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School For Love (2009)

School for Love (2009)

Book Info

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Rating
3.7 of 5 Votes: 2
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ISBN
1590173031 (ISBN13: 9781590173039)
Language
English
Publisher
nyrb classics

About book School For Love (2009)

Another in my series of neglected classics, this tells the story of a boy's rude coming of age at the end of World War II in Jerusalem. Felix has been orphaned by the death of his British mother of typhoid in Baghdad, and after neighbors care for him a while, he is shipped off to live with his father's adopted sister, Miss Bohun, in Jerusalem.Felix is naive and desperate for love and acceptance, and much of School for Love explores his shifting allegiances as he tries to support one person or another in the byzantine household run by his aunt. He does grow up, not all too happily, in the process, and even though the book is filled with several strong characters, the fulcrum is Miss Bohun, who is either a malevolent manipulator or a lonely woman trying to do her best in an uncertain world, or maybe a bit of both.When Felix arrives, there is a running battle between Miss Bohun and Frau Leszno, a Polish woman who had occupied the house before but somehow has now become a servant for Miss Bohun. Upstairs is the reclusive Mr. Jewel, an aging pensioner, and downstairs are the frau's handsome son Nikky, who claims to be a count, and a Romanian servant, Maria. Miss Bohun scrimps at all levels -- on food, on heat, and on compassion, even though she wants to appear to be the head of a happy family. She also spends much of her time running a religious cult called The Ever Readies, a reference to their apocalyptic views. Into this already contentious scene comes a young pregnant widow, Mrs. Ellis, whom Felix is immediately smitten by, and who shows very little respect for Miss Bohun. It appears the landlady has agreed to let Mrs. Ellis take over the whole house once her baby comes, but as the book teaches us, one can never be too sure when it comes to Miss Bohun's promises.The story culminates with Felix's preparation for returning to England along with other refugees and the dramatic events that affect the household.What this novel really does is show how our relationships, our need for respect, acceptance and love, and our often unpredictably fluid small societies can dominate our lives in the midst of major changes in the world. It also raises unanswered questions about what true evil is, and whether a combination of loneliness and narcissism can almost amount to the same thing.I'm encouraged by this to explore more of her books.

Loved her BBC post war works when I found them this summer. Then I found this on a King's English tour a little after. Tucked it away for the future. I've always been entranced by Jerusalem, Egypt their politics, culture and spirit deeply influenced by personal psychology and government. Especially fictional, nonfictional takes on passionate couples traveling for world work. Swoon for it. Such a sucker. Love it! {Think recent years Painted Veil, more recently Deborah Devonshire, Paddy Fermor among a long list of others in between.}Combining these two into this book drew me in. Her style of fiction is definitely nuanced gorgeous. But not amazing. She is mesmerizing in her vivid descriptions of place and keenly diplomatic--metaphorically and literally--due, I'm sure, to her British Council experience with her husband. But there is something hollow feeling in her ability to connect these characters, something curious about her gender and relational takes that sit uneasy with me even though she possesses such observational wit. I suppose that's why it bothers me? I'll have to explore her history more for understanding. It is her nonfiction accounts of land, people, government, culture and especially imperialism, those she loved and didn't love, that make me so excited to explore Middle Eastern countries even more. For their own sake as well as for British connection. Truly fascinating layers. Especially when taken on her associations with EM Forster, Evelyn Waugh, L. Durrell and Anthony Powell. Such interconnectedness.It's funny to me to see how my literature is coming full circle in it's association to my first love in a long line of this thrilling type that began in my youth: Out of Africa. I love having so much time off to read as much as I want.

Do You like book School For Love (2009)?

Felix Lattimer is left orphaned in Baghdad when his mother dies of typhoid, and since it’s during WWII he can’t be sent back to Britain and the care of relatives. There is, however, a relative much closer – in Jerusalem. Mrs Bohun. So Felix is sent there. Mrs Bohun really is a piece of work – the blurb describes her as “one of the most reoubtable (and ridiculous) of comic horrors in English fiction”, and it’s true. The actual plot – Felix interacts with the other residents of Mrs Bohun’s house, is too immature to see what is really going on, and, well, things happen – is more or less incidental. The old working class man in the attice ends up in hospital, and his room is let to a young and pregnant widow. Mrs Bohun’s attitude changes to the first, and then the other, but it’s all in character. Manning is a good writer and worth reading, but this is a slight piece. Its setting is interesting, and that setting is handled reasonably sensitively, albeit with the patrician sensibilities of a British expat from the first half of the twentieth century. While Mrs Bohun appears quite horrific in some respects to modern sensibilities, I suspect time has sharpened that edge. Manning doesn’t deserve to be forgotten – she was an excellent writer during her day and her books are still worth reading today.
—Ian

I really don't know what to think of this quiet book. As I read, I kept wondering if anything was ever really going to happen. However, the characterizations drew me in, especially of course of Miss Bosun. What are her true motivations? How self-aware is she? Is she really so hypocritical? One subtle way in which Manning generated suspense is the fate of the cat. She is a big part of Felix's life, and you kept fearing Miss B. was going to do something horrible--I was so relieved by the ending. It was fascinating to see how Felix's opinions of the others changed as he knew them better, and as he was influenced by the others' worldviews. I suppose his maturation was one real plot of the story. The characters have stayed with me for days, which is a sign of good writing for me. I kept wondering what happened to Felix as he returned to England. What sort of life did this bright, sensitive boy come to have?
—JodiP

(Note: I actually read the Penguin 1983 published edition)Olivia Manning has this ability to evoke characters without particularly describing the character. You know them by their actions. In this case, a young orphan unwanted and homeless finds himself stranded in a cold winter Jerusalem. And in a cold household.The school for love is hardly that: a child starved of affection and love, tries to develop relationships - admiration, gratitude, sympathy... - with the other flotsam in and around a lodging house. His lesson is a hard one, that it is so difficult to build those bridges when the object has limited interest in developing any attachment. Here is a child that just needs to be loved as a child: is there anyone there?Anyone who's spent any time in boarding houses (digs) will certainly have met the mean landlady. Miss Bohun is it in trumps, the unsympathetic host whose claims to wanting the lodgings to be a family are hardly convincing when the whole demeanour excludes the intimate. Miss Bohun is the monster who Felix - out of loyalty? Out of hope? Out of desperation? - fixes his first loyalties. She is pure selfishness, self-satisfaction. But from our distance, we can see the bitter old woman herself in need of love, but unable to offer it. She is a caricature of a monster, something to laugh at, but as the story proceeds, a certain sympathy for her begins to sneak in. Unfortunately, she can always mange something outrageous to dash any liking of her. Except, perhaps, allowing Felix and the cat...: you'll have to read to find out what happens there between Felix and the only thing that allows Felix to express his need for love.There is a relief when you see Felix's escape from this world gradually get closer. But there is also a certain sympathy for Miss Bohun as she starts to look forward to her next paying guest - or will it be victim? Or another failed hope?Delicious writing and the pages flew by.
—Martin Boyle

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