Goodbye, Mr. Chips: To...

by
James Hilton

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Goodbye, Mr. Chips: To You, Mr. Chips

by James Hilton

3.83 of 5 stars 3.83 · rating details · 3,308 ratings · 264 reviews

Full of enthusiasm, young English schoolmaster Mr. Chipping came to teach at Brookfield in 1870. It was a time when dignity and a generosity of spirit still existed, and the dedicated new schoolmaster expressed these beliefs to his rowdy students. Nicknamed Mr. Chips, this gentle and caring man helped shape the lives of generation after generation of boys. He became a lege...more

Hardcover, Large Print, 261 pages

Published by G. K. Hall & Company (first published 1934)

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Mar 10, 2011 Travis rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Seems to be many parallels to the date of publishing to the present. One would be how different generations evolve with those young and old, with each holding to their own beliefs and ideas. I thought it a poignant moment when Mr. Chips, in his later years, became filled with emotion to the point of tears. And that the then and the now are no different in this regard; a man's tears are still construed as weakness. I believe Mr. Hilton's prose delivered a contradiction to this perspective on the...more

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Mar 28, 2012 John rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Like my uncle playing the piano, Hilton hits a lot of false notes when telling this story, but manages to get enough of them right that you don't really want him to quit. This is a short, wistful little book that reminds us just how much the world can change during the course of a single lifespan. The big problem with the book, though, is that the Chips character himself comes across as rather unlikable despite the author constantly assuring us as to his unparalleled popularity with the student...more

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Mar 18, 2012 Patty Marvel rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-to-see-what-the-fuss-was-about

This sentimental story - really, a character sketch as there's no plot - focuses on a British teacher named Chipping at the end of his life looking back on his career (which began at Brookfield in 1870), the people he's met during that time and what he dealt with. It's a bit like "Forrest Gump" in the way it follows one man's life and shows the reader bits of history and attitudes during those times along the way.

There's a line in Chapter Four of the five chapter book that sums up Chips' attitu...more

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Jan 10, 2010 Chad rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

I think the biggest thing Mr. Chips going against him is the hyperbolic praise heaped upon him by the various publishers who have sought to capitalize on his completely fabricated impact on readers across the globe. Its not as though I can think of any examples, but I'm fairly certain that Chips is not the most beloved teacher to ever occupy the halls of literature, as the cover of my edition of this book would have you believe. If you go into this book with that inflated expectation, you'll pro...more I think the biggest thing Mr. Chips going against him is the hyperbolic praise heaped upon him by the various publishers who have sought to capitalize on his completely fabricated impact on readers across the globe. Its not as though I can think of any examples, but I'm fairly certain that Chips is not the most beloved teacher to ever occupy the halls of literature, as the cover of my edition of this book would have you believe. If you go into this book with that inflated expectation, you'll probably find yourself confused when you get to its schmatzy, yet still touching conclusion.

You see, "Good-Bye, Mr. Chips" is not the earth-shattering glimpse into the inspirational life of teachers, so much as it is the quaint look into the waning years of an unassuming man who set out, once upon a time, to do his best in his chosen profession (which just happens to be teaching), and at the end of the day, looks back and realizes that it was all rather satifying. The end.

As a teacher myself, I can say there are a few feel-good moments to which I can relate, and even felt a little glow of pride that maybe one day I could be a Chips-like figure roaming the halls of my campus with my eccentric ways that students might make fun of, but only in a good-natured sort of way, because hey, its Chips! We have no idea what he does, and his classes may not be our favorite, but gee, he sure is an intersting and nice enough guy.

The fact that nearly three quarters a century of his life is covered in less than 150 pages should tell you that there is no heavy reading here. Those who praise this book for its illuminating take on how teachers affect the lives of their students must surely have read a different book, as most of the teacher/student relations are breezed over in lieu of summarizing the key events of Chips' life, including being hired by a long-since deceased headmaster, the marriage that most of his school hardly knows about since it happened so long ago, a few anecdotes about teaching (including his stubbornly continuing a lesson even while the campus was being bombed during the Great World War), and many ruminations on how long he's been around and the many things he's seen and experienced that no other teacher or student at his school could even guess at.

