To Serve Them All My Days - Week 8

[Hugh]

This week's section covers the whole of part VII

[Brian E]

TO SERVE THEM ALL MY DAYS – 8th Week - PART VII, Chapters 1-3
I will put the summary in spoilers. (view spoiler)[
PART VII – ISLAND IN A TORRENT
CHAPTER 1
SubCh.1 – It’s 1932 and David’s world view becomes more insular toward Bamfylde since becoming headmaster. Even in the face of the current hard economic times, David seeks and gets Algy’s support for his more aggressive plans for the school, including the new classrooms, new science lab, gym and concert hall. For funds, David starts fundraising the Old Boys at the Whitsuntide reunion. David runs into Boyer who is unhappy teaching at a school up north. David offers Boyer his old history master position at Bamfylde, which Boyer gratefully and happily accepts. Old Boy “Nun” devises a scheme of an Old Boy network of regional fundraising that pleases David immensely. After losing her last-minute appeal to David, Grace reluctantly accepts that she will be a weekly border at Challacombe Convent school in the fall.
SubCh.2 – Two student incidents during the rest of 1932. “Lackaknacker” Briggs goes truant overnight while on an escape to a local orchard and produces a wild explanation on his return. With Barnaby’s advice, David leaves it alone. “Sunsetter” Crispin is accused of shoplifting by a local merchant who leaves the school frustrated by David’s handling of the incident. David is lenient as ne’er -do-well Crispin was trying to shoplift in a futile attempt to impress the cool kids. After Crispin is saved from a possible suicide attempt, David arranges for Crispin to show off his skill at playing carols on handbells.
SubCh.3 – In the final month of 1932, Algy’s opera is a hit as is Crispin with his handbell carols. Crispin becomes known as ‘Ringer’ and is finally integrated into the Bamfylde community. Boyer arrives during the Christmas holidays, his Scottish wife Allison in tow, and has taken residence in David and Beth’s old cottage.
CHAPTER 2
SubCh.1 – It’s 1933, Chris writes that she will be getting a scholarship and will be spending 6 months on the continent and then be conducting a lecture series in the U.S., at sites from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and then back to England in early 1934 to run in a likely 1935 election. The economy has David starting commercial courses in shorthand, typing and bookkeeping at Bamfylde, which could also serve to bring Grace back sooner. David pays for an indoor privy as Chad and Alison Boyer’s wedding present.
SubCh.2 – Carter arrives for Sports Day and speaks of how successful his school is at 200+ students. Mrs. Hilsop talks of how pleased she is with her son’s situation and that Alsop may have done him a good turn in expelling him. David meets former students at Whitsuntide such as the Kassava brothers, Blades and Stoker Monk. The new hall was almost finished by Opening Day and new classrooms were started. David visits Beth and Joan’s gravesite, where they had lain since 1925, and enters the nearby church. He is surprised by Chris, who presents David with Ulrich Meyer, a Jewish refugee child she found in Munich and is charged with caring for, and who she wants to enroll in Bamfylde. As she is only in for a quick visit, Chris departs.
SubCh.3 – David enlists ‘Stilts’ to help integrate Meyer with the Sunsetters by having him discretely spread the word about how Meyer witnessed his father being kicked to death in front of him. The students give Meyer respect and his status is a catalyst for school discussions about the events in Germany and its withdrawal from the League of Nations. A student suggests that some of the anti-Jewish sentiment is in reaction to Jewish war profiteers in WWI. David gets Ulrich to observe local customs including sending unscreened letters. Chris sends a letter thanking David for Ulrich’s successful integration at Bamfylde and says she’ll return in the spring and stand in the Openshawe South constituency, a fairly safe Labour seat.
CHAPTER 3
SubCh.1 – It’s January 1934 and a new term sees David surprisingly taking command over the Corps when a vacancy occurs. David is deservedly needled for taking on the role. David and Grace go to Wales for David mothers funeral. David invites his brother-in-law to take a groundsman position at Bamfylde so he and David’s sister can get a better life. His sister days they’ll think it over.
SubCh.2 – Chris returns to interview with the Openshawe selection committee. David meets her afterwards and discovers that another candidate received a unanimous endorsement, likely due to Chris’s less than pacifist views toward containing Germany derived from her actually witnessing things. Chris brings David into the country woods and tells him that she will be getting a divorce, due to her having an investigator catch her husband in a liaison. She is willing to marry him and settle at Bamfylde. David is thrilled and wants to celebrate.
SubCh.3 – Summer term flies by. Grace accepts having a stepmother like an intelligent adult rather than an adolescent. On Sports Day, Chris comes to Bamfylde and she and Grace bond while Grace shows her every ‘odd corner of the place.’ David sees Chris off and walks in the countryside reflecting on his past and the near future.
(hide spoiler)]

