The CBB :: View topic - The Feud in the Chalet School

#1: The Feud in the Chalet School Author: Rachael,

Posted: Mon Aug 02, 2004 9:30 am

A summary of this book may be found here Starters for discussion: The Saints, Tanswick and now St Hilda's ... is this one school too many? What price Miriam Ashley? Thoughts on the Herr Laubach (bless him) storyline? Likewise the two Minettes? How did you like the Middles "painting" the doors with golden syrup? Anything else?

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

Posted: Mon Aug 02, 2004 1:33 pm

This is one of the books that I like the least. I don't understand why the Head of St. Hilda's doesn't realise that two schools right near each other in a place like that is a bit too much. Miriam is a pain in the neck and is rather horrid too. The Herr Laubach storyline is good. My favourite part is where the juniors paint the doors with golden syrup - I laughed at that! Having two identical cats with the same name is a bit OTT!

#3: Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire

Posted: Mon Aug 02, 2004 3:28 pm

Is this one school too many? Yes, it's far too like 'Rivals' even though the other school are quartered on the CS this time. The basis for the feud was far too slender to be plausible. Two schools so close together, and after Tanswick etc, is just a plot device. Miriam Ashley - who hasn't had a colleague like her? Oh joy!! she was positively unpleasant, especially over poor Herr Laubach's death. I know it was a necessary thing for the plot, but really, she was totally lacking in common sense and decency Herr Laubach, well the death was shown as something to be mourned, which is a tribute to the character. I loved it when the Juniors painted the doors with golden syrup, it gave us a nice insight into the domestic workings of the school. The two Minettes - I suppose that if the cats are absolutely identical, there was nothing else to do but give them the same name. One part that I really liked was when Jack and Gilly were out on the roof trying to rescue the cat. I thought that it gave the book some drama.

#4: Author: Ally, Location: Jack Maynard's Dressing Room!!

Posted: Mon Aug 02, 2004 3:51 pm

I agree that the book is very like Rivals, I still sometimes get Gillie Garstin and Gipsy Carson mixed up! But I suppose it is a twist that they end up living together. Miriam Ashley really does annoy me, it seems like EBD had the situation to write about an awful teacher, and took it, afterall no one like that could work at the CS! (neither could they be hired, as this would reflect badly on Hilda and co.) But I do understand her wish to give her school some independance, and seeing the number of buildings the school/san owned aroundabouts (even if in use) must have made things worse. The golden syrup was really quite fun, and it was rather nice to see the girls actually wanting to help, even if they made it worse! Minette was obviously the only acceptable name for a cat in EBD's eyes!

#5: Author: Ray, Location: Bristol, England

Posted: Mon Aug 02, 2004 4:02 pm

For a book that I didn't like all that much when I read it, there's a lot in it that sticks out in my mind. It sticks out far better than Wins The Trick or Leader did (I actually couldn't remember anything about Wins the Trick until I picked it up again a couple of weeks ago!). Was it a school too many? Hm. Probably. The setup is very similar to Rivals, that's for certain. That said, though, it's not as if the three instances are that close together and it WAS a neat way of bringing in a whole host of new characters just for a three-book period, and I do like Gilly Smile

Miriam Ashley... As Jennie says, who hasn't known/worked with someone like this. I certainly have! She is nasty and unpleasant, particularly over Herr Laubach's death and, from what I remember, she's never even prepared to give the CS a chance. Herr Laubach After Herr Anserl's death being just a footnote, to see Herr Laubach get a proper 'moment' was nice. It was also sad because he is one of the longest serving characters and possibly one of the bravest (given the way he returns to the school in the early stages of the war). The two cats... I guess, if you can't tell the cats apart, they do have to have the same name, but out of all the things in the book, this was the one thing I really didn't like at all. The Golden syrup... Got to love this bit. Jack, Gilly and co just want to help - a rarety in CS mischief terms! - and I've always loved the mental image of them not being able to reach the top of the door. (Though I DO have to say that as they're thirteen or so, I'm thinking they're awfully short not to be able to reach the top of the door...) I'm expecting this to be another book that improves when I finally regain a copy. Ray * Smile

