To Serve Them All My Days by R.F. Delderfield (September/October 2019)

[Nigeyb]

Come Home Charlie, And Face Them is a classic title and the book has its own Wikipedia page....

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Come_Ho...

I agree Judy - RF certainly had a talent for great book titles

To what extent are you tempted to try more of his work?

Back to To Serve Them All My Days, I've got about 150 pages to go - and still absolutely loving it

[Judy]

I am very tempted to try more, but I think he will have to wait for a bit as I have so many books lined up to read in the next few weeks and months! His writing style reminds me a bit of recent buddy read Pied Piper by Nevil Shute, with the episodic feel and the slightly warm, comforting element.

[Nigeyb]

I’m very tempted too. There’s so much to enjoy here

[Nigeyb]

I’m at the section about Ulrich Meyer - a very clever way of bringing current affairs into the narrative

[Nigeyb]

I’ve just finished part seven - probably the most heart warming part so far, despite the storm clouds gathering over the wider world.

Next up Part Eight - Plenitude

The title suggest the feel good vibe will continue. Here’s hoping. There’s certainly been no shortage of tragedy in this book

[Judy]

I agree the part with Ulrich Meyer is very well done, as is the juxtaposition of personal satisfaction and the growing storm clouds you mention.

[Nigeyb]

I was just musing about any other books which describe the point of view of a dedicated teacher as they watch successive generations come and go.

Can you think of any?

I thought about (the wonderful) Stoner, and also The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (although that is only one generation as I recall)

[Judy]

I have a feeling Goodbye, Mr Chips is quite similar in timespan to To Serve Them All My Days - I've only seen a TV version though.

[Nigeyb]

Ah yes - good one Judy.


I've not read it. I'm just aware of the title and that it was adapted. According to Wikipedia...

Goodbye, Mr Chips is a novella about the life of a schoolteacher, Mr. Chipping, written by the English writer James Hilton and first published by Hodder & Stoughton on October 1934. It has been adapted into two cinema films and two television presentations.

The setting for Goodbye, Mr. Chips is probably based on The Leys School, Cambridge, where James Hilton was a pupil (1915–18). Hilton is reported to have said that the inspiration for the protagonist, Mr. Chips, came from many sources, including his father, who was the headmaster of Chapel End School. Mr. Chips is also likely to have been based on W. H. Balgarnie, a master at The Leys (1900–30), who was in charge of the Leys Fortnightly (in which Hilton's first short stories and essays were published).

[Nigeyb]

I've not had much reading opportunity in the last 36 hours.


I've now reached p497/572 - and, as oft times, before RFD gives pleasure with the one hand and then punches the reader in the stomach with the other.

More sadness in amongst the more heartwarming content

I'm hoping to get a good run at this tonight, perhaps even finish it. I hope so, as I need to start reading my (real world) book group selection which we're discussing in a week and a half.

[Nigeyb]

Just finished


Absolutely loved it - five stars all the way

Review coming soon


⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

[Judy]

I'm into the last section - I've been distracted by work and another book, but hope to finish tonight too. :)

[Nigeyb]

You're in for a treat Judy


Click here to read my review

5/5

[Judy]

I've just finished too - let's set up a spoiler thread tomorrow and we can discuss the various episodes and twists we didn't see coming. Really enjoyed it.

[Nigeyb]

I enjoyed how all the female characters were so perceptive and insightful, and able to see things that David could not

[Nigeyb]

I wish RFD had written more. I'd love to have discovered how Bamfylde fared in the immediate post war era, and through into the 1950s and 1960s. By which time David would probably have been thinking of retirement.

Anyone else feel this way?

[Judy]

I don't think we've mentioned that, according to the Wikipedia page for To Serve Them All My Days. the book is said to be based on the real school West Buckland School, where RFD was a pupil, He hardly changed the name of the real headmaster, from Ernest Harries to Algy Herries.

