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

I have the pb of this but could get a GGB edition. Would it be worth it?

I don't remember that scene, and am now dying to know what a scalp lock is?! :lol:

Everyone agreed, and they swarmed up the beaches to the bathing chalets to tidy themselves and dress. Nancy Wilmot raced ahead of the others, and made, as she thought, for the one she had used. She wrenched open the unbolted door and bounced in on top of an elderly female who was just preparing for an afternoon bathe. The lady had undressed and was already in her swimsuit. She had also removed certain aids to beauty and, to the horrified Nancy, she exhibited a head that was nearly denuded of hair on top.
When the mistress entered, she gave a shocked squawk and scrabbled wildly at a kind of scalp-lock which hung from one of the hooks. Unfortunately, in her haste, she tried to put it on hindside foremost. Nancy spluttered an incoherent apology, and bounced out faster than she had entered, nearly bowling over Kathie Ferrars, who had come to bring her to the proper place which the three mistresses were sharing. She, too, got a glimpse of the vision within, and when the pair of them finally joined their third, they were so suffocated with suppressed laughter that it was some minutes before Biddy o’Ryan could get any sense out of them. When she did, she simply screamed with laughter, and the girls heard them, and when they finally appeared for the meal, insisted on hearing the joke.

A long lock of hair left on the top of the shaven head by certain Native American men

...if the girls really wouldn't be satisfied with not having Joey prominent in it...

Or maybe EBD had simply forgotten it had been the Margot Venables Prize?

When the last of St. Clare’s team had trotted back to the ranks, all one broad beam, Dr. Graves rose again.
“I understand that there is still one more prize to be given,” he began. “Many years ago, Mrs. Maynard,” he turned and bowed to Joey, who gave him a wide grin, “established what is known as the Josephine Maynard Prize, which is given to the girl who most fulfils the ideal the pupils of the Chalet School always have held before them. I understand that it began as The Margot Venables Prize, but the girls themselves have insisted that the name of the donor be given to it."

why did Jo have to make such a big deal about why they allowed the girls to use their Christian names for the duration?

And yet Mary-Lou is allowed to call Miss O'Ryan - Biddy!

Joey dashed into her room, calling, “Mind you wear big hats! It looks like being a scorcher, and even less than holding up fainting females do I want to deal with sunstroke cases! Oh, and don’t forget your cash if you have an idea of buying crocks at Tiernkirche.”
...
“Joey is rather overwhelming when she gets really going,” Mary-Lou remarked as she raked a comb through her rampant curls before adjusting her hat.

Mary-Lou glared at her helplessly. When Joey was in this mood, there was nothing she could do about it, and she knew it. [...] “Lead on, Macduff! I’ll follow you to the ends of the earth—and when we get there, I’ll push you over!”

It was a great disappointment to me, the entire book. I thought that it utterly lacked the vibrancy of the Tyrol books, and wanted to see more of the old girls from those days, rather than Jo's and OOAO's rather silly mishaps.

I agree about the boat. I suppose EBD felt that there had to be some near accident, but why did Jo have to make such a big deal about why they allowed the girls to use their Christian names for the duration? Why was Jo there anyway. Didn't she say at one point in the earlier book that she wanted to go with the triplets? It implies that Jo is never happier than with a group of older teenagers at age 33.

...Finally, [Joey] turned and nodded to the expectant prefects.
"Just as I expected!" she announced. "And every blessed member of the Staff has voted the same way, too. Now remember, you may not tell anyone who you voted for... You'll hear the name of the winner in due course. Now you can scram!"
"Aren't you going to tell us now?" Sybil exclaimed in disappointed tones...

I'm sure, in my Armada version, that half way up the cliff Joey says to ML something along the lines of I've done this climb before; but I've never been able to work out which of her youthful exploits she was talking about - can anyone elaborate?

I found it strange that the Margot Venables Prize, which had been named after Daisy and Primula's mother, should be renamed for Joey. I know it says this was done because the girls wanted it and perhaps many of them did not know the Venables girls, but many of them would have and it seems to me an oddly rude and hurtful thing to do. Sure, Daisy and Primula were no longer at the school. but they're school family and would hear about it. Couldn't the powers that be have simply changed it to the Margot Venables Prize awarded by Joey Maynard or something like that if the girls really wouldn't be satisfied with not having Joey prominent in it?

