The Adventures of Mr. Verdant Green

by Cuthbert Bede

The Adventures of Mr. Verdant Green By Cuthbert Bede

Genres: Classics, Fiction, Humor, Victorian, 19th Century

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1853

About the author

This is a pseudonym of Edward Bradley

Reviews

[Elizabeth]

Finally done! 😂 This was a fun read in many ways and laugh-out-loud funny at times. There is very much a Tom Jones and Pickwick Papers feel to the narrative. The characters aren’t particularly deep but they have distinct personalities and the series of scrapes/adventures/young people pranks they get up to are relatable even today. The narrative follows a very naive young man named Verdant Green through his three years at Oxford. He is almost painfully naive at the start of the story and his “friends” (who later do become lasting friends) take advantage of his gullibility through the whole of Part I. In Part II, Verdant Green returns to Oxford more seasoned though still delightfully ditzy. He does appear to be a good student (though when do they study??) and is goodhearted but he’s still so young. Part III focuses more on Verdant and his friends’ relationships with various young women and has them all married off (or nearly so) by the end. And Verdant still remains absurdly young. One assumes he will grow up but his Bertie Wooster-like essence might be there for good. 😂

Speaking of Bertie, this had serious PG Wodehouse vibes so of course I wonder if Wodehouse read this. Verdant and his friends could easily migrate right to the Drones Club once they take up the mantle of adulthood in London. I must say that I rather despised Verdant’s friend Mr Bouncer. Mr Bouncer is a Falstaff-like character, and I good-naturedly despise Falstaff. If I could choose any one character I would have most liked to follow in the story, it would be Charles Larkyns. He seems to be able to mix fun and study with great success. I think the studious young person in me balked a bit at the riotous fun these young men had at the oldest and most venerable university in the world. Unquestioning privilege anyone? (But that’s far too serious for this romp.)

The details about what it was like to be an Oxford freshman in the 1850s were so fun. It could just as easily have been Sebastian and Charles from Brideshead or even Dorothy Sayers and her real-life female friends (or Gaudy Night!). Oxford is one of my favorite places to visit in England so I did love that part of the story. My other favorite part was the Christmas chapters in Part II at Manor Green, Verdant’s home in Warwickshire. Verdant has fallen head over heels in love and is writing an epic poem in his head. He accidentally quotes some of it to his lady love and attributes it to Shakespeare! (It’s a horribly hackneyed rhyme!) That was hilarious.

So I am glad I read this though it is by no means a new favorite. It is certainly good for a laugh though with some skimmable parts in between.

**The Project Gutenberg ebook has the author’s delightful original illustrations. They add so much to the story!

[A.K. Frailey]

Lovely, lovely language—poetry in prose. I loved the way Bede wrote the dialogue. I felt so drawn into the story, standing beside the characters, experiencing a world from the past, though a part of the eternal human drama. The characters are not all good, and the nasty ones seem all too easily accepted as a natural part of life. Yet that's part of what makes it a classic story, it shows the human spirit caught in a moment of time. That I might find it ugly from certain perspectives may be a part of its power.

[Lucy]

I'm really torn about what rating to award. On the one hand, I hate practical jokes with all my heart, and the first part of this work is one cruel joke after another. But the writing flows, the characters jump off the page, and as a record of ordinary (albeit middle class) life in the mid nineteenth century it's invaluable - the accounts of what they ate are fascinating. I think Little Bouncer and his dogs push it to 4 stars.

[Richard Thompson]

I found this book on someone's list of the hundred greatest nineteenth century English novels. Surely it must be number ninety-nine. The quality of the writing is so low that it could have been penned by Mr. Verdant Green's great friend, Henry Bouncer, a man known more for his energy than his intellectual accomplishment. The first part of the book, which is focused on Verdant's freshman year at Oxford, is far better than the second half where we get a rather less interesting story of summertime romance on a Northumberland estate.

