Sunday, July 2, 2006

The Impossible Prefect by Hubert Robinson

I found this book quite amusing. It had mostly the kind of
humor I prefer - humor that comes from the situation and
people's own foibles. Once again, though, I found large
portions of the book incomprehensible. Yes, cricket.
I suppose I can't escape it while I am reading books about
boys' schools in Merry Old England.

The most interesting thing for me in this book is the
original premise of it. The thing that sets up the
whole story is that the headmaster skips a boy who was
previously a great trouble-maker with pretty miserable
grades up a level from the 5th form to the 6th form and
at the same time makes him a prefect. It is unusual to
have that as a premise - that an educator would recognize
that such a boy had the potential, not only for better
scholarship if demanded of him, but also for leadership.
Young Darrell does actually make a go of the whole thing,
and in his own way. It is obvious that the trust in him was
not misplaced.

Congratulations to the headmaster, not only for this, but
also for the fortitude to expel on the spot, the boy who
confesses to stealing the money collected for cricket. I
suppose I feel a bit of sympathy for the boy who, when
caught, confesses all. But he had to be dealt with strongly
and I am glad the headmaster did. I think that is one
reason why I should never be a headmaster. I am not
sure I could have done it.

All in all, I found this book quite enjoyable and interesting.
Too bad I don't understand cricket better.

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