And as a newbie, could someone tell me what a drabble is?

Author:	Róisín [ Wed Sep 10, 2008 7:52 am ]
Post subject:	Books: The Coming of Age of the Chalet School
The Chalet School has now been in existence for 21 years and celebrations are in order. Prudence misbehaves and is relegated to Junior status for a while. The Prefects are brought to the site of the original building in Austria and brought around by Joey, Frieda, Simone and Marie. The Sale held has a Shakespeare theme. This is also the book where Rosamund Sefton is dying and Mary-Lou helps Jessica through. So, do you think the last 21 years of the School have had a good record overall? Is it realistic that Joey + chums were able to take time to escort a class of 17 and 18 year olds on a school trip? Why is Prudence Dawbarn still in school?! Was it inevitable that Joey and Mary-Lou would have a Big Adventure? This is the book where both the Sally Denny Museum and the Joey Maynard prize are features - any opinions on these? Please discuss any issue to do with this particular book below Next Sunday: The Chalet School Newsletters

Author:	Alison H [ Wed Sep 10, 2008 9:25 am ]
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Could I curse Armada for all the cuts made in their edition of this! It was years before I read the hb and couldn't believe how much was cut out of the pb. Ignoring the fact that the dates don't work , I love the idea of a trip down memory lane. EBD would've written this at about the time that full independence was finally restored to Austria and the Allied troops pulled out, which I think possibly explains the timing (it was well over 21 years since the school was founded!). I like the idea of the older girls being escorted by people who weren't teachers, in that they'd've felt a bit freer. However, it annoys me that the escorts abandon their charges (who may have enjoyed being without adult supervision but didn't know the local area) for a day to go off and visit Frieda's parents (couldn't Frieda have gone on her own?), especially as they drag Sybil, Mary-Lou (why??) and Elinor with them instead of letting them stay with their friends! Not to mention the fact that we'd been told in Problem that Herr Mensch had died ... obviously he'd been miraculously resurrected . Mary-Lou's butting in with Jessica (more in Mary-Lou than in Coming of Age) can be annoying. However, I've just been re-reading the St Clare's books, in which the reaction to a difficult new girl is usually to refuse to speak to her, to hide her books and ruin her work so that she gets into trouble with the teachers, and to do things like refusing to cheer if she scores a goal during a match or putting stones in her shoes. Makes you realise how nice a place the CS really was .

Author:	JS [ Thu Sep 11, 2008 5:53 pm ]
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I've only read the Armada version of this so far. I rather like it, although I take on board that it's a bit odd that Joey and co should escort the prefects. Is this the book where the adults seem to spend rather a lot of time drinking a 'light wine'? I wonder what it is. The Sally Denny museum was a bit odd - maybe Elinor had a friend who liked Sally Denny as a character and asked her to do something to distinguish her.

Author:	Loryat [ Thu Sep 11, 2008 6:08 pm ]
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I have the pb of this but could get a GGB edition. Would it be worth it?

Author:	Travellers Joy [ Thu Sep 11, 2008 6:45 pm ]
Post subject:
Loryat wrote: I have the pb of this but could get a GGB edition. Would it be worth it? I had only read CoA in pb until about five years ago and it was one of my least liked - I usually skipped it in my rereads - but I've changed my mind since reading the uncut version: it makes so much more sense and has so much more detail than the pb. So I would definitely recommend getting the GGB version.

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Author:	Miriam [ Thu Sep 11, 2008 10:09 pm ]
Post subject:
This book actually contains about the only cut that I am glad Armada made. I'm referring to the incident where some of the staff and older girls go down to Lake Thun, and Nancy Wilmot accidently walks in on some lady who, while preparing to swim had removed her 'scalp lock'. I can accept that the scene may be realistic, but I can't help thinking that to depict something like that as humourous is one of her most insensitive moments. To me in sounds purely embarassing, and laughing at it falls well below EBD's normal habbit of 'setting a good example'. Apart from that I enjoy the book, and would say that (as usual) the hardback/GGBP edition is well above the Armada.

Author:	Róisín [ Thu Sep 11, 2008 10:45 pm ]
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I don't remember that scene, and am now dying to know what a scalp lock is?!