In this manner, its almost a sad account of the way we all pass on, and in spite of our contributions to society, chances are no one will remember or care once you're gone. Viewed in this light, "Good-Bye, Mr. Chips" is surprisingly more thought-provoking than it has any right to be. James Hilton (who also wrote the far more densly written action yarn, "Lost Horizon") shows an impressively light touch, barely coming down out of the clouds long enough to paint any kind of thorough picture of Chips, and yet leaving you with, for me anyway, a solid characterization that carries more weight than the deft prose would seem to suggest. A skyscraper built out of feathers.

So, "Mr. Chips" is not the ground-breaking ode to teachers that some of the hype would suggest, but it is a brief read that leaves you with a sense of melancholy and a good sense of a good man who does a good job at his calling.(less)

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Jun 02, 2011 Sarah rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is a wonderful little pick up and read book. Mr. Chips represents the type of teacher everyone hopes to get – caring and funny. He also doesn’t skimp on the education, with tough standards and no allowance for slacking. This is a great heartfelt read on the Victorian era schooling as it was brutally thrust into the horrors of World War I and how one man dealt with it as he watched boys he loved die and tried to preserve the school he’d come to love. I can see how this could be made into a w...more

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Jan 22, 2013 Ali rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Good-bye Mr. Chips is perhaps the most celebrated novel written by James Hilton. It is about Brookfield, an old grammar school, where Mr. Chips worked as a teacher. The novel certainly moves on micro and macro level. At micro-level, it deals with ups and downs in the life of Mr. Chips who despite of having mediocre academic degree manage to become a very good teacher out of his shear diligence and by the help of her soul-mate, Katherine Bridges. At macro-level, the novel deals with the changes t...more Good-bye Mr. Chips is perhaps the most celebrated novel written by James Hilton. It is about Brookfield, an old grammar school, where Mr. Chips worked as a teacher. The novel certainly moves on micro and macro level. At micro-level, it deals with ups and downs in the life of Mr. Chips who despite of having mediocre academic degree manage to become a very good teacher out of his shear diligence and by the help of her soul-mate, Katherine Bridges. At macro-level, the novel deals with the changes that were taking place in the history of England and the rest of the world during World War ( I and II ). In the novel, raw human emotions have been dealt very cleverly. The language is simple enough and plot moves very fast.

The fact that the nature is a great force and its wheels move mysteriously is quite protruding in this novel, as it is evident from encounter of Mr. Chips and Katherine. Mr. Chips was conservative in his looks as well as his thoughts, referring to the novel, the writer says, "He had vague notion, if he ever formulated it, that nice women were weak, timid and delicate"(10). On the other hand, Katherine possessed modern views as the writer says, "She had always thought that middle-aged men who read 'The Times' and disapproved modernity were terrible bores." (11). they were poles apart. Nature brought them together. Within a week they were head over heels in love. Differences were ignored and two souls were permanently united in wed-lock.

Marriage is a great and sacred institution in human society, giving new color to man's life and is glorified by love. Katherine exerted healthy influence on Mr. Chips and brought about many changes in him. He became sweet in tongue, serene in thought and humorous in expression. He became a new man from all the angles as mentioned in the novel, "His eyes gained sparkle; his mind, which was adequately if not brilliantly equipped, began to move more adventurously." (15)

The novel symbolizes that nothing in this world lasts forever. Everything has to come to an end. Death is an inevitable reality of life and it spares no one. It takes away one and leaves its marks on others' minds. Mr. Chips was deeply affected at his wife's death and wished to die with her. But he did not want his students’ lives to suffer and gave the proof of being a strong man by not letting his personal life affect his professional life. It is evident from the statement, "The work gave him something to do, filled up an emptiness in his mind and heart." (22). It shows that felt incomplete without her.

This book explains how Mr. Chips had flaws in his personal life, but still he didn’t let this affect his professional life. He was sincere with his students; he taught them really well and for a longtime. This book will give you strength about how to overcome your personal life for professional life. After reading about Mr. Chips I learned to give my best to those who have hopes from me and not to make them sad just because I am sad because of my personal life.
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Dec 30, 2012 Lora rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I've been in the mood for historical fiction that made me pine for the old days, say, hundreds of years before I was born...something with a touch of sentiment to it, even. Unfortunately, "Goodbye Mr. Chips" was more a book of sentiment with the historical aspects thrown in. I started scanning within the first couple chapters. That's how I made it to the end.
Well, I found it interesting that the entire book was one long narrative that did a lot of that 'telling-not-showing' that we're warned ag...more

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Oct 18, 2012 Abbey rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: bright-young-things, lit-yes-or-maybe, vintage, myst-set-andor-auth-uk

BOTTOM LINE: Very, very sweet, but still powerful, tale of a shy teacher who comes to embody all the qualities best appreciated in England during the late Victorian and Edwardian eras.

