The History Boys: A Play
by Alan Bennett
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Read in January, 2007
The film was released in October last year, but in Australia it was released at exactly the same time as the play was making its rounds here (April 2007). I really regret not getting tickets for it, because it turned out to be a really fabulous film. I got the play for Christmas, so I've spent a few days rereading the lines and story-plotting, and I love it even more. The bad thing is, no matter how many times I read it, the best thing would be to actually see it. Plays are meant to be seen live...more
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Read in January, 2008
Winner of the Tony Award for Best Play in 2006, along with a host of other Tonys, this play focuses on eight students at a London school preparing for the British national entrance exams for Cambridge and Oxford (and other secondary schools), and two of their teachers: Hector is their English/General Studies teacher who inspires the boys to memorize and recite classic literature for the sake of pure knowledge rather than for the purpose of prepping for any one test; Irwin is their newly-hired Hi...more
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Read in June, 2007
'The History Boys' es una obra ambientada en el Sheffield de principios de los años 80 y los protagonistas son un grupo de adolescentes que se tienen que preparar para hacer un examen para poder entrar en Oxford o Cambridge. Es verdad que estos jovencitos parten de unas personalidades arquetípicas, pero consiguen ser únicos y reales gracias a los diálogos (frescos, rapidísimos y vivos). Es una obra sobre crecer, enamorarse, dejar atrás la adolescencia, intentar construir tu personalidad......more
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Read in January, 2006
because i am an intellectual snob, and because i am a sucker for british accents, and because i LOVE history, and because i went to an all-girls school that decidedly wanted to get everyone into the ivies, i must admit i'm a little bit of a biased reader.
(basic plot of the play: everyone is trying to get into oxford, and are therefore studying for their major exams in history. sex plays a large role - or, really, rather, lust.)
however, i also must admit i found some of the characters an...more
(basic plot of the play: everyone is trying to get into oxford, and are therefore studying for their major exams in history. sex plays a large role - or, really, rather, lust.)
however, i also must admit i found some of the characters an...more
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Read in May, 2006
Funny, barbed play about English secondary education at a humdrum public school that aspires to get some of its top students into Oxford or Cambridge. Two characters, the prissy and brilliant General Studies professor (Hector) and the provocative but shallow and conflicted tutor (Irwin) who is brought in to prep the boys for their entrance exams, battle for what they imgaine is the minds and souls of the boys. (To Bennett's credit the boys aren't nearly as sure what the fuss is about in terms of...more
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I saw the movie of this and was enthralled, and then read the play months later and was enthralled again. The combination of moral clarity and ambiguity makes this play almost more interesting after reading it than during. The writing itself is very witty, and the plot could easily have been written in an over-sentimental manner but wasn't because it was so well written. I don't think I would have understood the play as well if I hadn't seen the movie, so I recommend watching that first and t...more
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Read in January, 2008
Absolutely amazing. I loved the movie despite its flaws and the original play is just 1000X better. These are the boys I wanted to know in high school. They're pretentious (of course) but have enough intelligence and wit to back it up. I just have so much love and empathy for Scripps with his constant journal-writing and not just doing. I love his insights into the Dakin/Irwin fiasco. Scripps is the perfect commentator on his friend's various activities, while letting us know that he's to...more
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Read in January, 2007
The award-winning play by Alan Bennett, The History Boys, is a great read. More devoted to the influence of words (the "dictionary" boy role of Posner) and music than the later screenplay for the movie (recommended), the play emphasizes the differing perspectives on education of the two lead teachers (Hector and Irwin). Without the need to "open up" demanded by film Bennett focuses on the schoolroom and uses subtle effects to effect his dramatic purpose. He is at his epigramm...more
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Read in February, 2007
Great play. I've only read it. I'd love to see a stage production.
Imagine, an education that actually gives people an experience and challenges them...
But it definitely had some classic lines such as this scene when Hector and Mrs. Lintott are discussing H. fondling he boys' balls.
Mrs. Lintott: A grope is a grope. It's not the annunciation.
(That's hilarious.)
Or the scene when Hector and Posner are reading Thomas Hardy.
Hector: The best moments in reading are when you come across...more
Imagine, an education that actually gives people an experience and challenges them...
But it definitely had some classic lines such as this scene when Hector and Mrs. Lintott are discussing H. fondling he boys' balls.
Mrs. Lintott: A grope is a grope. It's not the annunciation.
(That's hilarious.)
Or the scene when Hector and Posner are reading Thomas Hardy.