Author:	Liz K [ Fri Sep 12, 2008 5:04 am ]
Post subject:
Róisín wrote: I don't remember that scene, and am now dying to know what a scalp lock is?! So am I, Róisín.

Author:	KB [ Fri Sep 12, 2008 5:28 am ]
Post subject:
Just for those who are wondering... Quote: Everyone agreed, and they swarmed up the beaches to the bathing chalets to tidy themselves and dress. Nancy Wilmot raced ahead of the others, and made, as she thought, for the one she had used. She wrenched open the unbolted door and bounced in on top of an elderly female who was just preparing for an afternoon bathe. The lady had undressed and was already in her swimsuit. She had also removed certain aids to beauty and, to the horrified Nancy, she exhibited a head that was nearly denuded of hair on top. When the mistress entered, she gave a shocked squawk and scrabbled wildly at a kind of scalp-lock which hung from one of the hooks. Unfortunately, in her haste, she tried to put it on hindside foremost. Nancy spluttered an incoherent apology, and bounced out faster than she had entered, nearly bowling over Kathie Ferrars, who had come to bring her to the proper place which the three mistresses were sharing. She, too, got a glimpse of the vision within, and when the pair of them finally joined their third, they were so suffocated with suppressed laughter that it was some minutes before Biddy o’Ryan could get any sense out of them. When she did, she simply screamed with laughter, and the girls heard them, and when they finally appeared for the meal, insisted on hearing the joke. And a scalp lock is defined as: Quote: A long lock of hair left on the top of the shaven head by certain Native American men Based on that definition, why on earth a woman in Switzerland (or was it Austria) would be wearing one is completely beyond me! I think EBD was actually aiming for the term wig or a toupee and either thought that those words related to things worn by men, or else the meaning of the term has changed over time. However an image search of a scalp lock shows it to be more of an extension piece. In the picture, the scalp lock is the piece of hair attached to the shoulder rather than than worn on the top of the head. If that is a true definition, the 'tail' of hair hanging down the woman's face may have had a somewhat amusing appearance.

Author:	Maeve [ Sat Sep 13, 2008 4:24 am ]
Post subject:
I found it strange that the Margot Venables Prize, which had been named after Daisy and Primula's mother, should be renamed for Joey. I know it says this was done because the girls wanted it and perhaps many of them did not know the Venables girls, but many of them would have and it seems to me an oddly rude and hurtful thing to do. Sure, Daisy and Primula were no longer at the school. but they're school family and would hear about it. Couldn't the powers that be have simply changed it to the Margot Venables Prize awarded by Joey Maynard or something like that if the girls really wouldn't be satisfied with not having Joey prominent in it?

Author:	JayB [ Sat Sep 13, 2008 10:41 am ]
Post subject:
Quote: ...if the girls really wouldn't be satisfied with not having Joey prominent in it... I think the girls should have been told 'It's the Margot Venables Prize and it's staying that way, if you don't like it, too bad.' Since when did EBD (or the School authorities) go along with the idea of giving girls something just because they want it? Joey already funds a scholarship, doesn't she, so it's not as if her name isn't attached to anything in the School. If they really wanted honour Joey, a better way would have been to institute an Old Girls' Award, for the CS girl who achieved the most in her life, or best carried on the ideals of the School in adult life, or something.

Author:	Mel [ Sat Sep 13, 2008 11:21 am ]
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Or an award for the one who has the most babies?

Author:	JS [ Sat Sep 13, 2008 12:21 pm ]
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Or maybe EBD had simply forgotten it had been the Margot Venables Prize?

Author:	JayB [ Sat Sep 13, 2008 12:51 pm ]
Post subject:
JS wrote: Or maybe EBD had simply forgotten it had been the Margot Venables Prize? This from Coming of Age: Quote: When the last of St. Clare’s team had trotted back to the ranks, all one broad beam, Dr. Graves rose again. “I understand that there is still one more prize to be given,” he began. “Many years ago, Mrs. Maynard,” he turned and bowed to Joey, who gave him a wide grin, “established what is known as the Josephine Maynard Prize, which is given to the girl who most fulfils the ideal the pupils of the Chalet School always have held before them. I understand that it began as The Margot Venables Prize, but the girls themselves have insisted that the name of the donor be given to it." It was still the Margot Venables Prize in Kenya, so the change was fairly recent.

