of the world died
another books as ships story
ship that takes you away to another
time and place
took me to another time another place
yours truly
mac
friend told me to try this book
thought to myself
my grandparents escaped the slums
of Victorian London
to live in Canada
don't want to read book about training
the English upper class
grabbed hold of me
when it ended
it was as if a small part of the world died
another books as ships story
ship that takes you away to another
time and place
took me to another time another place
yours truly
mac
November 13, 2024
This is a book that must be reviewed. I mustn't have been reviewing then. I will remedy this asap. I loved this book. Then I bought it after giving away my second hand copy. This is a book to hold onto. One of the kids Headmaster's enjoyed it too, I raved about it. Glad my dad passed it onto me :)
Addendum November 2024!
I received this for my birthday from a Booksta friend. So happy to own this special book!
Review to follow after a reread.
Addendum November 2024!
I received this for my birthday from a Booksta friend. So happy to own this special book!
Review to follow after a reread.
December 9, 2008
I sometimes still wake up in the morning and look forward to reading more about P.J. and Bamfylde. The book could have gone on another thousand pages as far as I'm concerned and I would have been riveted. Very English. A great tutorial on the British Boys' School and how that effects their society.
January 23, 2023
This is an epic tale, a long saga about a World War One invalided soldier who comes to devote his life to teaching. At first, to overcome the trauma of his war experiences and to regain physical health, he takes on a job as a teacher at a boys school in Exmoor, a rural area of Devonshire, England. It gives readers an excellent depiction of a milieu, of a time and a place. It’s a tale of historical fiction depicting the interwar years and the start of the Second World War. We observe how historical events play out in the lives of the fictional characters—students and teachers at the school. Many historical facts are interwoven.
What comes across loud and clear is the value and the importance of a dedicated teacher. What makes a good teacher? Heart and caring, tolerance, patience, empathy and understanding are important. Encouraging curiosity, learning how to find what you are looking for and how to debate and discuss ideas are the tools of the trade. There is a warmth to this book that grows as we watch David Powlett-Jones. We observe how he first learns from older, experienced teachers and then later guides and leads his own pupils. He loves what he does, and it shows. Teaching is a valuable profession! It shapes the young into who they will become.
There are many characters. Central ones stand out. I believe each reader will fasten on to those characters toward whom they feel a kinship. We observe a group, a generation. There are love affairs and deaths, incidents with devoted pets, exciting and horrifying moments. Tears moistened my eyes more than once. This has got to mean the author succeeded in making me care what happens to at least some of the characters. NO, not all, but a couple.
There is a mini-surprise near the end. I like very much how David chooses to deal with this. I also like how the story ends--there is a sense of continuity to it.
I think the author is better at drawing male than female characters. Women are drawn too much as they “should be drawn”. He draws them in a manner that is politically correct. I want all characters, male and female, drawn with their faults and idiosyncrasies right out front.
The prose is not bad, but neither is it exceptional.
I listened to the Swedish translation of R.F. Delderfield’s novel. The translation was done by Irja Carlsson. For the most part, the wording runs smoothly, but not always. Some words are used inappropriately. In the first third of the novel this annoyed me quite a bit. It jolts you when you hear a word being used in the wrong way, particularly when you can easily think of better substitutes.
I’ve also had trouble with the audiobook’s Swedish narrator—Ann-Britt van der Pals. She sounds so darn sweet. This is a story about a man! Her voice is too treble, too weak. I wanted something gruffer. When the students open their mouths, they sound like two-year-olds. OK, I’m exaggerating. Also, each kid sounds exactly, exactly the same. I have absolutely no trouble hearing what she says, so I feel kind of like a creep, but I object to her sweet, childish tone. Two stars for the narration.
********************
*Long Summer Day 3 stars
*To Serve Them All My Days 4 stars
What comes across loud and clear is the value and the importance of a dedicated teacher. What makes a good teacher? Heart and caring, tolerance, patience, empathy and understanding are important. Encouraging curiosity, learning how to find what you are looking for and how to debate and discuss ideas are the tools of the trade. There is a warmth to this book that grows as we watch David Powlett-Jones. We observe how he first learns from older, experienced teachers and then later guides and leads his own pupils. He loves what he does, and it shows. Teaching is a valuable profession! It shapes the young into who they will become.
There are many characters. Central ones stand out. I believe each reader will fasten on to those characters toward whom they feel a kinship. We observe a group, a generation. There are love affairs and deaths, incidents with devoted pets, exciting and horrifying moments. Tears moistened my eyes more than once. This has got to mean the author succeeded in making me care what happens to at least some of the characters. NO, not all, but a couple.