However, the book has some strong redeeming features. I did enjoy the scenes of Oxford life, with its chapel, rowing, riding, drinking, smoking and occasional studying, and the peculiar customs of this great university. The battle between town and gown was particularly memorable. There are two fine characters in the book - Verdant Green and Henry Bouncer. Verdant is an eternal innocent, developing a patina of sophistication after he gets past his first term, but he remains forever simple and gullible. He is brave and willing to try anything. These traits usually just get him into deeper trouble. But these are the qualities that in the end make him likeable and keep him from becoming spoiled as learns the ropes. And then there is Mr. Bouncer, who is a whirlwind of energy and fun, who has time for everything but studying, and who in the end is a true and loyal friend to Verdant. He more than makes up in charisma what he lacks in focus.

This book could make an interesting television series. Everybody likes a school story, and it has a setting that is a bit exotic and populated by characters who could quickly become the kind of people you would like to revisit in episode after episode. It could be done as an anachronistically multicultural period piece in the style of Bridgerton without doing violence to the things that make it interesting. The title character has a memorable name. And it's in the public domain, so no rights are required!

[Penny]

A bit of a crazy read. You feel sorry for poor old Verdant Green who often seems to be the butt of jokes. Despite this he seems to be a jolly character and all is well at the end.

The book was written in the 1850s by Cuthbert Bede, a pseudonym for Edward Bradley (1827-1889). The book is in three parts - early copies suggest they were intended to be sold separately in train stations and aimed at passengers whilst travelling. The book regales what happens to Verdant Green when he is an undergraduate at Oxford University. He attends Brazenface College, which is fictional. However mention of other colleges and locations are real.

[Muaz Jalil]

Volume 1 was 4.5 * but 2 and 3 were not so good. Volume 1 deals with Green's Freshman year at Oxford. I was missing old victorian novels about oxbridge and so bought this out of print book. I think Penguin/Wordsworth/Oxford should at least republish volume 1.

[Paddy]

Too much Jereme K. Jerome, too little P.G. Wodehouse

[LRKK]

Charming, funny, and not lacking in historical and cultural value. Worth the time.

[Jaclyn]

Mr Verdant Green: Adventures of an Oxford Freshman is actually a compilation of three novels that built up a cult following during Victorian times. Verdant is the son of a country squire, set to follow his father's footsteps through life. When their family friend, the village rector, convinces Mr Green, Senior that Verdant should attend university, Verdant sets off for Oxford as "green" as his name.

In the eponymous novel, Mr Verdant Green, Verdant travels to Oxford with his father, where he is immediately met with numerous people who take advantage of his naivete by selling him things he doesn't need and playing all manner of jokes on him. Verdant falls in with his childhood friend Charles, the rector's son, who is two years ahead of him. Charles introduces Verdant to his friends, who conspire to play good natured jokes on Verdant, get him drunk, and teach him all the skills an "Oxford man" should know - horseback riding, rowing, and smoking being just a few. Verdant finishes his first term no longer a freshman in name, but still naive and a fairly easy mark...

Meaning the jokes and pranks at poor bespectacled Verdant's expense continue in Further Adventures of Mr Verdant Green. The second story details Verdant's second term at Oxford, wherein he improves his riding and boating skills, participates in a brawl, and falls in love with his friend Charles' cousin, "the adorable Miss Patty Honeywood," while home on vacation.

In the final novel, Married and Done For, Verdant joins a party including his sisters, Charles, his friend Mr Bouncer, Mr Bouncer's sister and a few others in visiting Patty's family at Honeywood Hall in Northumbria. Verdant is determined to win Patty's heart but soon finds himself with a rival, the dashing Mr Frederick "Sir Frederico" Delaval. Verdant's pursuit of the adorable Miss Patty occupies most of the third installment of his adventures, although he does return to Oxford to be the butt of one final joke and to experience one final misadventure on horseback.

I picked up Mr Verdant Green in London because I was looking for something British to read on the plane home. British it certainly was! Verdant is the vehicle for one of the earlier English comic novels, a genre that came to include the great P.G. Wodehouse. You can definitely see Verdant's influence in contemporary British humor. It's certainly a fun read.