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Author:	Billie [ Mon Sep 15, 2008 8:11 pm ]
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After all the brainstorming of how to celebrate the school's coming of age in Excitements I was disappointed that such a large chunk of the book seemed to revolve around Joey and Mary Lou getting stranded in a boat, and Joey re-telling stories that we've already read. That is, at least, how it seemed. I would have liked to have seen the Inter V's trip to Tiernsee as after the previous book, I am more interested in them. I also would have liked to have caught up with more of the old girls. I thought this book could have been so much more than it actually was.

Author:	Mel [ Mon Sep 15, 2008 9:49 pm ]
Post subject:
I agree about the boat. I suppose EBD felt that there had to be some near accident, but why did Jo have to make such a big deal about why they allowed the girls to use their Christian names for the duration? Why was Jo there anyway. Didn't she say at one point in the earlier book that she wanted to go with the triplets? It implies that Jo is never happier than with a group of older teenagers at age 33.

Author:	Miss Di [ Tue Sep 23, 2008 2:39 am ]
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Mel wrote: why did Jo have to make such a big deal about why they allowed the girls to use their Christian names for the duration? I think it would have been a big deal at the time. Certainly when I was growing up it would have been unthinkable to call a friend's parent by their Christian name, it was always Mr or Mrs X. Close friends of my paretns would have been called Auntie or Uncle, never without the honorific. I still can't call them by name and always refer to Auntie... My (paternal) uncle called my (maternal) Grandmother 'Mrs K_' until the day she died.

Author:	Mel [ Tue Sep 23, 2008 11:20 am ]
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And yet Mary-Lou is allowed to call Miss O'Ryan - Biddy!

Author:	Ela [ Tue Sep 23, 2008 12:18 pm ]
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Mel wrote: And yet Mary-Lou is allowed to call Miss O'Ryan - Biddy! She does it again in Genius, in front of a bunch of her friends, and Miss O'Ryan ticks her off for doing so, but later, when the two of them are alone. I read Coming of Age not so long ago, and I felt it was rather an incidental book - there was no unifying plot (such as Nina's gradual learning to live with other people in Genius) to hold all the bits together. One thing that did strike me was that Simone was referred to as Mme de Bersac, but Marie as Countess von und zu Wertheimer and Frieda as Mrs von Ahlen. Why not Simone as Mrs, too? Or Marie as Grafin (?) and Frieda as Frau? These would have been titles familiar to the girls, after all. I'm not sure that calling Frieda by her first name would have been such a distraction for her, given the anxiety over her daughter. All the business about Herr Helfen, too - all that lead up and rodomontade, simply so that Joey could get her hands on a holiday home at the Tiernsee! I understand why EBD did it, but one does rather feel that Joey had only to wish, and it was provided! Very infuriating to read as an adult. I also agreed with the writer of the foreword in the GGB edition, who suggested that the celebrations (only for twenty-one years of existence) were astonishingly lavish and extensive. I think it would have been better if they'd waited to 25 years, but then perhaps EBD wasn't sure of her chronology

Author:	Alison H [ Tue Sep 23, 2008 12:25 pm ]
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In terms of chronology I think it was closer to 25 years than 21 - it was Sybil's last term at the main branch of the school so David would have been 20 or nearly 20, meaning that if the school'd only been going for 21 years he'd have been conceived before Madge and Jem even got engaged, never mind married . As I said in an earlier post, I think EBD got carried away with the end of Allied occupation in Austria and wanted a nostalgic trip to Tyrol - although she could just've shown the Maynards going on holiday there or something. I was disappointed that we didn't see more of Madge in this book - it was her school, after all. Most things seem to revolve around Joey and Mary-Lou. As other people've said, although it was lovely to "go back" to Tyrol I think that this one could've been a lot better than it was.