There is a mini-surprise near the end. I like very much how David chooses to deal with this. I also like how the story ends--there is a sense of continuity to it.
I think the author is better at drawing male than female characters. Women are drawn too much as they “should be drawn”. He draws them in a manner that is politically correct. I want all characters, male and female, drawn with their faults and idiosyncrasies right out front.
The prose is not bad, but neither is it exceptional.
I listened to the Swedish translation of R.F. Delderfield’s novel. The translation was done by Irja Carlsson. For the most part, the wording runs smoothly, but not always. Some words are used inappropriately. In the first third of the novel this annoyed me quite a bit. It jolts you when you hear a word being used in the wrong way, particularly when you can easily think of better substitutes.
I’ve also had trouble with the audiobook’s Swedish narrator—Ann-Britt van der Pals. She sounds so darn sweet. This is a story about a man! Her voice is too treble, too weak. I wanted something gruffer. When the students open their mouths, they sound like two-year-olds. OK, I’m exaggerating. Also, each kid sounds exactly, exactly the same. I have absolutely no trouble hearing what she says, so I feel kind of like a creep, but I object to her sweet, childish tone. Two stars for the narration.
********************
*Long Summer Day 3 stars
*To Serve Them All My Days 4 stars
April 25, 2016
We saw the 1980 Masterpiece Theatre series compliments of Netflix. Then I wanted to read the book. The series followed the storyline almost completely. Reading the book after seeing hours of the characters on the film, made it seem like visiting old friends. Below is from the end flaps of the 1972 first printing of the book (obtained on order from the local library).
"... an England emerging from the horrors and bloodshed of the 1914-18 war into the twenty years of change, upheaval and uneasy peace that ended with the Second World War. [The:] hero is a schoolmaster, David Powlett-Jones, who survives the dreary carnage of the Western Front to become a teacher at a remote English "public" school, gradually maturing from a shell-shocked veteran scarcely older than his charges into a great headmaster, whose influence touches and changes the lives of hundreds of boys who pass through his care.
"[the author's:] ability to encompass whole generations, to show, in loving detail and with a scrupulous attention to truth, the vast changes in an England moving from the comfortable certainties of the Victorian Age through the tragedies of the Great War, the moral perplexities of the Twenties, the great strikes, the years of the slump and the dole of the hungry Thirties, on into the glorious Forties, in which England atoned for the appeasement and isolation of The Age of Illusion. His sense of history, his loving re-creation of real events, his almost Churchillian understanding of the English character and genius, have led critics to compare him with such great masters of the traditional English novel ...
"Yet there is more here than history, for R. F. Delderfield is above all a master storyteller, whose characters take on lives of their own and exercise such power over our imagination that they become part of ourselves.
"... preparing his boys for a life of uncertainty and violent change, teaching that the old English values of honesty, courage and a love of justice are still worthwhile even in the age of Hitler and Stalin."
I would add, the author and the main character have a true heart for the developing character of young boys - even more remarkable given the isolated living situation of a boarding school. The best parts of the story happen when we see grace and mercy extended wisely so that the boys develop true character.
If you would like a relief from the grisly reality of modern media and books, consider this as a 'good read.' I am savoring the last few pages, not wanting the experience to end. Just as a good book should be …
"... an England emerging from the horrors and bloodshed of the 1914-18 war into the twenty years of change, upheaval and uneasy peace that ended with the Second World War. [The:] hero is a schoolmaster, David Powlett-Jones, who survives the dreary carnage of the Western Front to become a teacher at a remote English "public" school, gradually maturing from a shell-shocked veteran scarcely older than his charges into a great headmaster, whose influence touches and changes the lives of hundreds of boys who pass through his care.
"[the author's:] ability to encompass whole generations, to show, in loving detail and with a scrupulous attention to truth, the vast changes in an England moving from the comfortable certainties of the Victorian Age through the tragedies of the Great War, the moral perplexities of the Twenties, the great strikes, the years of the slump and the dole of the hungry Thirties, on into the glorious Forties, in which England atoned for the appeasement and isolation of The Age of Illusion. His sense of history, his loving re-creation of real events, his almost Churchillian understanding of the English character and genius, have led critics to compare him with such great masters of the traditional English novel ...
"Yet there is more here than history, for R. F. Delderfield is above all a master storyteller, whose characters take on lives of their own and exercise such power over our imagination that they become part of ourselves.
"... preparing his boys for a life of uncertainty and violent change, teaching that the old English values of honesty, courage and a love of justice are still worthwhile even in the age of Hitler and Stalin."