This sentimental novella is a deserved classic (from 1934), chronicaling the long and (mostly) happy life ofMr. Chipping, a schoolmaster. The oblique style of the story gently stresses the pathos and the joy of a life “served”, caring for and about others. The gentle humor and fast pace of this slight novella are...more

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Jun 18, 2012 Margaret rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Classic story written by James Hilton in 4 days. This story made him, but it was not his first story. The author had a deadline he was trying to meet for the Christmas edition of the British Weekly. He needed the fifty pounds (about 250.00) that he would be paid for the story. He couldn’t come up with any ideas until after he went on a bike ride. After his bike ride he wrote the story. He was 33 when he wrote this story.

The story about a professor and his long-term relationship at the boys Brook...more

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Jun 06, 2012 Shutterbug_iconium rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Uzun süredir okuma listemde yer alan Goodbye Mr. Chips’i nihayet okuduğumda maalesef düşbozumuna uğradım. Kitap hakkında duyduklarım onu İngiliz yazınında ayrı bir yere koyuyor hani nerdeyse birçok klasik eserle eş değer tutuyordu, belki beklentilerimin yüksek olmasından belki de bir çırpıda okuyabileceğiniz kopuk kopuk anılardan oluşan bir romancık olmasından dolayı kitabı sevemedim. Kitabı sevmesem de filme bir şans vermek istedim ve iyi ki izlemişim diyorum. Filmde Bay Chips’in yaşamından kes...more Uzun süredir okuma listemde yer alan Goodbye Mr. Chips’i nihayet okuduğumda maalesef düşbozumuna uğradım. Kitap hakkında duyduklarım onu İngiliz yazınında ayrı bir yere koyuyor hani nerdeyse birçok klasik eserle eş değer tutuyordu, belki beklentilerimin yüksek olmasından belki de bir çırpıda okuyabileceğiniz kopuk kopuk anılardan oluşan bir romancık olmasından dolayı kitabı sevemedim. Kitabı sevmesem de filme bir şans vermek istedim ve iyi ki izlemişim diyorum. Filmde Bay Chips’in yaşamından kesitleri belli sıra içinde izliyoruz. Film kitapta olmayan hoş ve küçük detaylarla zenginleştirilmiş. Çok da iyi bir akademik kariyere sahip olmasa da tutkuyla bağlandığı öğretmenliği eski yöntemlerinden vaz geçmeden 60 yılı aşkın bir süreyle uyugulayan bir eğitimcinin öyküsü Elvede Mr. Chips. Bugünün izleyicisi, eğitimcisi ve okuru için teorik anlamda çok da şey ifade etmeyebilir Chipping’in yöntemleri… Zira daha geçenlerde hayli okura sahip boyalı gazetelerimizden biri ’10 liseliden 9’u şiddet görüyor’ diyerek yine eğitimdeki sertliği eleştiriyordu. Eğitimcilerimiz akademik anlamda ne kadar iyi derecelere sahipse muhtemelen o kadar ‘anlayışlı’ oluyor. Bu anlayışın eğitime nasıl yansıdığını herhalde okulların bir ticari yuvaya dönüştürülmesine karşı çıkan, başkalarının ölü ve gayri pratik gördüğü dilleri öğretmekten vazgeçmeyen, yeniliklere bir çırpıda kucak açmayan Chipping anlatırdı herhalde. Eğitimimizin daha fazla teknolojiye sahip olmasına karşın öğrencilerimizin daha az öğrendiği,[zorunlu, niteliksiz, kâğıda ve kitaba sevgiyi azaltan] ücretsiz kitaptan sonra devrim diye yansıtılan tabletlere rağmen daha çok sıfır çeken öğrencilerin olduğu, sorgulamayan, okumayan, düşünmeyen birer dünya vatandaşı olduğumuz şu zamanda oyunculuğuna şapka çıkardığım Robert Donat’ın kendisini ustalıkla oynadığı Chipping gibi öğretmenlerimiz olsun istiyorum…(less)