Author:	Sunglass [ Wed Sep 24, 2008 11:16 am ]
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The adult Joey really is at her most insufferably bossy in this one - she engages in the kind of show-offery and one-up-manship you associate with smallish children, puncturing Phil Graves' pleasure in his new ten-pound baby by telling him one of hers was bigger, and interrupting and attention-hogging constantly. She gets to a particularly unbearable pitch on the Tiernsee trip, where virtually every time she opens her mouth, it's to issue a string of fiats about eating or unpacking or bathing or going to bed or the schedule for the day, or whether the prefects get to use the Quartette's first names, or whether they're allowed to hear about her past misdeeds, or riding over the fact that Herr Helfen is leaving Buchau because his wife has died, because all that matters is getting a Maynard holiday home! Even Mary-Lou, another rather dominating character, acknowledges it more than once (and I like her all the better for it!): Quote: Joey dashed into her room, calling, “Mind you wear big hats! It looks like being a scorcher, and even less than holding up fainting females do I want to deal with sunstroke cases! Oh, and don’t forget your cash if you have an idea of buying crocks at Tiernkirche.” ... “Joey is rather overwhelming when she gets really going,” Mary-Lou remarked as she raked a comb through her rampant curls before adjusting her hat. (Incidentally, it cracks me up that, Joey, who spends a good proportion of the novels in a faint, can disparage the idea that other people might faint on her!) And then on OOAO and Joey's night-time boating/cliff-climbing at the Tiernsee, Joey forbids her from telling anyone about it even before they try to climb the cliff by moonlight! When one might think that getting to safety herself and a schoolgirl for whom she has responsibility might be more on her mind than whether ML would spill the beans to an agog school: Quote: Mary-Lou glared at her helplessly. When Joey was in this mood, there was nothing she could do about it, and she knew it. [...] “Lead on, Macduff! I’ll follow you to the ends of the earth—and when we get there, I’ll push you over!” This is the fondest I get of the older (post 'Three Go') ML, and it's entirely because she has (jokily) murderous fantasies about pushing Joey off something, just before they start climbing a cliff.

Author:	Jennie [ Wed Sep 24, 2008 1:02 pm ]
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It was a great disappointment to me, the entire book. I thought that it utterly lacked the vibrancy of the Tyrol books, and wanted to see more of the old girls from those days, rather than Jo's and OOAO's rather silly mishaps.

Author:	Fiona Mc [ Fri Sep 26, 2008 12:17 am ]
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Jennie wrote: It was a great disappointment to me, the entire book. I thought that it utterly lacked the vibrancy of the Tyrol books, and wanted to see more of the old girls from those days, rather than Jo's and OOAO's rather silly mishaps. So did I. I was expecting that so was disappointed there wasn't more of the old girls in it. It's the same with Reunion, even though more old girls are mentioned, very little detail is really given

Author:	jennifer [ Fri Sep 26, 2008 3:58 am ]
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I liked the old girl parts and celebrations in general - it was nice seeing characters like Margia who we hadn't heard of in years. I also agree that Joey tends to be insufferable in this book, as well as in Reunion, in her 'even though it's all about someone else, I have to be in the middle of everything' sense. I can understand an adult wanting to let loose with some old school friends over a weekend, but if you're on an official school trip, supervising a group of students, you can't just go off and do whatever you feel like, including stupid late night boating stunts. Joey is responsible for ML, but is acting like a (less) mature student at this point.

Author:	moiser30 [ Fri Sep 26, 2008 11:14 am ]
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I like how when they first get to Tirol Joey meets Eigen and then Herr braun who is the owner of the hotel and they all talk about the old days, and the adventure Mary-lou and Joey had but I would have love Marge to have appeared in the book and gone on the trip with them.

Author:	Loryat [ Fri Sep 26, 2008 2:45 pm ]
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Mel wrote: I agree about the boat. I suppose EBD felt that there had to be some near accident, but why did Jo have to make such a big deal about why they allowed the girls to use their Christian names for the duration? Why was Jo there anyway. Didn't she say at one point in the earlier book that she wanted to go with the triplets? It implies that Jo is never happier than with a group of older teenagers at age 33. It is a shame that Joey doesn't go with the triplets (or does she go with them as well?). But in fairness to Joey her three best friends are also at the Tiernsee then as well - maybe that was the time that best suited them all? Also they act as chaperones to the prefects, don't they? Don't know why I'm apologising for EBD lol.