I would add, the author and the main character have a true heart for the developing character of young boys - even more remarkable given the isolated living situation of a boarding school. The best parts of the story happen when we see grace and mercy extended wisely so that the boys develop true character.
If you would like a relief from the grisly reality of modern media and books, consider this as a 'good read.' I am savoring the last few pages, not wanting the experience to end. Just as a good book should be …
September 21, 2019
A marvellous book. Wonderful. I adored it.
David Powlett-Jones is invalided to an English hospital to recover after returning shell shocked from WW1. The physical injuries heal but the shellshock lingers. David's doctor sends him for a position teaching history at Bamfylde School in isolated Exmoor. The early sections are particularly good at showing the trauma and after effects of shellshock but also how relative normality and patience can be so beneficial. David adapts to a first post in teaching and gradually discovers that he becomes a part of Bamfylde, and the rest of the book takes us from 1919 through to 1940.
To Serve Them All My Days has many highs and lows, and across the 21 years mirrors the history of Britain during the interwar period, casting David's experiences against these difficulties, contradictions, and social changes.
To Serve Them All My Days is also unashamedly sentimental but in the best sense of the word. Focussing on virtues like love, duty, friendship, education and tradition. If you can get through this without occasionally whooping with delight or shedding the odd tear then I'd be amazed. I certainly didn't. I just wish it could have gone on longer.
I look forward to reading more books by R.F. Delderfield.
5/5
I first heard of To Serve Them All My Days by R.F. Delderfield from the wonderful (and highly recommended) Backlisted Podcast.
Back in November 2017 they had an episode on this book. If you listen you will understand why I was inspired to read it. I've relistened since finishing the book and agree with all their observations.
You can find out more here...
https://www.backlisted.fm/episodes/53...
The podcast is available on iTunes and all the other usual podcast providers.
David Powlett-Jones is invalided to an English hospital to recover after returning shell shocked from WW1. The physical injuries heal but the shellshock lingers. David's doctor sends him for a position teaching history at Bamfylde School in isolated Exmoor. The early sections are particularly good at showing the trauma and after effects of shellshock but also how relative normality and patience can be so beneficial. David adapts to a first post in teaching and gradually discovers that he becomes a part of Bamfylde, and the rest of the book takes us from 1919 through to 1940.
To Serve Them All My Days has many highs and lows, and across the 21 years mirrors the history of Britain during the interwar period, casting David's experiences against these difficulties, contradictions, and social changes.
To Serve Them All My Days is also unashamedly sentimental but in the best sense of the word. Focussing on virtues like love, duty, friendship, education and tradition. If you can get through this without occasionally whooping with delight or shedding the odd tear then I'd be amazed. I certainly didn't. I just wish it could have gone on longer.
I look forward to reading more books by R.F. Delderfield.
5/5
I first heard of To Serve Them All My Days by R.F. Delderfield from the wonderful (and highly recommended) Backlisted Podcast.
Back in November 2017 they had an episode on this book. If you listen you will understand why I was inspired to read it. I've relistened since finishing the book and agree with all their observations.
You can find out more here...
https://www.backlisted.fm/episodes/53...
The podcast is available on iTunes and all the other usual podcast providers.
June 23, 2011
Very rarely do I find a book that captures so much of my mind that I read every word. This was one of those books! It embraced a heart for teaching, a passion for history, a draw to love, and a strength through hardship all in a landscape of a prep school in England. Looking at life between the two wars that both engulfed the world, from the perspective of a small, secluded, and hidden piece of the earth was one of the most interesting perspectives I have been immersed in! It challenged my mind and opened my heart! It was an excellent read!
February 22, 2022
This was an unexpected delight. I loved it. And two months ago I had never even heard of it! Thank you to Kate Howe for bringing the novel to my attention. I think I have a longer review in me, especially about the central character David Powlett-Jones (or Pow-Wow or PJ) whom I adored, but it’s the kind of book that I want to savor for a bit before trying to sum up my experience of reading it. I actually already ordered my own copy from Blackwells because I know I’ll be re-reading this in the future.
2/19/22 I've since gone on a R.F. Delderfeld craze and ordered his two-part series The Avenue from ABEbooks and the first in his Swann Saga from the library. 🤣
2/21/22 It occurred to me today why I was pre-disposed to love this novel. One of my favorite novels of all time is A Month in the Country by J.L. Carr and the premises of the two books are remarkably similar. In both novels, Tom and David, respectively, return as young men from the horrors of WWI to places in the country where they are given work that matters and a community that cares. David is fortunate because his chance appointment as history teacher to the boys' public school Bamfylde becomes a life-long vocation whereas Tom has just the fleeting months of a single summer.