"Bamfylde", the fictional independent school in North Devon, was influenced by West Buckland School, the school that R.F. Delderfield himself attended. The headmaster during his time there was Ernest Charles Harries and his wife was Eleanor (Nellie) on whom the characters Algy Herries and his wife are based. West Buckland is a thriving day and boarding school. As it has developed its campus and facilities since the 1990s, the school has adopted some of the names used by Delderfield in his novel, naming two new boarding houses Boyer and Bamfylde, and a new Preparatory School building after Delderfield himself."

[Judy]

West Buckland School has a nice web page about its history with a few good photos:

https://www.westbuckland.com/about/ou...

[Judy]

On the subject of books about teachers, Goodreads noticed I had just read TSTAMD, and has recommended an American book, The Rector of Justin by Louis Auchincloss .

Regarded as one of Louis Auchincloss's most accomplished novels, THE RECTOR OF JUSTIN centers on Frank Prescott, the founder of an exclusive school for boys. Eighty years of his life unfold through the observations of six narrators, each with a unique perspective on the man, his motivations, and the roots of his triumphs and failings.

All its other recommendations were completely irrelevant as usual, though...

[Nigeyb]

Sounds interesting - thanks Judy


I relistened to the Backlisted Podcast earlier and they compared it to....

London Belongs to Me by Norman Collins - a comparison I'd also noted

and

The Fortnight in September by R.C. Sherriff - a book that sounds interesting

And also compared RFD to...

J.B. Priestley
A.J. Cronin
G.K. Chesterton
Arnold Bennett

They saw To Serve Them All My Days as a classic slice of middlebrow fiction - using the term in a positive way and and not in a perjorative way.

I agree. A wonderful book with a lot going on beneath the episodic plot.

Apparently R.F. Delderfield was wildly popular in his day

[Judy]

The Fortnight in September was excellent, I thought - about a working-class/lower middle class family from London who go on holiday each year. The only odd thing is that WW1 doesn't appear to have taken place! I had wondered if there were similarities between RFD and Priestley - I'm excited to read Angel Pavement soon.

[Nigeyb]

I must read The Fortnight in September - sounds fab


Judy wrote: "I'm excited to read Angel Pavement soon"

Me too. I suspect there will be some parallels.

I love what I've read by J.B. Priestley. Very underrated from what I can glean.

[Nigeyb]

The Backlisted podcast observed that this type of middlebrow book has now disappeared but that there's doubtless still an audience.

They were suggesting this is a well written, powerful, ambitious saga that works both as a page turner and a way of commenting on society and human behaviour.

To what extent do you agree?

[Nigeyb]

One of the questions this raises is around what is the best way to educate young people

I despair at the way my own children, both very bright, feel uninspired by the utilitarian approach to education which the present government seems to think is most appropriate.

I really buy into PJ's approach having experienced similar teachers as a young person.

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

I am far removed from any specifics of education anymore, my grandchildren being in their 30s. But by and large I am very disappointed with the results these days.

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

I first posted this in the spoiler thread, and then I realized you asked it over here.

Also, as to Nigeyb's question about education, in this country schools are locally governed, for the most part. Some school districts are very much better than another and parents who had thought about it and can afford to do so, try to buy their homes in the better school districts.

I don't know what my granddaughter is thinking for her daughter or has even begun to think about it, but as they already have their house, I think they won't be moving. That means evaluating the available public school or looking at private schooling which may be beyond their means. I have started what I call her "opportunity fund" which will not be enough, but might make the difference, should they decide to give a serious look to private day schools in the area.

[Nigeyb]

It's a terrible indictment of the overall system that people with the funds can and will buy a better quality education.

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

Nigeyb wrote: "It's a terrible indictment of the overall system that people with the funds can and will buy a better quality education."

You won't get any argument from me on that.

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

Here (not just in my town, but this country), there are also what are called charter schools. There is about as much variance in education style as you can imagine. I think nearly all are publicly funded, but there may be pockets where there is a public/private partnership. While they offer an alternative to parents for the one style of public education, it cannot be said that all of them are successful. Just as with public school districts, there are some that are better than others. Where they have been the most successful is in the inner city. Public schools seem to be the worst failures for the poor.