#6: Author: patmac, Location: Yorkshire England

Posted: Mon Aug 02, 2004 7:40 pm

Not top of my reading list! Having said that, like Ray, I remember it quite well so it must have made an impression over the years. A school too many? Probably not really as opening a school seems to have been a fairly acceptable option for women with some capital and not much income. After all, EBD did it herself. Miriam Ashley. Agrees with Jennie! Ambitious and somewhat insensitive but it must have been a terrible shock for her to find herself in that position. Herr Laubach. I liked the fact that people were so upset about it. After all, he was 'family' in that the CS was all he had. the 2 cats. Been there, done that! Cats may be proud but they are clever enough to accept any name in return for a good home. I once acquired an extra cat by accepting that a stray was one of mine (given the propensity of the dominant tom to father most cats in the neighbourhood it probably was a cousin) Golden Syrup. that, I didn't understand! Unless they all had colds and couldn't smell the difference! I also couldn't understand why they didn't just get a chair to reach to the top!

#7: Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire

Posted: Mon Aug 02, 2004 7:59 pm

Because someone might have seen them carrying the chair and asked them what they were doing. ETA: One thing that I did find interesting about this book was the attitude of the older girls who perforce had to attend the CS for a year. They were infinitely more committed to the CS ethos and what was on offer than the younger girls.

#8: Author: Ellie, Location: Lincolnshire

Posted: Tue Aug 03, 2004 1:46 am

Ally wrote:

I agree that the book is very like Rivals, I still sometimes get Gillie Garstin and Gipsy Carson mixed up! But I suppose it is a twist that they end up living together.

My mid boggled then! I thought for a moment that you meant that Gypsy and Gillie ended up living together. Shocked

#9: Author: Susan, Location: Carlisle

Posted: Tue Aug 03, 2004 9:31 am

This isn't one of my favourites either but I do read it when I get to thta part of the series. Yes it was a school too far and a plot device, but then did EBD expect people to be still reading her books as a complete set this many years later? Miriam Ashley needed a good put down and to be kept there! Thought the Herr Laubach part was really nice. The two cats never bothered me I have friends who have cats that are identical. The golden syrup is a much needed funny incident in the book. I always thought they didn't know the difference between syrup and the oil as they would be the type of girls that didn't help with any decorating. Had never realised they should have been able to reach the tops of the doors unntil I read Ray's post.

#10: Author: Ray, Location: Bristol, England

Posted: Tue Aug 03, 2004 9:39 am

Susan wrote:

Had never realised they should have been able to reach the tops of the doors unntil I read Ray's post.

To be honest, Susan, it was only as I was typing that post that it dawned on me that, hang on, when I was thirteen, even if I couldn't have reached the top of the door, I certainly had thirteen year old friends who could (and as I was around about 5'3"-5'4" at the time, I could just about do it myself). Ray *amused that it didn't hit her at the time, seeing as when she first read Feud she WAS thirteen!*

#11: Author: Ellie, Location: Lincolnshire

Posted: Tue Aug 03, 2004 12:06 pm

The Saints, Tanswick and now St Hilda's ... is this one school too many? I certainly never thought it was a school too many when I first read it, but until recently the only references I'd seen to Tanswick were in 'Wrong' and that wasn't really about inter-school rivalry. What price Miriam Ashley? She was a thoroughly unpleasant character, with an over developed sense of her own importance, but I've met people like her in RL. Actually it's quite refreshing to find one of the staff being awkward instead of one of the girls. Thoughts on the Herr Laubach (bless him) storyline? Poor man. I was pleased to see that he was mourned rather than it being a case that he was better off dead since he had nothing to live for. It shows again that EBD was quite ruthless about killing off established characters if it was necessary for the plot. Likewise the two Minettes? I would say the Minettes were both displaying behaviour typical to their species. It is quite feasible that they could be totally identical, and quite reasonable for the humans to get them confused. But didn't EBD know any other cat names? I'm sure there is a reference to another Minette elsewhere in the series. I enjoyed the scene where Jack and Gillie rescued one of the Minette's from the roof. I wouldn't have been very impressed with them if they had left it to die. but I suppose it would have been more sensible to ask for help rather than risk their own lives. How did you like the Middles "painting" the doors with golden syrup? That was quite good fun, though surely the syrup would have been rather sticky and difficult to apply. I suppose whther they could reach the tioop of the door or not depended on high the door was? I remember, as a very young child, managing to open the door at my Grandmother's house. I was chuffed to bits because I could finally reach the door handle - then we wejnt home and I found that our own door handles were still well out of reach. I read a lot of the Swiss books before I read the Tyrol/British ones so I didn't really find the plots stale or repetitive when I first read this. I wouldn't say that it is one of my absolute favourites, but I did enjoy it.