Author:	Emma A [ Tue Nov 11, 2008 9:14 am ]
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I re-read this recently, so apologise for adding to the discussion late, but did anyone else notice the astonishing obtuseness of the prefects when asked to vote for the Josephine Maynard (sic) Prize? EBD wrote: ...Finally, [Joey] turned and nodded to the expectant prefects. "Just as I expected!" she announced. "And every blessed member of the Staff has voted the same way, too. Now remember, you may not tell anyone who you voted for... You'll hear the name of the winner in due course. Now you can scram!" "Aren't you going to tell us now?" Sybil exclaimed in disappointed tones... To me, that passage says very clearly that everyone, Staff and prefect, have boted for the same girl, and thus the only person who ought to be in any doubt as to the winner is Mary-Lou herself (always assuming that she didn't pick herself, which is unlikely). Therefore, why on earth is Sybil annoyed that her aunt won't tell her? By a process of deduction, she knows that everyone has voted for the same person, she has voted for ML, therefore, the winner must be Mary-Lou - simple!

Author:	Cat C [ Tue Nov 11, 2008 4:02 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Books: The Coming of Age of the Chalet School
I see what you mean, but I read that as being the majority of the prefects had voted for the staff's unanimous choice (or to put it another way, the majority of the prefect vote was relative and the staff's majority was absolute), so none of the prefects could know that she had voted for the winner.

Author:	Leander [ Fri Feb 06, 2009 9:32 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Books: The Coming of Age of the Chalet School
I've just ordered a GGB copy and it got me thinking; I'm sure, in my Armada version, that half way up the cliff Joey says to ML something along the lines of I've done this climb before; but I've never been able to work out which of her youthful exploits she was talking about - can anyone elaborate?

Author:	Alison H [ Fri Feb 06, 2009 10:19 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Books: The Coming of Age of the Chalet School
Would love to know if anyone knows the answer to that one (and welcome to the CBB, Leander ). I've just looked it up, and she refers to "my fellow criminals", which suggests that she was with several other people and that they were out without permission, and then says that they were "no-one here" which rules out Simone, Marie and Frieda. She can't mean the long walk they had when the path crumbled in Rivals because they were on a proper school walk then, and she can't mean the "escape" in Princess because that wasn't by the lake.

Author:	ChubbyMonkey [ Fri Feb 06, 2009 11:19 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Books: The Coming of Age of the Chalet School
Just to let you know, there is a speculation in the GGBP edition... I'm saying no more... As for the book, it is definetely one of my least favourite! I don't think I read it at all until I'd read every other CS book I owned at least three times, and I've only read it twice - once pb and once GGBP. I think that the whole plot line in general annoys me - it seems to be trying to slam together the Tyrol days and the present, as if EBD felt that she had to justify the school not going back. I don't know, that was just how it felt to me. Was I the only one who found it odd that as soon as Jessica gets really upset about her sister dying Mary-Lou is sent for? I would have thought that at least first Miss Annersley could have tried herself, or just asked Jessica if there was a member of staff she wanted to help her.

Author:	Sunglass [ Sat Feb 07, 2009 12:48 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Books: The Coming of Age of the Chalet School
Leander wrote: I'm sure, in my Armada version, that half way up the cliff Joey says to ML something along the lines of I've done this climb before; but I've never been able to work out which of her youthful exploits she was talking about - can anyone elaborate? It rings no bells with me at all - Joey says her 'fellow criminals' were Deira O'Hagan, Mary Burnett and Carla von Flugen, and that Carla had only happened along accidentally while Joey was half-way up. It seems like an unlikely set of people to be doing something illicit together in any case...

Author:	JayB [ Sat Feb 07, 2009 12:06 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Books: The Coming of Age of the Chalet School
Mary Burnett is the last person I would expect to find involved in an illicit escapade. Maybe it's something EBD wrote but never published, a short story perhaps.

Author:	Mia [ Sat Feb 07, 2009 5:15 pm ]
Post subject:	Re:
Maeve wrote: I found it strange that the Margot Venables Prize, which had been named after Daisy and Primula's mother, should be renamed for Joey. I know it says this was done because the girls wanted it and perhaps many of them did not know the Venables girls, but many of them would have and it seems to me an oddly rude and hurtful thing to do. Sure, Daisy and Primula were no longer at the school. but they're school family and would hear about it. Couldn't the powers that be have simply changed it to the Margot Venables Prize awarded by Joey Maynard or something like that if the girls really wouldn't be satisfied with not having Joey prominent in it? I drabbled this! Please do buy the unbridged version, whoever was asking about it. It's like an entirely different book without the cuts.