To Serve Them All My Days is so many things, but, at its heart, it is about the restoration of one man to wholeness and how that permeates every bit of his life over the 20+ years the reader is privileged to witness. David Powlett-Jones is a wonderful character. Just like in Carr's novel, TSTAMD is shadowed by tragedy and yet illuminated by the gravity and power of kindness and belonging. One of the first scenes in the book is between David and Bamfylde's headmaster Algy Herries and it is permeated by Algy's intense kindness, humanity, and humility. Algy shows David the names of the Bamfylde boys who have been killed in the war and his grief creates a safe place for David's woundedness. David is given a chance to move from the isolation and devastation of war into a community where he is known and where he belongs. He very soon gets a chance to create safe places for the boys he teaches just as was modeled to him by Algy. David's relationships with various boys over the years is a treat to read about. He treats the boys as individuals and is sensitive to their individual struggles in the loveliest ways.
One of the most delightful things about Bamfylde under Algy is how all the boys and teachers have nicknames. There is a running joke/storyline through the book about David's political convictions, and how the boys almost dub him 'Bolshie'. Fortunately, he is christened Pow-Wow instead while his fellow teachers call him PJ. Delderfield uses David's own intense and shifting political convictions as a microcosm of England's struggles in the 20s and 30s, as well as a way to highlight David's own character arc from his background in a Welsh mining community through his entrance into the mores and tensions of a public school and of England more generally to the complexity of the leadup to WWII and what it is that Bamfylde really represents as an essence of Englishness. It's masterfully done.
I love Delderfield's sensitivity to the full and varied human experience. He never fails to capture a tone of understanding and a good-will for his characters, even the less pleasant ones. Even a crusty, cynical bachelor like Howarth gets a character arc that ends up being one of the most beautiful in the story.
There is so much more to be said about this novel, but I will leave it there for now.
2/19/22 I've since gone on a R.F. Delderfeld craze and ordered his two-part series The Avenue from ABEbooks and the first in his Swann Saga from the library. 🤣
2/21/22 It occurred to me today why I was pre-disposed to love this novel. One of my favorite novels of all time is A Month in the Country by J.L. Carr and the premises of the two books are remarkably similar. In both novels, Tom and David, respectively, return as young men from the horrors of WWI to places in the country where they are given work that matters and a community that cares. David is fortunate because his chance appointment as history teacher to the boys' public school Bamfylde becomes a life-long vocation whereas Tom has just the fleeting months of a single summer.
To Serve Them All My Days is so many things, but, at its heart, it is about the restoration of one man to wholeness and how that permeates every bit of his life over the 20+ years the reader is privileged to witness. David Powlett-Jones is a wonderful character. Just like in Carr's novel, TSTAMD is shadowed by tragedy and yet illuminated by the gravity and power of kindness and belonging. One of the first scenes in the book is between David and Bamfylde's headmaster Algy Herries and it is permeated by Algy's intense kindness, humanity, and humility. Algy shows David the names of the Bamfylde boys who have been killed in the war and his grief creates a safe place for David's woundedness. David is given a chance to move from the isolation and devastation of war into a community where he is known and where he belongs. He very soon gets a chance to create safe places for the boys he teaches just as was modeled to him by Algy. David's relationships with various boys over the years is a treat to read about. He treats the boys as individuals and is sensitive to their individual struggles in the loveliest ways.
One of the most delightful things about Bamfylde under Algy is how all the boys and teachers have nicknames. There is a running joke/storyline through the book about David's political convictions, and how the boys almost dub him 'Bolshie'. Fortunately, he is christened Pow-Wow instead while his fellow teachers call him PJ. Delderfield uses David's own intense and shifting political convictions as a microcosm of England's struggles in the 20s and 30s, as well as a way to highlight David's own character arc from his background in a Welsh mining community through his entrance into the mores and tensions of a public school and of England more generally to the complexity of the leadup to WWII and what it is that Bamfylde really represents as an essence of Englishness. It's masterfully done.
I love Delderfield's sensitivity to the full and varied human experience. He never fails to capture a tone of understanding and a good-will for his characters, even the less pleasant ones. Even a crusty, cynical bachelor like Howarth gets a character arc that ends up being one of the most beautiful in the story.
There is so much more to be said about this novel, but I will leave it there for now.
March 24, 2014
3 1/2 Stars
I think I deserve one of those shiny silver star stickers on my forehead for getting through all 678 pages! My paperback was literally falling apart in my hands and required frequent sticky tape first aid as I read.
