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Stand Before Your God: An American Schoolboy in England
by
Paul Watkins
At the age of seven, Paul Watkins was roughly transplanted from his home in Rhode Island to England's Dragon School. He was greeted by a delegation of bullies who, in time, would become his friends and whose rules would become his own. For at Dragon, and later at Eton, "there was no middle ground. You could not go here and come out not caring one way or the other. You had...more
Paperback, 256 pages
Published
March 14th 1995
by Vintage
(first published 1994)
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I adore this memoir about a seven-year old American boy sent to boarding school in England. It's not the actual experience, but the way he coaxed himself through it that I connect with. I understand his journey of self-discovery through writing and the awkwardness of a difficult and lonely adjustment. "It made me sad to think that my greatest pleasure was to buy cheese and bread and coffee and sit on my window-sill, hearing the distant people laughing in the dark." That passage sums up how I ha...more
This is an excellent book for fans of the "boarding school novel." I happen to love them, perhaps because the only kids I knew who went to boarding schools were bad ones sent there by the juvenile courts. It wasn't very common to board schoolchildren in the US in the '70s and '80s; it's become much more common today thanks to the Harry Potter books. It's important to note the genre oif this book because otherwise, there's no much to interest a reader in this autobiographical tale. (By "boarding...more
What a wonderful book this was! I glanced at the reviews of some other readers and a recurring theme seems to be that people often "stumbled across" this book. This was exactly how I found it as well. I was browsing in a second-hand bookshop when the title caught my attention and I picked up an old hardcover first edition at a bargain price.
Watkins's writing is sparing and lyrical, and he takes the reader into the world of English boarding schools in a way that captures a real sense of privilege...more
Watkins's writing is sparing and lyrical, and he takes the reader into the world of English boarding schools in a way that captures a real sense of privilege...more
Stand Before Your God was recommended to me by someone who went to English boarding school from the age of 8, including the same high school Paul Watkins writes about. He vouches for the accuracy of the author's description of the boarding school life, even though some things have changed since Watkins' days.
I, on the other hand, can vouch for the quality of the writing. I tore through this book like a bolt, even though it is neither a particularly dramatic or suspenseful tale. Watkins' writing...more
I, on the other hand, can vouch for the quality of the writing. I tore through this book like a bolt, even though it is neither a particularly dramatic or suspenseful tale. Watkins' writing...more
Stand Before Your God: An American Schoolboy in England is Paul Watkins' memoir of his life in the British public school system, first at the Dragon School, and then at Eton.
Mr. Watkins is primarily a fiction author, and that shows in this memoir. Rather than telling the whole story in his present-day adult voice, the author instead changes his writing style to better reflect the different time periods about which he speaks. When talking about his earliest years in the schools, his circuitous st...more
Mr. Watkins is primarily a fiction author, and that shows in this memoir. Rather than telling the whole story in his present-day adult voice, the author instead changes his writing style to better reflect the different time periods about which he speaks. When talking about his earliest years in the schools, his circuitous st...more
Opening as a very young boy suddenly is seemingly abandoned by his father in a house with a group of other boys and a housemaster, this memoir of growing up in English boys' schools is both sincere and heartwarming. The author, Paul Watkins, shares his experiences as a young American among the, mostly, young British boys in two schools, The Dragon School and, later, Eton. The memoir is filled with memories of friendships and fun. There are typical schoolboy activities, but sometimes punctuated b...more
I got this book with a Borders gift certificate...I think from that Borders in the Westchester Pavilion, next to the Kung Fu school. What a blessing that place was.
Anyway it's clear why I picked this up--that guy is very good looking. It's a memoir by an American who goes to Eton. Do you know how hard this would be to sell? I can't imagine this book made a cent. Nevertheless it's really well-written and I think evoked a lot of the less pleasant aspects of growing up pretty well, especially in an...more
Anyway it's clear why I picked this up--that guy is very good looking. It's a memoir by an American who goes to Eton. Do you know how hard this would be to sell? I can't imagine this book made a cent. Nevertheless it's really well-written and I think evoked a lot of the less pleasant aspects of growing up pretty well, especially in an...more
Memoirs of coming from the US, to Oxford, via the Dragon prep school and Eton. Some parts very evocative of time and place and parallels with when I was at boarding school in Oxford at exactly the same time, and the outlook of a young, abandoned child: the sights, smells and traditions of school life. Other incidents seem much less plausible (taken from films and comic strips?), eg an over-charged hand warmer setting the wearer's trousers on fire and the cliched filling a whole dorm with feather...more
Watkins is a fantastic writer. This is a memoir of his years as an American boy attending the Brittish schools, Dragon and Eton. His parents were English and sent him to give him all the advantages they were not able to have. He becomes something of a mid-atlantic person, neither American in England or English in America. What is most remarkable is the style of writing. There is no looking back aspect, it feels as if a chikd of the age he is at the time is writing it. He captures a feel of each...more
a memoir of his school days in eng (although i think he is an american). a bit flat at times but still has interesting and informative moments.
awesome personal style- he's got a real edge on telling every boys coming of age story
Apr 15, 2013
Ria
marked it as to-read_narrative
Mar 25, 2013
David
added it
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Paul Watkins is an American author who currently lives with his wife and two children in Hightstown, New Jersey. He is a teacher and writer-in-residence at The Peddie School, and formerly taught at Lawrenceville School. He attended the Dragon School, Oxford, Eton and Yale University. He received a B.A. from Yale and was a University Fellow at Syracuse University, New York. His recollections of his...more
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