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Nov 17, 2011 Richard rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Rating: 4.75* of five

The Book Report: Old Mr. Chipping, nearing ninety and still telling his hoary old jokes from sixty years ago to the newbies at Brookfields school, spends his last few days on earth wandering among the many well-furnished rooms in his head. We see the events of his entire career as a schoolmaster, his brief, brilliant career as a husband, and his long, glorious sunset as a School Institution. As he passes through the portal made for one (bet Chips'd know the source on that on...more Rating: 4.75* of five

The Book Report: Old Mr. Chipping, nearing ninety and still telling his hoary old jokes from sixty years ago to the newbies at Brookfields school, spends his last few days on earth wandering among the many well-furnished rooms in his head. We see the events of his entire career as a schoolmaster, his brief, brilliant career as a husband, and his long, glorious sunset as a School Institution. As he passes through the portal made for one (bet Chips'd know the source on that one), he feels...as I hope and pray all who read this will feel on their own long night...it was good, it was good.

My Review: I read this book tonight because, for far from the first time in my life to date, I learned that I lost an old, old friend: My mother's best friend, my heart-mother, finally let go of her life barely short of her 92nd birthday on January 4.

I know it was only her body wearing down, because dementia had long since taken her essence from the living world. But tonight, forty-two years after I met her and began to love her, I feel she is here. And I promised her I wouldn't cry, she told me it hurt her to see me cry once a lifetime ago, but I can't not. It's for myself, for my heart growing old and curling inwards from surprisingly fresh hurt. I don't miss her, or miss her more than I did yesterday; death is a release when someone is already no longer themselves; but the days ahead number fewer than the days behind, and I can see my own end like a hill far away, instead of the comforting illusion of horizons hiding it. It's not scary. It's just...real.

I am now the age she was when I met her. My memories are so real! The Pirate's Den, the junque shoppe on North Lamar, parking under the pecan tree and racing everyone to be the first to see what was new; cold, cold Bull Creek, flat hot rocks, the folds of the Balcones Escarpment and their fossil shells; laughing, crying, talking, always with a silver-bunned, trifocalled, green-eyed artist teaching the only things she knew to teach. I needed them then, I treasure them now, and there is no one else to whom these memories mean one single thing except an old guy reliving his past.

She was Mr. Chips, and I listened the way those schoolboys did; now it's my turn...sic semper tyrranis, oh wait that was the assassin but that's good too, sic transit Irenaea mundi...hail and farewell, dear, now you go on home to Mother and Daddy, walk safe! (less)

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Oct 31, 2011 Nick rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: drama

I have mixed feelings about this short novel. It's a very effective turn of the century (19th-20th) romance about a dedicated schooteacher. More than that, it's one of a triptych of short novels by James Hilton, over-the-top romances all of them, that I first read in high school and were made into sappy but well-produced movies in the 30's and 40's: Lost Horizon, Good-bye Mr Chips, and Random Harvest. These more-or-less set the tone for Hollywood tearjerkers, and did the deed better than most, i...more

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Nov 09, 2012 Chad R rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The novel Goodbye, Mr. Chips By James Hilton is about an English schoolmaster with the name of Mr. Chips who lives in a small town named Brookfield in England, based in the year of 1870.The novel is told in 3rd person omniscient. Mr Chips has lived a very long life and since he was 20 years old, he has taught at the school in Brookfield. He has been there so long that he taught some kids grandfathers."I have done the same joke to your father and your grandfather when i taught them." This quote s...more

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Apr 24, 2012 Cynthia rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: books-read-in-2012

Mr. Chips Stays

My first introduction to this story was through the 1960’s movie with Peter O’Toole playing Mr. Chips. I loved the movie as a kid but after reading the 1933 novelette. I was less impressed with the book. “Goodbye, Mr. Chips” is a sweet story based on a Victorian gentleman’s childhood and a life spent teaching at an English public school through the First World War. The plot mirrors the times and traditions of such institutions during that period which were based largely on class a...more

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Apr 18, 2013 Francis Gahren rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

There is not another book, with the possible exception of Dickens's A Christmas Carol, that has quite the same hold on readers' affections. James Hilton wrote Goodbye, Mr. Chips in loving memory of his schoolmaster father and in tribute to his profession. Over the years it has won an enduring place in world literature and made untold millions of people smile—with a catch in the throat.