As my friends know, I love chunky sagas and epics but I'll be honest with you. You could EASILY chop 200 pages off this without affecting the story one iota.
IN A NUTSHELL: A shell shock soldier ( WW1) is discharged from a lengthy hospital stay and is encouraged to take a post at a boys boarding school by his neurologist. What follows is 20 years as a teacher and mentor and how one school gave a shell of a man a new lease on life and reason to live.
The first half was 5 stars for me but I wish his first wife could have held up a bit longer (I'm not spoiling it, its in the description and come on, it covers 20 years so nothing is permanent) I really liked her a lot and wished things could have been different. His future love interests I didn't care for so much.
One character is very into politics and my eyes start glazing over when you mention Tories and liberals, so you can imagine I found these bits hard going. The school subjects/methods also got a little tedious after a while but it is a book about a boarding school so what did I expect, right? For anyone in the education field this book would be fascinating.
I really loved the stories about the individual boys and their escapades. Their nicknames were entertaining as well. I come from a family where no one uses anyone's real names and we have nicknames for everyone else we know too (some know it and most don't!) so I could relate to this. Some nicknames:
Matron. Heavy, full busted and highly corseted: MA FENDER
Student with one missing *ahem* appendage: LACKANACKER
Teacher with one toe missing and a rolling gait: TUMBLER
Teacher with comaraderie classroom discussions: POW-WOW
The list goes on and on....
The writing itself is very readable and the characters well portrayed and individualistic. It's a good story and worth reading.
But I'm glad I'm done. :)
CONTENT:
SEX: Fade to black
VIOLENCE: None
PROFANITY: Moderate. D, B, H
MY RATING: PG 13
By the way, I started watching the BBC series 'To Serve Them All My Days ' on youtube and have enjoyed it very much! The characters seem well portrayed and it sticks quite closely to the book. Well done!
I think I deserve one of those shiny silver star stickers on my forehead for getting through all 678 pages! My paperback was literally falling apart in my hands and required frequent sticky tape first aid as I read.
As my friends know, I love chunky sagas and epics but I'll be honest with you. You could EASILY chop 200 pages off this without affecting the story one iota.
IN A NUTSHELL: A shell shock soldier ( WW1) is discharged from a lengthy hospital stay and is encouraged to take a post at a boys boarding school by his neurologist. What follows is 20 years as a teacher and mentor and how one school gave a shell of a man a new lease on life and reason to live.
The first half was 5 stars for me but I wish his first wife could have held up a bit longer (I'm not spoiling it, its in the description and come on, it covers 20 years so nothing is permanent) I really liked her a lot and wished things could have been different. His future love interests I didn't care for so much.
One character is very into politics and my eyes start glazing over when you mention Tories and liberals, so you can imagine I found these bits hard going. The school subjects/methods also got a little tedious after a while but it is a book about a boarding school so what did I expect, right? For anyone in the education field this book would be fascinating.
I really loved the stories about the individual boys and their escapades. Their nicknames were entertaining as well. I come from a family where no one uses anyone's real names and we have nicknames for everyone else we know too (some know it and most don't!) so I could relate to this. Some nicknames:
Matron. Heavy, full busted and highly corseted: MA FENDER
Student with one missing *ahem* appendage: LACKANACKER
Teacher with one toe missing and a rolling gait: TUMBLER
Teacher with comaraderie classroom discussions: POW-WOW
The list goes on and on....
The writing itself is very readable and the characters well portrayed and individualistic. It's a good story and worth reading.
But I'm glad I'm done. :)
CONTENT:
SEX: Fade to black
VIOLENCE: None
PROFANITY: Moderate. D, B, H
MY RATING: PG 13
By the way, I started watching the BBC series 'To Serve Them All My Days ' on youtube and have enjoyed it very much! The characters seem well portrayed and it sticks quite closely to the book. Well done!
July 28, 2019
What a lovely, old-fashioned book - I read this one with the Retro Reads group. Our moderator found a beautifully done BBC film version available free on YouTube, so we did a combination reading and viewing, since the film was fairly accurate (and beautifully acted, I felt).
The book is a doorstop, but the writing is lovely and worth the time - so is the film! It follows shell-shocked young Welshman David Powlett-Jones, returning from the hellish trenches of WWI, and following a rather unique approach by his neurologist, applying for a teaching position at Bamfylde, a boy’s school in Devon.
