Little Men & Jo's Boys (Wordsworth Children's Classics)

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Hullo!” returned Nat, not knowing what else to say, and thinking that form of reply both brief and easy. Nat held her hand fast in his, but had not a word to say, and let his grateful eyes speak for him, as Mrs. Bhaer led him up to a big room, where they found a stout German woman with a face so round and cheery, that it looked like a sort of sun, with the wide frill of her cap for rays. My dear, what is it?” asked Mrs. Bhaer, who had been singing with all her might, and trying to keep little Rob from beating time with his boots. Author, Richard Beard, takes you on a trip down memory lane to find out. He shared the same boarding school education as twenty-eight of the last thirty-two UK Prime Ministers and uses these shared experiences to allow the reader a better understanding for how the men they became were shaped from the boys they once were.

By the time Nat was washed and done up in a blanket by the fire, while Nursey cut his hair, a new detachment of boys arrived and were shut into the bath-room, where they made as much splashing and noise as a school of young whales at play. Now, my lad, give us a little tune. We want a violin in our band, and I think you will do it nicely.”Nor does it’s explain Dark Academia YA and Children’s literatures obsession with the fantasy idea that boarding schools are great: I think the Harry Potter stories really captured the fantasy boarding school asthetic, but it still includes the baked in classism of the real thing: wizards and muggles. The celebration of this classism aesthetic and the conformity to it is what I disliked most about HP. I really enjoyed this book. I read it as a companion to ONE OF THEM - Musa Okwonga’s account of his time at Eton. And if you enjoy Beard’s look at boarding school life you should definitely read that too. Being separated from the people who love you is traumatic. How did that feel at the time, and what sort of adult does it mould? It is clear the author despised his own time at boarding school and finds comparisons in the institutionalisation he experienced with descriptions of tyrannical states inHannah Arednt’s Origins of Totalitarianism, indeed he describes the British boarding school as the perfect breeding ground for what Umberto Eco calls Ur-Fascism – and we see with the obsession with the British flag, the national anthem, the military and Brexit that the current mob of MPs are particularly susceptible. The pathology of the unhappiness is being ripped from and ultimately rejected by one’s own parents, to be thrust into grand but austere buildings to live an early life of strict instruction, beatings, bullying, sexual abuse (either suffered or witnessed) and emotional torture

Nat found plenty to amuse him while he waited, and stared about him curiously, enjoying the view, yet glad to do so unobserved in the dusky recess by the door. The school is not run on conventional lines. All the children have their own gardens and their own pets, and are encouraged to experiment with running businesses. Pillow fights are permitted on Saturdays, subject to a time limit. Children are treated as individuals, with a strong emphasis on gently molding their characters. Men who, despite coming from a tiny, privileged minority, make up a third of cabinet ministers and half of the legal profession - not to mention prominent journalists, editors. pundits and CEOs. Nat looked gratified at the remark, and smiled, in a way that made his thin face very pleasant. He did not know what to say next, so the two stood staring at one another in friendly silence, till the little girl came up with her doll in her arms. She was very like Demi, only not so tall, and had a rounder, rosier face, and blue eyes.

CHAPTER XV. IN THE WILLOW

In those days a private boys' boarding school education was largely the same experience as it had been for generations: a training for the challenges of Empire. He didn't enjoy it. But the first and most important lesson was to not let that show. It’s a beautiful plan,” said Nat, feeling that he should like to join in the fray, but not venturing to propose it the first night. So he lay enjoying the spectacle, which certainly was a lively one.

In 1975, as a child, Richard Beard was sent away from his home to sleep in a dormitory. So were David Cameron and Boris Johnson. If in hindsight our education seems unbelievable, the consequences are increasingly apparent. Fragile, entitled, in good times and bad we revert to what we learned as boys. But what was that, exactly?" Did you ever wonder what happened to Jo March from Little Women? She grew up, of course, and followed her dream to become a writer. In addition, she opened a school, home to her two children and twelve other boys. There’s accident-prone Tommy, bookish Demi, and greedy Stuffy. Into this large, unusual family arrives Nat – a skinny, nervous orphan boy with no schooling, just a fearless talent for the violin. Amid all the scrapes and japes of twelve rambunctious boys, can little Nat find his place at Plumfield? It seems a very nice place indeed,” observed Nat, feeling that he must respond to these amiable young persons.

CHAPTER IX. DAISY'S BALL

Personal relationships are central to the school, and diversity is celebrated. Daisy is deeply attached to her twin brother, to shy Nat, and to tomboy Nan. Nan and Tommy are also close and the latter intends to marry Nan when they grow up. Dan, already friends with Nat, is unexpectedly drawn to the pious Demi and the toddler Teddy. While Franz Hoffmann, Emil Hoffmann, Daisy and Demi are all related to the Bhaers, they are not treated with favouritism and are encouraged to overcome their faults just the same as the other pupils. They chose a song he knew; and after one or two false starts they got going, and violin, flute, and piano led a chorus of boyish voices that made the old roof ring again. It was too much for Nat, more feeble than he knew; and as the final shout died away, his face began to work, he dropped the fiddle, and turning to the wall, sobbed like a little child. Little Men (published 1871) is considered the second book of the Little Women trilogy written by Louisa May Alcott. (The book Good Wives (1869) was originally the sequel to the novel Little Women (1868), however those two novels are now usually published as a single volume.) The final book of the trilogy is Jo's Boys (1886). Little Men: Life at Plumfield With Jo's Boys Chicago, New York: M. A. Donohue & Co., c1871 at A Celebration of Women Writers

I’m glad; now come to Aunt Jo.” And Daisy took him by the hand with a pretty protecting air, which made Nat feel at home at once. Robin, my man, trot up to Nursey, and tell her to give thee the cough-bottle and the liniment,” said Mr. Bhaer, after his eyes had exchanged telegrams with his wife’s.It is an excellent look at the other side for people like me and explains a lot about the way our “leaders” see things, and see us. There are some interesting bits on debate nights around election times when private schools would hold fake hustings – they could never rustle up Labour candidates but they often had a novelty Socialist Workers candidate who would draw the short straw and be the figure of fun for the evening including being egged whenever they spoke – this in full view of, and with the blessing of teachers; as was the plethora of candidates for more “fringe” parties such as the National Front or the British Union of Fascists for which would-be leaders were always plentiful. Beard was shipped to boarding school at the tender age of eight. Many years later, and in the midst of a pandemic, he returned, both in person and in memory. Some fond memories of his time at school remains, and admits that he "was good at the stuff that mattered - at lessons, emotional repression, and rugby." However, he remembers most of his time at school with disbelief and horror.