[Nidhi]

Christine acted as a true politician and forced her husband to give her divorce. I appreciate that she is not proud of her deed.

I had doubts regarding her being a successful (longterm) politician, she is self determined and will not adjust in murky waters of politics.

[Brian E]

Yeah, I agree that being a long-term politician would not be a good fit for Chris. I agree with your analysis too. I didn't think her previous attitude indicated the flexibility she'd need for the role.
Of course, her political demise works well for our storyline. Even with her freedom to marry with a pending divorce, her political life and David's career would not be able to mesh to enable them to marry. So to avoid having the storyline spin in place and let us finally get to another phase in David's personal life, something had to give.
Now to see if adding Chris into the Bamfylde equation adds some spice to Bamfylde events. Things progressing nicely for David at Bamfylde can be satisfying but makes for a snooze-inducing story after awhile. You can't keep the plot going with vignettes of carious student's incidents. With Carter, Alcock and Blunt now gone, David's going to need some other person to battle with and supply some conflict and the dramatic tension this story thrives on.

[Nidhi]

Being a principal brought many challenges in its wake, the plot regarding Chris and David is masterfully handled and i must say it was not an easy task for Chris to adjust.

I must wait for the next thread to talk about that.

[Nidhi]

It is useless for me to say that i liked the book as I was continuously singing its praises through out the read.

Thanks Brian, for nominating it and for leading.

The only thing which I missed in this book, to make it my favourite top three door stoppers is that David's character is somewhat less realistic, he never makes a wrong decision. But this conclusion only comes when I compare it to portrayal of Philip Carey in Maugham's Of Human Bondage and Scarlett O' Hara of Mitchell's Gone with the wind.

Both these characters have negative shades in their characters and acted selfishly at some point in the narration. Philip Carey makes wrong decision and takes the consequences in his stride, I think that makes him more realistic character.

I liked the nicknames, they are used by students all over the world, but a principal who remembers and uses all the nicknames is very interesting.

[Brian E]

I read Of Human Bondage 18 years ago and was surprised how much I liked it. Five stars. I did enjoy and empathize with Philip Carey even though much of his personal pain is self-inflicted. He was definitely flawed, but likeable.
But I thought David was flawed too. (view spoiler)[ He could be sanctimonious, self-righteous and impetuous, traits that would have caused him to shoot himself in the foot several times if he didn't have Herries, Howarth and Beth to guide him. Luckily, he was well-trained by the time he ran into Chris as I think she might have led him astray if he had let her. Chris became a solid mate because of her complemetary skills that helped in David's weaker areas, not because she helped guide him in his major decision-making. (hide spoiler)] While I did empathize with David, I found him to be only moderately likeable.

[Nidhi]

I agree, one of the David's major merit was to listen to others, even Carter, he was open minded and did not nurture prejudices, such people rarely make mistakes.

[Cat]

Brian E wrote: "I read Of Human Bondage 18 years ago and was surprised how much I liked it. Five stars. I did enjoy and empathize with Philip Carey even though much of his personal pain is self-inflic..."

"[...] as I think she might have led him astray if he had let her." I'm puzzling over this - Please would you help me to understand this angle? Thank you for everything and for these generous summaries!

[Brian E]

Cat, I addressed your question in the Week 10 discussion.