The doctor theorized that the “upland air” would invigorate Davy and help him recover. He’s very shaky and jumpy on arrival, not sure of himself or the job, but the headmaster, the Rev. Algernon Herries, (“Algy”) takes him under his wing. We follow Davy through the tragedies and triumphs of the next 20-plus years at Bamfylde, where he eventually becomes headmaster, encountering wonderful characters along the way among the schoolboys and fellow teachers. We also follow England’s course between the wars - through labor strikes, political turmoil, the distant growth of fascism, rearmament, ending in 1940, as WWII is underway. I binge-watched the last three episodes today and loved it, but will probably skim the last chapter again before I return my copy of the book to the library.
There are so many wonderful characters and such beautiful writing about love, duty, friendship, education and traditions and I enjoyed this book very much. I would recommend it to those readers who enjoy a big, old-fashioned saga - the back of my library copy quotes the New York Times Book Review: “One thinks of Trollope and Galsworthy. The author’s chronicle is propelled by a strong narrative thrust...There are a vitality, an honesty, and a reportorial conviction in these spacious pages that command respect.”
The book is a doorstop, but the writing is lovely and worth the time - so is the film! It follows shell-shocked young Welshman David Powlett-Jones, returning from the hellish trenches of WWI, and following a rather unique approach by his neurologist, applying for a teaching position at Bamfylde, a boy’s school in Devon.
The doctor theorized that the “upland air” would invigorate Davy and help him recover. He’s very shaky and jumpy on arrival, not sure of himself or the job, but the headmaster, the Rev. Algernon Herries, (“Algy”) takes him under his wing. We follow Davy through the tragedies and triumphs of the next 20-plus years at Bamfylde, where he eventually becomes headmaster, encountering wonderful characters along the way among the schoolboys and fellow teachers. We also follow England’s course between the wars - through labor strikes, political turmoil, the distant growth of fascism, rearmament, ending in 1940, as WWII is underway. I binge-watched the last three episodes today and loved it, but will probably skim the last chapter again before I return my copy of the book to the library.
There are so many wonderful characters and such beautiful writing about love, duty, friendship, education and traditions and I enjoyed this book very much. I would recommend it to those readers who enjoy a big, old-fashioned saga - the back of my library copy quotes the New York Times Book Review: “One thinks of Trollope and Galsworthy. The author’s chronicle is propelled by a strong narrative thrust...There are a vitality, an honesty, and a reportorial conviction in these spacious pages that command respect.”
December 29, 2019
First Delderfield book I ever read, probably one summer when I was in high school, so 1972 or 1973. His writing captivated me. I loved the epic sweep of his stories, the whole life of his characters you got to know.
March 11, 2015
This book was first published in England in 1972 and is probably the most well known of R.F.Delderfield's novels. It is over 600 pages in length and immensely readable. It follows the life of miner's son David Powlett-Jones from the point where he returns from the carnage of world war 1 in 1918 severely shell-shocked and devastated by the horrifying conditions of life in the trenches and the dreadful toll of deaths. He starts life again as a schoolmaster at a small public school in Devon in charge of boys, the eldest of whom are not that much younger than he is. The novel follows him through the years of his life spent there. There is both sadness and joy as in most lives as he learns to adjust and turn into a very talented history teacher and a valued member of staff. I found this book to be totally absorbing and it gripped me throughout. Though there is much descriptive background it never bores. The novel has a real emotional poignancy that touched me deeply. The contrasting characters are beautifully drawn and are written with great depth. It is a very moving book and a fascinating read! I confess I did get a little bogged down in parts where the story went into the politics of the time, but that is a personal opinion only. This is one of the best books I have read in a long time.
October 8, 2019
A little tedious about half way through but there was no turning back that far in! All in all pretty good story of David, headmaster of Bamfylde school and all those residing there.
November 1, 2012
I really enjoyed this (the subject of a Masterpiece Theatre back in the early 80s) story of an English schoolmaster at a country "public school" from 1918-1940.
November 6, 2012
From BBC Radio 4 Extra:
Adaptation of RF Delderfield's classic drama set between the two world wars.
SPLENDID!! I just mooched another book by this author.
Adaptation of RF Delderfield's classic drama set between the two world wars.
SPLENDID!! I just mooched another book by this author.
February 25, 2014
A remarkable novel. A clear evocation of an era long gone by; sentimental in the best sense of that word—honest about what matters, valuing it, and figuring out how to live in it. The story takes place between two wars, the first and the second--the big ones, as they are often characterized--and follows the career of a veteran of the first who comes to this lonely outpost for healing. He finds himself here—a teacher‚ and grounds himself. It is a nostalgic book; at times, a very sad book--I read often with tears in my eyes, especially as I neared the end.
