The CBB :: View topic - The Coming of Age of the Chalet School

#1: The Coming of Age of the Chalet School Author: Rachael,

Posted: Tue Jun 01, 2004 1:25 pm

Thanks, Rachel!! Very Happy

Haven't got my copy to hand so hope I've got these right!! Fave/worst scenes? Any bits make you cry? What did you think of the reintroduction of Doris Hill and the Dawbarn twins etc? How do you like the episode back at the Tiernsee? What did you think about Joey's confidences to Mary-Lou at the Tiernsee? What price Mary-Lou's surprise at being the next HG? Rolling Eyes

And anything else ...............................

#2: Author: Cazx, Location: Swansea/Bristol

Posted: Tue Jun 01, 2004 5:47 pm

I think my favourite scene would be seeing the girls all meet up when they haven't seen each other for years (I like reunions!). I don't particularly have any least favourite scenes but this book was a bit of a let down for me when I read it, I got the impression from the CS Companion that there would be loads of meetings with old girls from Tyrol who had been lost since the war and there were none in any detail. I like the bits back in Tyrol and wish that there were more of them. I personally thought that Joey's confidences to Mary-Lou were not really that major and could have been left out. Mary-Lou's surprise at being head girl... put on I think!

#3: Author: claire, Location: South Wales

Posted: Tue Jun 01, 2004 7:20 pm

The hardback is much better and I do like the book but have a few problems with it i) Joey had told the triplets she would go to the Tiernsee when their form went but she went with the prefects instead ii) the way Jo looks for a house and hey presto finds it again iii) Mary-Lou's reaction at being told she was headgirl (big surprise - they created a position for her when she was in middle school so she can't have been shocked, now if the current head girl hadn't expected to leave that term I could have dealt with her 'shock' iv) The renaming of the Margot Venables prize (that is in COA isn't it?)

#4: Author: Carolyn P, Location: Lancaster, England

Posted: Tue Jun 01, 2004 8:40 pm

The thing with being suprised about being HG, well she had to be really, she could hardly say, 'Oh yes I thought I would be!' As for the rest, I do remember being disappointed with the book as a whole because there was no re-introduction and back story of old characters, and the bit about the trips already mentioned grated with me, you would have thought that Joey would have moved heaven and earth to take her own children there for the first time they went, and yet she happily goes witht he prefects instead. The chat with ML was probably necessary, but there was no need for it to be as dramatic as on the lake at night, a quiet word in a corner would have done. Personaly I'd be quite interested to see what people think of ML and Jessica in this book and the reasons that ML got the prize???

#5: Author: Catriona, Location: South Yorkshire

Posted: Fri Jun 04, 2004 5:58 pm

Have just whizzed through my pb copy of this and one or two things made me quite cross. When Joey and M-L were rescued by Herr Helfen and returned very late to the hotel, Joey wasn't in the least bit apologetic about the worry they had caused but just wanted to stuff her face with rolls and coffee before being smug about getting her chalet. Then, when Jessica went home to be with her stepsister (?sister-by-marriage) when she was dying, M-L said to Miss Dene how plucky Jessica was. Miss Dene's reply? - "No-one wants to hear of a Chalet School girl ....... lapsing into tears for the least thing". If you can't cry when someone is dying, then when can you cry? *Wonders how many CS girls had massive breakdowns in future years after trying not to be spineless jellyfish for so long*

#6: Author: Catherine_B, Location: Oxford, UK

Posted: Fri Jun 04, 2004 6:05 pm

Indeed! As though one's sister dying was the "least thing"!! Shocked

I love the line at the beginning about ML forgetting that she was a prefect and trying to kick her height. Also think that ML's reaction to being made HG was in character - she was never arrogant about being the leader of the group, it seemed to happen quite spontaneously. So I can quite believe that she'd never lain awake at night thinking smugly, "when I'm Head Girl"...

#7: Author: Angel, Location: London, England

Posted: Fri Jun 04, 2004 6:10 pm

I always assumed that the 'least thing' was meaning about the sort of young girls who got hysterical, rather than a healthy grief.

#8: Author: Ruth, Location: Lincolnshire, England

Posted: Sat Jun 05, 2004 8:12 am

I am glad that the girls get to see the Tyrol and that Joey sees it again. My favourite scene would have to be Joey and Mary-Lou having to be rescued from their boating adventure. I don't think I have a least favourite. I really do like the way Mary-Lou handles Jessica. The surprise that Mary-Lou shows at being made Head Girl is quite natural. Even if she had thought that she might be one day, I think she would have shown surprise anyway at having been chosen.

#9: Author: Rach, Location: Cheltenham, England

Posted: Sat Jun 05, 2004 8:43 am

This was one of the first CS I read, as my Mum had the hardback. And I remember being very confused by the constant back-references, but also very excited because the footnotes told me which books all these events occurred in, although I didn't get to read things like Does it again for ages afterwards. Favourite scene - I liked the bit when they were in Tyrol again, although not the boat bit with OOAO and Joey, as I never really understood it as a child Worst scene - can't think at the moment, although the bit with the chalet was far too coincidental and I did find Joey's confidences a bit bizarre - why did they have to go all that way out onto the lake just so Joey could tell OOAO to be discreet about the weekend. The reintroduction was good - but I didn't really understand it until I could put it in the context of the rest of the series - then it made far more sense. OOAO's surprise at being headgirl was plausible, but made her far too perfect for my liking -)

#10: Author: Kathy_S, Location: midwestern US

Posted: Mon Jun 07, 2004 2:05 am

One of this book’s strengths is the continuity it brings to the series, both with the old girl visits and with, for example, the Jessica/Rosamund plot. (Too many such disappear after the book in which they first pop up.) In terms of Miss Dene’s jellyfish speech, I would have found it far more annoying if the emphasis here and earlier hadn’t been on Jessica trying to keep from crying specifically while around Rosamund, making her last days happy, etc. Of course she’s going to cry by herself and with her family! If I were Jessica, I think I’d have liked to see ML spend a bit more time praying for healing than making ‘Won’t it be best for Rosamund?’ speeches. At least, I found that kind of well-meaning speech more than a little upsetting when it was my sister, though maybe that’s partly because the time-frame was shorter (after a car-crash) and I was still in shock and totally unable to see her not believing that ‘where there’s life, there’s hope.’ Trying for acceptance before there’s been time for grieving just doesn’t work for me.

#11: Author: Susan, Location: Carlisle

Posted: Mon Jun 07, 2004 10:43 am

This has always been one of my favourite books. I love all the reunion scenes and the visit to the Tyrol. Can't say I have a least favourite scene, though the boating one with ML and Jo does annoy. If I had been one of the triplets I would have been very upset at Jo's promising to go with and then going with the prefects.

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