Full of enthusiasm, young English schoolmaster Mr. Chipping came to teach at Brookfield in 1870. It was a time...more

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Apr 29, 2010 maricar rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classics

Loved this charming story.

I found myself envying Mr. Chips his life. Though he lived in very tumultuous times, almost everything back then was simpler; there were less demands in one’s day-to-day affairs. And one can actually enjoy and savor the rest of one’s afternoon sipping tea while looking out over the window to the idyllic scene of kids bicycling along the street. The pace is not like today’s hectic one, wherein just thinking of what one still has to do for the rest of the day is exhausti...more Loved this charming story.

I found myself envying Mr. Chips his life. Though he lived in very tumultuous times, almost everything back then was simpler; there were less demands in one’s day-to-day affairs. And one can actually enjoy and savor the rest of one’s afternoon sipping tea while looking out over the window to the idyllic scene of kids bicycling along the street. The pace is not like today’s hectic one, wherein just thinking of what one still has to do for the rest of the day is exhausting in itself.

The persona of Chips is also very likeable. More than a mentor, he exuded that aura of an ‘endearing’ grandpa that has a bottomless reserve of anecdotes and jokes, which he never tires of churning out for anyone who cares to hear. Someone whom a student can pay a visit at home for the undemanding pleasure of a relaxing afternoon.

From personal experience, I haven’t encountered any professor who invested that much effort in getting to know his/her students beyond the walls of the classroom, who delighted in being able to remember the student’s names beyond the school grounds. Of course, it may simply be due the nature of the teacher-student dynamics back then.

And for that, I grew more envious. (Though, of course, females were regarded back then in a more unfavorable light…so…)

In any case, this short story of a life lived comfortably in the simplest of terms, with all its highs and lows, is truly touching. My favorite bit was his stoicism in proceeding with his Latin class while an air-raid was occurring above-ground, succeeding in subduing the fears of his students, and even making them laugh, by shifting their attention to the reference of Germanic campaigns in the chronicles of Caesar in Gaul.

And then there's the curious fact that I was surprised at how the ending nearly pushed me to tears.

An easy ‘reading’ story by Hilton, and the message is just as modest. But the lesson is undoubtedly a timeless one: if you’ll only get to live one life, live it by being humble, with a brimming font for laughter and contentment for the simplest of things. In the end, you will be the richer for it.
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Feb 22, 2013 Janet rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The 2002 ITV dramatisation with Martin Clunes is one of my favourite DVDs - it's one of my regular 'ironing' films and I don't think I'll ever tire of it!

I came across a free Kindle download for it so though it was about time I gave the book a go to see how it compares.

Well, compare isn't the right word! The ITV version has the same elements, of course - most of the same characters appear but the ITV version is very embellished - the time frame, for example is very different - some of the even...more

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Sep 11, 2010 Aisha (ooooo shiney!!! ) rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

the worst book ever!!! its in our English syllabus and we had no choice but to read it...i mean from the world full of books they had to make us read this one !! but this book is not just unbearable but it has no point whatsoever.mr chips himself is the weirdest guy ever to walk the planet, i mean he says that he cant stand women and then goes and marries a girl young enough to be his daughter, if that isnt creepy i dont know what is. apart from that, that dude thought he was so witty but the jo...more

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Mar 23, 2013 Gale rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: british-classics

GOODBYE, MR. CHIPS
James Hilton
“Dedication in the Classroom”

This short, sentimental composite portrait tugs at my hear with each reread--even though it was never my privilege to have a teacher like Mr. Chips, as the boys called him privately. An instant ”classic” when it first appeared in book form in America in 1944 (after serialization in the Atlantic Monthly) this unpretentious story about a mild-mannered teacher in a British Boys’ School charms by its very simplicity of style and honesty...more GOODBYE, MR. CHIPS
James Hilton
“Dedication in the Classroom”

This short, sentimental composite portrait tugs at my hear with each reread--even though it was never my privilege to have a teacher like Mr. Chips, as the boys called him privately. An instant ”classic” when it first appeared in book form in America in 1944 (after serialization in the Atlantic Monthly) this unpretentious story about a mild-mannered teacher in a British Boys’ School charms by its very simplicity of style and honesty of emotion. We snatch glimpses into the unremarkable life and becalmed career of a gentle Master whose goal is to gracefully mold good little Englishmen who will do credit to their country and their alma mater.