#12: Author: Sarah_L, Location: Leeds

Posted: Tue Aug 03, 2004 12:15 pm

I'm jealous. This book and Bride are the only two I haven't read, and they seem at least to have a storyline other than new girl makes good after terrible accident.

#13: Author: ellend, Location: Bow, London

Posted: Tue Aug 03, 2004 2:21 pm

Overall not CS at its best. I always thought Miriam was too self-obsessed to be real as while people might think some of her thoughts they shouldn't be expressed ie Herr Laubach. I hadn't thought about 13 years old being able to reach the top of the door and agree at least some of them should have. I'm 5ft and could just about reach up 6ft, but painting at that height would be messy. At work we have doors that are 7ft and there is no way I could reach the top without standing on things. The cause of the Feud was just too thin, but once established I think it was quite realistic in how different people or events kept fanning the flames. I've not read this many times, as I only got the HB about 10 or so years ago. It's almost a duty read, as part of the series. E

#14: Author: jennifer, Location: Sunny California

Posted: Tue Aug 03, 2004 6:32 pm

This strikes me as a book that's probably better in the unabridged version, as the paperback is one of the shortest of the lot. Does anyone know how different it is from the hardback? It's not one of my favorites, partially, I admit, because I'm not wildly fond of Jack. The Herr Laubach reaction was nicely done, and I have met people the equal of Miriam Ashley, without the reformation. I did always find the portrayal of the the male teachers interesting. They (Denny, Anserl and Laubach) are generally portrayed as obsessive towards their subject, and Anserl and Laubach are short tempered to the point of being verbally abusive towards their students. The only female teachers who approach this are Grizel and Miss Slater, where it's portrayed as a character flaw, or Miss Bubb and the two early Matrons who are fired for it. Any comments?

#15: Author: Ray, Location: Bristol, England

Posted: Tue Aug 03, 2004 7:19 pm

Jennifer wrote:

I did always find the portrayal of the the male teachers interesting. They (Denny, Anserl and Laubach) are generally portrayed as obsessive towards their subject, and Anserl and Laubach are short tempered to the point of being verbally abusive towards their students. The only female teachers who approach this are Grizel and Miss Slater, where it's portrayed as a character flaw, or Miss Bubb and the two early Matrons who are fired for it. Any comments?

I don't think it's entirely fair to say that it's NOT portrayed as a character flaw in Anserl and Laubach (in particular) - but now that you've mentioned it, apart from Herr Helfen (who variously taught harp and violin in the Tirol!) who's more or less just a name mentioned in passing, the only other male teacher who actually appears is Mr Manders, Gay's cello teacher - and he's supposed to also have a short fuse! Ray *wondering if she should draw conclusions*

#16: Author: patmac, Location: Yorkshire England

Posted: Tue Aug 03, 2004 7:33 pm

Reply to Ray, Jennifer, et al People who have an obsession/talent in a particular art and are unable to use it to earn a living in a creative way and end up having to teach it to typical children may well have a short fuse. *Remembering a choir master who fitted that exactly*

#17: Author: Ray, Location: Bristol, England

Posted: Tue Aug 03, 2004 8:06 pm

True enough, I knew my own example come to that - though it DOES strike me as odd that *all* the male teachers who show up fit that category. Ray *loved Mr Clarke but made dang sure she'd practiced the night before!*

#18: Author: Kate, Location: Ireland

Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2004 12:25 pm

About the reaching to the top of the door - wasn' t true that children years ago reached puberty later than they do now? I know my mum didn't hit her growth spurt til she was around 15ish... so maybe its plausible that 13 year olds of the 50s (?) would be shorter than 13 year olds now. I don't know if that would work lik that, this is more of a wondering than an actual opinion or fact... anyone know for sure?

#19: Author: Pat, Location: Doncaster

Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2004 12:34 pm

I was always getting problems on the buses when I asked for a half fare as i was tall. The fare went up at 14 then.

#20: Author: Vikki, Location: Sitting on an iceberg, freezing to death!!!

Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2004 12:37 pm

Grin! I used to get away with half fare at 17...... And when I was in San Francisco with my pen pal, we were asked if we wanted half fare on the bus... (at the time we were both 22........ Shocked

)

#21: Author: Ray, Location: Bristol, England

Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2004 12:39 pm

*chuckles* I did manage to get away with a few child fares to the FE college, as long as I didn't actually say the FE college was my destination Smile

Ray *was sneaky like that* *also saw no reason not to be having been erroniously charged adult fares as an under 16*

#22: Author: Lulie, Location: Middlesbrough

Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2004 1:40 pm

My Mum used to get away with half fare on the bus when she was about 22/23. She got on the same bus as some of her pupils, who thought it hilarious that Miss could get half fare! (and none of them told on her!)

#23: Author: Lisa_T, Location: Belfast

Posted: Thu Aug 05, 2004 12:44 am

AWWW! that's so sweet. I was never too fussed on Feud in pb but I find it more humourous in HB. Although I'm still rather puzzled about why Con should have minded Herr Laubach's death so much. Never seemed much mentioned before then!!! Typical EBD.. I liked the cat on the roof, and the very rare glimpse we get of Matey as a human being (although it's not as good as when she gets locked in the bathroom in Adrienne ROFL

). I also liked the syrup incident!!!! maybe they all just had chronic congestion. All that milk and cream cakes... Laughing

I was never bothered too much about the fact that it was another school again. It's a different approach and in the HB Bertha Holroyd comes across as a very nice woman, while Miriam is a little (not much, but a little) more human. I suppose the only excuse for her -if it can be called that- was that she was young, inexperienced, and was accustomed to being a very big fish in a very small pond. Come to that, she could have been her school's version of Mary-Lou!

#24: Author: lizarfau, Location: Melbourne

Posted: Thu Aug 05, 2004 7:30 am

When I was 16, my friends and I used to catch the bus to our favourite pub, and say we were under 14 so we could pay half-fare. We used to then stand in the doorway of the nearby Co-op (a 1970s shop) and put on make-up, then go into the pub and say we were over 18. Ah, those were the days!

#25: Author: MissPrint, Location: Edinburgh

Posted: Thu Aug 05, 2004 4:06 pm

I was immensley amused to be asked it I wanted a half fare when I was 23. I'm not particularly small, and I was pregnant at the time. Maybe it was my youthful good looks (aye, right!) I was flattered when my neighbour said he thought I was thirty the other day, and pointed out that as I had a fifteen year old daugter, it was somewhat unlikely. Actually when I think on it, it makes him all the more creepy, as he has tried to chat me up, and he's into his sixties. As for being too small, I think it is true that girls reaced puberty later then, and have heard the theory advanced that it is because they had to endure all the childhood diseases whereas today's youngsters get no checks in their development and just bound towards puberty at ten and eleven. But this cuts both ways as they are starting their growing spurt from a smaller height and so don't end up so tall in the end. Which is probably just as well as otherwise we'd be moaning about finding clothes for our seven foot tall daughters and size eleven shoes!

#26: Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire

Posted: Thu Aug 05, 2004 4:18 pm

Another consideration is the huge amount of hormones that are apparently dissolved in our drinking water from women taking the pill. This will help an earlier onset of puberty for girls.

#27: Author: Lisa_T, Location: Belfast

Posted: Sun Aug 15, 2004 2:52 pm

Can you explain that, Jennie? *confused* I understand the pill bit. I don't understand the drinking water bit!!!

#28: Author: Ellie, Location: Lincolnshire

Posted: Sun Aug 15, 2004 8:30 pm

Recycled water, Lisa. I think, in London, one glass of water is drunk four times.

#29: Author: Clare, Location: Liverpool

Posted: Tue Aug 17, 2004 10:03 pm

Jennie wrote:

One part that I really liked was when Jack and Gilly were out on the roof trying to rescue the cat. I thought that it gave the book some drama.

I really liked Matey's reaction to it - she semed so human when she felt sick when Jack and Gilly got back through the window. More used to seeing Matey completely unfazed by anything the children do, so it was a nice change to see her reacting. Other than that, not very memorable, plot definitely recycled and it's not one of my favourites. However, since I only paid 10p for it, I can't complain too much Very Happy

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