It is also a thoughtful reflection on education, the healing power of relationships, and the purpose of life.
Sometimes as I wend my way to the end of a book, I slow down; I don't want it to end--not because I'm afraid of how it will end but because I like "living" there and want to stay. This is one of those books.
I am grateful to the student who gave it to me; it grounded me as well.
It is also a thoughtful reflection on education, the healing power of relationships, and the purpose of life.
Sometimes as I wend my way to the end of a book, I slow down; I don't want it to end--not because I'm afraid of how it will end but because I like "living" there and want to stay. This is one of those books.
I am grateful to the student who gave it to me; it grounded me as well.
July 26, 2020
Oh, I loathed this. A load of sanctimonious twaddle and interminable as well One of those historical novels where most unrealistically, hindsight’s twenty-twenty, and yet that did nothing to abate the misogyny. It got a second star because I finished it; it fit the bill for something mindless at odd moments.
February 9, 2009
A British boys' boarding school, in the period between the two world wars provides the setting for this lengthy novel about a shell shocked young man who takes on a temporary job as a teacher and ends up spending the next 22 years gradually learning to love everything about his life as a school master, housemaster and eventually the headmaster. For those of us Anglophiles who loved Hogwarts School of Wizardy, Bamfylde is the next best thing and actually goes a long ways to helping us understand the British residential school system that provides part of the framework for the Harry Potter books. While the plot and the characterizations were a little thin in places what kept me reading was the setting and time period. Even though I didn't live through that era and certainly never attended a boys'boarding school the book left me feeling nostalgic for an England that probably only exists in books, and a way of life where no matter what happens the best way to approach it is to have a cup of tea first.
April 16, 2023
For my full review, visit me at https://mrsbrownsbooks.wordpress.com/...
This book is like an adult’s version of 'Malory Towers', except the majority of the characters are male, rather than female. Spanning both World Wars, this historical book was a re-read from many years ago and I still enjoyed this detailed, vivid depiction of life in an all-boys private school.
This book is like an adult’s version of 'Malory Towers', except the majority of the characters are male, rather than female. Spanning both World Wars, this historical book was a re-read from many years ago and I still enjoyed this detailed, vivid depiction of life in an all-boys private school.
May 1, 2009
I simply wallowed in this book almost smelling the lavender polish on the wood of the school. I was taught by men who were probably the pupils in this sort of school. To them your own achievement and sense of self worth was more important than exam results that the current age is obsessed with. The boys in the book radiated decency and honesty deep down. There were clear boundaries of good conduct and morals which carried the characters in good stead throughout life.
The battered shellshocked WWI boy/man who arrives is slowly healed by the school and it's Headmaster. His faith in mankind is restored by the steadyness of the school's atmosphere and routine. Gradually he is able to form relationships again and marries. The book takes him through crises and out the other side right through to being able to cope with seeing his own pupils getting involved in WWII and paying the ultimate price. He recognises the necessity of the war for the survival of Great Britain and is able to feel a pride in their sacrifice as well as the futility in the battle he fought in WWI.
The book as a whole takes world events and shows how they affected individuals. The individuals then leave a legacy which is up to the next generation to carry on or disgard.
The battered shellshocked WWI boy/man who arrives is slowly healed by the school and it's Headmaster. His faith in mankind is restored by the steadyness of the school's atmosphere and routine. Gradually he is able to form relationships again and marries. The book takes him through crises and out the other side right through to being able to cope with seeing his own pupils getting involved in WWII and paying the ultimate price. He recognises the necessity of the war for the survival of Great Britain and is able to feel a pride in their sacrifice as well as the futility in the battle he fought in WWI.
The book as a whole takes world events and shows how they affected individuals. The individuals then leave a legacy which is up to the next generation to carry on or disgard.
September 23, 2019
This is very definitely a novel, but has the flavor of a series of inter-connected stories. Rather than a true plot, it is made up of anecdotes. I did not mind this as I like that format, but it wasn't what I was expecting. Most of the anecdotes were of the boys in residence at the private school, Bamfylde.
There is only one real characterization, that of David Powlett-Jones. It seems that men and boys are very good at attaching nicknames to their acquaintances, and Powlett-Jones became Pow Wow to the school boys. His contemporaries called him P.J. Some of these boys were better fleshed than others. I thought Delderfield was completely inept at writing any female characters.
This is long. Though the anecdotes kept coming, I would have been just as happy had it ended at about the halfway point with a major turn of plot. I did enjoy this enough that I'm glad I picked up the two volumes of Delderfield's other well-known title, A Horseman Riding By. I'm torn as to my rating for this. If it manages to climb the 3-/4-star line, it does only just and frankly I'm not sure of that enough to click the extra star.