Hector: The best moments in reading are when you come across...more
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Read in January, 2007
While I must acknowledge the brilliant writing structure of this story, I was appalled at the way the plot unraveled. With subtlety, amusement, and a gentle understanding of humanity, we are somehow led into a world where pedophilia is no longer the horrendous crime it well deserves to be categorized as. Teachers fondling their students are treated with amusement and a degree of tenderness and sympathy. Relationships that, if they appear on stage at all, should only be portrayed as the worst per...more
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Read in July, 2007
HECTOR: Uncoffined is a typical Hardy usage. It’s a compound adjective, formed by putting “un” in front of the noun or verb, of course. Unkissed, unrejoicing, unconfessed, unembraced—it’s a turn of phrase that brings with it a sense of not sharing, being out if it, whether because of diffidence or shyness, but holding back, not being in the swim of it. Can you see that?
POSNER: Yes, sir. I felt that a bit.
HECTOR: The best moments in reading are when you come across something, a ...more
POSNER: Yes, sir. I felt that a bit.
HECTOR: The best moments in reading are when you come across something, a ...more
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Read in January, 2007
Alan Bennett's fascinating play (which was made into a well-received motion picture starring the original cast from the West End and Tony Award-winning Broadway stage productions) about a group of English high school students studying for their Oxbridge entrance examinations, and how they are tutored by two different professors who possess contrasting teaching styles. Absolutely joyful, exuberant and bittersweet at the same time, the examination of their relationships with their tutors and each ...more
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Read in August, 2006
I loved this play when I saw it in NYC so on my way out of the theater, I fished some change out of my pocket and bought it right there. Not my most money-wise moment but I was hungry for some good reading.
Reading the play was even better since I was able to catch things I'd missed when I first saw it on stage. It isn't exactly the most economical play with somewhere around 11 characters on stage, but I think the British have more money for theater. Lucky cats, they are.
This is an exce...more
Reading the play was even better since I was able to catch things I'd missed when I first saw it on stage. It isn't exactly the most economical play with somewhere around 11 characters on stage, but I think the British have more money for theater. Lucky cats, they are.
This is an exce...more
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Read in January, 2008
recommends it for:
15+
If I were capable of writing a masterpiece, I would want it to be this play. I bought and read it after seeing it in production in the West End (London), and it remains amazing. The movie is a fair adaptation, but the text - and particularly its effect in live production - is one of the best things I've ever encountered.
There is a lengthy forward in my copy (that I assume is in other copies as well) that goes into detail about the author's life and how it relates to the story. This alone is ...more
There is a lengthy forward in my copy (that I assume is in other copies as well) that goes into detail about the author's life and how it relates to the story. This alone is ...more
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Read in February, 2007
recommended to Lynn by:
a teacherrecommends it for: those interested in plays
The effect two good teachers have on 18 year olds in their learning and on their character formation and how this can be adversly affected by the influence of a third teacher hired to increase their ability to produce scholarship results.It is funny at times and profoundly sad at other times and illustrates the abuse of power.This playwright also wrote The Madness of Gerge III,another good play about the abuse of power.
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Read in March, 2008
A romp through not only the halls of secondary education, but along the realsm of divergent pedagogical philosophy. A riot. Kids quoting Auden as they smart off. Rapid-fire arguments about the value of art, versus its practicality. And a suitably grim yet cathartic conclusion. No wonder it won the Tony award. No wonder the movie was addictive. No wonder I want to read it again.
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Read in February, 2007
I loved the movie that was made from this play (with the original cast and director, as well); and it's such a verbose work that it was nice to have the words on the page. It's a funny and moving meditation on the roles and purposes of a liberal education. And it's hard to beat Bennett's intellectual and humane wit. I'm so sorry I didn't see this performed on the stage.
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Oh. My. God. Amazing. I only wish I saw it on stage when I was in New York. Since seeing the film, I've also listened to the radio version in addition to keeping the play as close to my bed as possible for those moments when I need to read something brilliant.
"Oh Pos, you and your spaniel heart."
"Oh Pos, you and your spaniel heart."
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"I was confusing learning with the smell of cold stone. If I had gone to Oxford I'd probably never have worked out the difference."
This is a must for anyone who's figured out that university was a mostly pointless life experience, but still wants to read Housman in the park with a sandwich.
This is a must for anyone who's figured out that university was a mostly pointless life experience, but still wants to read Housman in the park with a sandwich.
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This is the worst thing I have read in a long time. It deal with so many issues that still relevant in the school system, but it seems that the writer just wrote in certain thing for audience gratification. I would never recommend this book to anyone.
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book data (includes all editions)
avg rating (all editions): 4.19 (195 ratings) avg rating (this edition): 4.17 (186 ratings) number of reviews: 32popular shelves
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quote
"The best moments in reading are when you come across something - a thought, a feeling, a way of looking at things - which you had thought special and particular to you. Now here it is, set down by someone else, a person you have never met, someone even who is long dead. And it is as if a hand has come out and taken yours."
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