School story recommendations
Jun. 28th, 2004 07:35 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rosemary_greenThis is the long, rambling version of a list I posted on rarelitslash, if anyone is interested. A big thank you to the LJ community for helping me to discover that I'm not the only girl out there reading Victorian boys' school/adventure stories! What follows is a list of my favorite "romantic friendship" school stories:
Vachell, H. A. (Horace Annesley). The hill: a romance of friendship (1905).
This is one of the first in this genre that I read in college (when I first had access to the mighty powers of Inter-Library Loan!), and I was really blown away by it. It's so sweet, and the ending manages to be happy and sad at the same time. Fortunately, it was very popular in its time, so there are plenty of copies around. There is a sequel, John Verney, which is good but not quite the same (it's not a school story, for one thing). Vachell also has a book called Brothers which is very enjoyable.
Benson, E. F. David Blaize (1916) and David at King's (1924). David and his friend Frank at school and at university. I can't seem to pick out any really good quotes, but they are very enjoyable books. I read David Blaize for the first time in the Dartmouth College library while I was supposed to be visiting a friend ("no really, I don't mind if you go work on your homework this afternoon..."!) E.F. Benson is better known for his series of Mapp and Lucia books, but he also has some other very slashy (and also very, very strange -- proceed with caution!) titles such as Raven's Brood and The Inheritor
Walpole, Hugh. Jeremy at Crale: his friends, his ambitions and his one great enemy (1927). My particular interest in this book is caused by Jeremy's fascination with another student, Ridley. At occasional intervals throughout the book, we find such passages as: When he thought of Ridley, which was now very often, he didn't want to "rag" just about nothing. He wanted to talk to Ridley, he wanted it more than anything else in the world, save only of course his First Fifteen Colours. There were so many things he would like to ask Ridley...And yet he had never exchanged one word with Ridley, and, in all probability, never would. Will they ever meet? Stay tuned!
Barbour, Ralph Henry. Captain of the crew (1901). One of the author's many school sports stories. Set in the US. Not as romantic as some of the others, but there is a certain amount of hand-holding.
Two nonfiction books that put me on the trail of many of these books:
Richards, Jeffrey. Happiest days : the public schools in English fiction (1988).
This is a marvelous, marvelous book, with lots of excerpts from books that (if you are not in the UK) you will spend the rest of your life trying to hunt down.
Gathorne-Hardy, Jonathan. The old school tie: the phenomenon of the English public school (1977).
This one doesn't have a particular focus on literature, but it does lots of excerpts from The Hill and a few other stories.
And one more title:
Taylor, Bayard. Joseph and his friend: a story of Pennsylvania.(1870)
This isn't a school story, but it bears mentioning simply because it is so...well...have a look:
There are a number of duller moments when the author propounds various philosophies, but it's worth at least finding at your local library just to read about Joseph and his "particular friend" (the phrase is actually used in the story!) Philip.
Vachell, H. A. (Horace Annesley). The hill: a romance of friendship (1905).
This is one of the first in this genre that I read in college (when I first had access to the mighty powers of Inter-Library Loan!), and I was really blown away by it. It's so sweet, and the ending manages to be happy and sad at the same time. Fortunately, it was very popular in its time, so there are plenty of copies around. There is a sequel, John Verney, which is good but not quite the same (it's not a school story, for one thing). Vachell also has a book called Brothers which is very enjoyable.
"Your head is all right, old Jonathan. And your voice is beautiful." He [Desmond] spoke seriously, staring at John as he had stared in the Speech-room when John began to sing. "I came here to tell you that. I felt queer when you were singing -- quite weepsy, you know. You like me, old Jonathan, don't you?"
"Awfully," said John.
"Why did you look at me when you sang that last verse? Did you know that you were looking at me?"
"Yes."
"You looked at me because -- well, because -- bar chaff -- you -- liked -- me?"
"Yes."
"You -- you like me better than any other fellow in the school?"
"Yes; better than any other fellow in the world."
"Is it possible?"
"I have always felt that way since -- yes -- since the very first minute I saw you."
Benson, E. F. David Blaize (1916) and David at King's (1924). David and his friend Frank at school and at university. I can't seem to pick out any really good quotes, but they are very enjoyable books. I read David Blaize for the first time in the Dartmouth College library while I was supposed to be visiting a friend ("no really, I don't mind if you go work on your homework this afternoon..."!) E.F. Benson is better known for his series of Mapp and Lucia books, but he also has some other very slashy (and also very, very strange -- proceed with caution!) titles such as Raven's Brood and The Inheritor
Walpole, Hugh. Jeremy at Crale: his friends, his ambitions and his one great enemy (1927). My particular interest in this book is caused by Jeremy's fascination with another student, Ridley. At occasional intervals throughout the book, we find such passages as: When he thought of Ridley, which was now very often, he didn't want to "rag" just about nothing. He wanted to talk to Ridley, he wanted it more than anything else in the world, save only of course his First Fifteen Colours. There were so many things he would like to ask Ridley...And yet he had never exchanged one word with Ridley, and, in all probability, never would. Will they ever meet? Stay tuned!
Barbour, Ralph Henry. Captain of the crew (1901). One of the author's many school sports stories. Set in the US. Not as romantic as some of the others, but there is a certain amount of hand-holding.
Two nonfiction books that put me on the trail of many of these books:
Richards, Jeffrey. Happiest days : the public schools in English fiction (1988).
This is a marvelous, marvelous book, with lots of excerpts from books that (if you are not in the UK) you will spend the rest of your life trying to hunt down.
Gathorne-Hardy, Jonathan. The old school tie: the phenomenon of the English public school (1977).
This one doesn't have a particular focus on literature, but it does lots of excerpts from The Hill and a few other stories.
And one more title:
Taylor, Bayard. Joseph and his friend: a story of Pennsylvania.(1870)
This isn't a school story, but it bears mentioning simply because it is so...well...have a look:
They took each other's hands. The day was fading, the landscape was silent, and only the twitter of nesting birds was heard in the boughs above them. Each gave way to the impulse of his manly love, rarer, alas! but as tender and true as the love of woman, and they drew nearer and kissed each other. As they walked back and parted on the highway, each felt that life was not wholly unkind, and that happiness was not yet impossible.
There are a number of duller moments when the author propounds various philosophies, but it's worth at least finding at your local library just to read about Joseph and his "particular friend" (the phrase is actually used in the story!) Philip.
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