There is only one real characterization, that of David Powlett-Jones. It seems that men and boys are very good at attaching nicknames to their acquaintances, and Powlett-Jones became Pow Wow to the school boys. His contemporaries called him P.J. Some of these boys were better fleshed than others. I thought Delderfield was completely inept at writing any female characters.
This is long. Though the anecdotes kept coming, I would have been just as happy had it ended at about the halfway point with a major turn of plot. I did enjoy this enough that I'm glad I picked up the two volumes of Delderfield's other well-known title, A Horseman Riding By. I'm torn as to my rating for this. If it manages to climb the 3-/4-star line, it does only just and frankly I'm not sure of that enough to click the extra star.
April 29, 2011
Read this last year along with Delderfield's trilogy A Horseman Riding By, now he is one of my favourite authors.
Behind all the stories is the larger theme of the beautiful Western Civilisation as it manifested itself in country life in Wales and Southwest England before the Great War and how the tremendous loss of life and morals impacted on that previously sheltered world.
As a Jew I notice that RFD includes at least one, usually of foreign origin, Jewish character in each of his books and treats each with understanding and empathy.
The BBC production is nice, but the book is a real classic.
When I went to high school in the States in the 70's this wasn't on the menu, I suppose because it's British, was published too recently, and/or the Judeo-Christian morality behind the stories was out of line with the 60's and 70's anything goes preferences of academic staff at the time.
I would recommend this book to any young person who wants to enjoy a romantic and heart-warming story and at the same time learn something about the changes after world war I which have made the UK and the Western World what it is today.
rightwally^at^gmaildohtcohm.
Behind all the stories is the larger theme of the beautiful Western Civilisation as it manifested itself in country life in Wales and Southwest England before the Great War and how the tremendous loss of life and morals impacted on that previously sheltered world.
As a Jew I notice that RFD includes at least one, usually of foreign origin, Jewish character in each of his books and treats each with understanding and empathy.
The BBC production is nice, but the book is a real classic.
When I went to high school in the States in the 70's this wasn't on the menu, I suppose because it's British, was published too recently, and/or the Judeo-Christian morality behind the stories was out of line with the 60's and 70's anything goes preferences of academic staff at the time.
I would recommend this book to any young person who wants to enjoy a romantic and heart-warming story and at the same time learn something about the changes after world war I which have made the UK and the Western World what it is today.
rightwally^at^gmaildohtcohm.
September 5, 2010
A beautiful novel set in a boarding school between the World Wars. Lt. David Powlett-Jones arrives in the countryside, suffering shell-shock and looking to find a way back into the land of the living. Along the way, he finds love, friendship, hope, and tragedy. Terrific novel, made into a great BBC miniseries.
For the longer review, please go here:
http://www.epinions.com/content_12100...
For the longer review, please go here:
http://www.epinions.com/content_12100...
May 26, 2019
This was another great series about a beloved Headmaster at a (private for us) school for young boys in England. I devoured this series! Not sure if Delderfield would be politically correct today, but he was my favourite author growing up.
January 27, 2017
PBS version one of few books that I'd rather re-see than re-read
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_Serv...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_Serv...
January 9, 2013
The television mini-series is even better, because Andrew Davies is a god of page-to-screen adaptation.
August 8, 2019
A slice of life Beginning with WWI and ending with WWII in the English countryside.
October 18, 2023
Fantastic!!
August 31, 2019
I thought this was a very good portrait of the type of English public school which existed at the time, but now seems to have vanished. Today's public schools no longer prioritise turning out decent human beings, although Rugby, the model for this type of school, held out longer than most. The book starts during WWI and ends during WWII, but harks back to the previous century.
The characters as individuals are not as well realised as the school community as a whole, so I cannot give the book a high rating as a portrait of a schoolmaster, which is the author's intention. Even after 600+ pages, David Powlett-Jones was something of an enigma and he was the only character given any attention to detail. I think this may be because the author often told us what he was feeling, but rarely demonstrated it by his words or actions, which had the effect of detaching him from the story.
The characters as individuals are not as well realised as the school community as a whole, so I cannot give the book a high rating as a portrait of a schoolmaster, which is the author's intention. Even after 600+ pages, David Powlett-Jones was something of an enigma and he was the only character given any attention to detail. I think this may be because the author often told us what he was feeling, but rarely demonstrated it by his words or actions, which had the effect of detaching him from the story.
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