We celebrate Mr. Chipping’s gradual metamorphosis from an indifferent disciplinarian, average teacher, soft-spoken eccentric, doomed bachelor, to glowing husband, then grieving father, lastly fusty Acting Head. Ultimately achieving modest but long-delayed social distinction and honor he becomes a beloved institution in his own right. Despite decades of academic obscurity Chips emerges as the human representative of all that is right and good about Brookfield. After all his trials and suffering (personal and academic) he emerges as the living symbol of harmony between ancient ritual and “modern” methods and ideals.

World events beyond the hallowed ivy walls seek to touch and reshape lives in this peacefully secluded school, which witnesses the ceaseless stream of future new boys, warring Masters and Head. Yet all their striving takes back seat to the gentle dodderings of a childless old boy, a witty graybeard in a shabby academic robe. Part of the initiation rite of the new boys is having tea with Mr. Chips, who prides himself on being the father” to hundreds of boys.” This book
proves a sleeper of a story which will elicit both tears and laughter to readers 16 and up. A tenderly universal tale of the voyage of the human heart.

(March 12, 2013. I welcome dialogue with teachers.)

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Mar 13, 2013 Ian rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A poignant resume of the life of a classics teacher at a middling public school. Mr. Chipping is retired, but still rents rooms adjacent to the school that he taught at for seemingly countless years. He invites all the new boys to tea, reminiscing about the changes he has seen from the Victorian era, the Boer War and the tragedies of World War I. There is not really very much going on in the book, a brief, ill-fated marriage aside, and Chips is not a very dynamic character. He is not even rated...more

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Mar 13, 2012 Talia rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I decided to read this book after watching the original, 1939 film based upon it. I have to say, the movie followed the book rather closely. This resulted in my knowledge of what was going to happen as the story progressed, but there were still things left out of the movie that the book covered. The movie also fleshed out the relationship of Kathie and Chipping more than the book did.

The story is a touching tribute to a schoolmaster who starts out a bit harsh and unnoticed but eventually ends u...more

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Apr 17, 2010 Gerry rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A lovely novel from the golden age of novel writing. Mr Chipping is a teacher at Brookfield and the story takes the reader from his first day through to retirement, return to duty as stand-in headmaster and then substantive headmaster and subsequent second retirement. And it does it charmingly in a most sympathetic way; life has changed so much since the days when this book was written and it is difficult to imagine how one existed in such a world.

Known affectionately as Mr Chips, the retired sc...more

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Jan 18, 2013 Prem Rao rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

If I were some day to make the effort and list my all-time Top Ten Books, "Goodbye, Mr. Chips" will definitely feature in this list. James Hilton's story of a public school and the life of Mr. Chipping, one of the schoolmasters there is a classic. Simplicity is the key to Hilton's charming story. The story by itself is fairly straight forward but Hilton creates a picture of the school and those times in England across the ages. Chipping joins the school in the 1870s and the book ends in the earl...more

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Apr 28, 2012 Jean rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Anyone who would like to read a short novel which is enjoyable, undemanding and sentimal book.

Recommended to Jean by: Nobody

I read this book many years ago after I had seen the earlier film version with Robert Donat as Mr Chips and the beautiful Greer Garson as his wife. It is a slim volume and I always thought that the early death of Mr Chips wife was a major flaw in the story. Mr Chips is a reserved, quiet person and Mrs Chips was vibrant and charming and brought out the best in him. It is a charming sentimental story but I certainly don't consider it one of James Hilton's best novels. Perhaps it is most well known...more

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Jul 26, 2012 Plucino rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: literature-english

Vita e opere del Sig. Chipping, inossidabile insegnante presso un collegio inglese; i protagonisti sono Chip(ping) e i suoi allievi, ma sullo sfondo scorre la Storia, dai tempi della guerra franco-prussiana, attraverso la I Guerra mondiale fino alla presa del potere da parte di Hitler.