[Nigeyb]

Reading about R.F. Delderfield's life and career on Wikipedia is quite illuminating, especially about some of his preoccupations....

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._F._D...

[Nigeyb]

I've just noticed that....


God is an Englishman (The Swann family saga Book 1)

...is currently 99 pence for Kindle

I've snapped up a copy

If anyone fancies another R.F. Delderfield buddy read, and specifically God is an Englishman, then please reply and we will make it happen

The blurb...

Adam Swann is hungry for success. He is one of the new breed of entrepreneurs thrown up by the Industrial Revolution, determined to take advantage of current economic conditions to build an unrivalled business empire. And he is determined to win the beautiful, strong-minded Henrietta, and persuade her to share in his struggles and triumphs.

"About the Author":

R.F. Delderfield was born in London but has lived much of his life in Devon, where he started writing as a reporter on his father's newspaper, the Exmouth Chronicle. During World War II and immediately thereafter he achieved quite a success as a West End playwright (one of his plays ran five and a half years). Then, at the age of forty, he stopped to take stock of his life. "What I really wanted was to be a novelist," he told one interviewer, "to project the English way of life in the tradition of Hardy and Galsworthy." Out of that resolve have come his great family sagas- The Avenue, A Horseman Riding By and its sequel, The Green Gauntlet, and now his latest and most ambitious saga which begins with God Is An Englishman.

In preparing himself to write one of his vast family chronicles, Mr. Delderfield draws a detailed map of the territory, county or city that he will cover, placing the houses where his characters will live and adding the place names and details that will build up into a rich and convincing background. Then he steps back and lets inspiration take over. He writes regularly in the morning, averaging about 4,000 words a day, then takes the afternoons off to go strolling over the moors.

[Kirsten]

To Serve Them All My Days was one of my favorite Masterpiece Theater dramas for years. But when I read the book I realized it was even better.

[Nigeyb]

That's high praise Kirsten.


I have not yet seen the adaptation but I am sure it's well worth watching.

[Pamela]

Thanks Nigeyb I have snapped up God is an Englishman. I would be interested in a Buddy Read if it's after October.

[Judy]

I'd like to read it but realistically I don't think I can sign up for another long buddy read before Christmas, as I've got Life and Fate lined up - if you do it during the autumn, though, I can always catch up later.

[Nigeyb]

That's great Pamela and Judy


How about January 2020?

Would that work?

It is a big book - but hopefully, like To Serve Them All My Days, an easy and compelling read

[Pamela]

Nigeyb wrote: "That's great Pamela and Judy


How about January 2020?

Would that work?

It is a big book - but hopefully, like To Serve Them All My Days, an easy and compelling read"

January 2020 would work really well for me. And I'm thinking of doing a Big Book personal challenge next year, so it would work for that. Win win!

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

Pamela wrote: "And I'm thinking of doing a Big Book personal challenge next year, so it would work for that. "

I love hearing about personal challenges. Please keep us updated as you wend your way. And just a side note: I have a refrigerator magnet "I love big books and I cannot lie"

[Nigeyb]

Everyone loves a win:win


Let's see what Judy says

[Judy]

January would be fine by me. Looking forward to it, thank you!

[Nigeyb]

Hurrah 🤠

[Nigeyb]

The thread is now set up in readiness for mid-January 2020 - see you then

[Judy]

I now have the DVD set of To Serve Them All My Days (the Dutch set which is cheaper on Amazon, but it is extremely easy to switch off the Dutch subtitles.)

I've just watched the first episode and thought it was very good - which is no surprise since top screenwriter Andrew Davies wrote the script. So far he has stuck fairly close to the book. The cast is great - especially John Duttine as Davy and Frank Middlemiss as Algy Herries, with Nicholas Lyndhurst, just a year before the start of Only Fools and Horses, as one of the pupils.

[Nigeyb]

Great news. I think it’s all on YouTube too.


Keep us posted Judy