Mr. Chips è un inglese al 101%, solido "mix" della durezza dimostrata dai britannici per affrontare e vincere le diverse vicende belliche, con un po' di etnocentrismo, e molto umorismo bizzarro. Sullo sfondo delle...more

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Jul 24, 2012 Amy rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: a-z-challenge-2012

I can see why this is a much loved and adored book. It took me no more than an hour to read but it is so heartfelt and beautifully written that I could have flipped back to page one and spent another hour in the life of Mr Chipping. This book follows the story of a teacher at an English school through the changes and historical events of the late 19th to the early decades of the 20th century. Mr Chips is wonderfully depicted and his love of his job and commitment is amazing. As the book ended I...more

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Aug 15, 2009 Gregg rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Ugh. About as sappy as a used Kleenex. Young Mr. Chips comes to school ill-prepared for teaching and, as it happens, life itself. But through the love of a young woman and the ability to love his students, tell them jokes and thereby be beloved himself, he becomes an indispensable part of the school, and teaches the aspiring teacher that, in order to succeed, you must be funny. Probably I was born in the wrong decade for this book to have its intended effect, and I'm probably being more than a l...more

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Sep 14, 2011 Mayda rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Goodbye, Mr. Chips is a charming tale of an English schoolmaster whose life, at first glance, seems to be rather mundane and lackluster. Mr. Chipping appears to be going through life as an average teacher, never to achieve any greater standing. He realizes that he will never be a headmaster or win the admiration of his fellow teachers or of his students. He thinks that he is hardly noticed and that he certainly will not be remembered. But sometimes, fate steps in, and often, a person is not able...more

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Dec 13, 2009 E. Epps rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, british-author

I finished it because it wasn't obviously *bad*, and I kept holding out hope (through its 200 pages) that it would at some point become clever/funny/interesting. But let me put it like this. I love British wit. The drier the better. Don't believe me? I read and thoroughly enjoyed _The Last Cuckoo: The Very Best Letters to The Times Since 1900_. You can't get any more British wittish than that. But seriously, I don't understand how _Mr. Chips_ would entertain even someone who had *been* a British...more

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Mar 10, 2012 Connie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: src-spring-2012, classic, historical-fiction

Mr Chips was a Latin teacher at Brookfield, a boys school in Great Britain. He was a gentle man who connected well to the young boys in his charge, especially after his marriage to an outgoing woman. He was known for his jokes, and his invitations to tea where he tried to get to know every student. His life revolved around Brookfield, and he was the beloved teacher that former students loved to visit. When World War I broke out, many of them were killed in the fighting and had their names read o...more

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About James Hilton

James Hilton (1900–1954) was a bestselling English novelist and Academy Award–winning screenwriter. After attending Cambridge University, Hilton worked as a journalist until the success of his novels Lost Horizon (1933) and Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1934) launched his career as a celebrated author. Hilton’s writing is known for its depiction of English life between the two world wars, its celebration of...more

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Quotes from Good-Bye, Mr. Chips

“What a host of little incidents, all deep-buried in the past -- problems that had once been urgent, arguments that had once been keen, anecdotes that were funny only because one remembered the fun. Did any emotion really matter when the last trace of it had vanished from human memory; and if that were so, what a crowd of emotions clung to him as to their last home before annihilation? He must be kind to them, must treasure them in his mind before their long sleep.” — 3 people liked it

“For he did not, he would have said, care for women; he never felt at home or at ease with them; and that monstrous creature beginning to be talked about, the New Woman of the nineties, filled him with horror. He was a quiet, conventional person, and the world, viewed from the haven of Brookfield, seemed to him full of distasteful innovations; there was a fellow named Bernard Shaw who had the strangest and most reprehensible opinions; there was Ibsen, too, with his disturbing plays; and there was this new craze for bicycles which was being taken up by women equally with men. Chips did not hold with all this modern newness and freedom. He had a vague notion, if he ever formulated it, that nice women were weak, timid, and delicate, and that nice men treated them with a polite but rather distant chivalry.” — 2 people liked it

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title link	preview: Goodbye, Mr. Chips: To You, Mr. Chips
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