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Books: Carola Storms the Chalet School
http://www.the-cbb.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=4495
Author:  jennifer [ Wed May 07, 2008 4:41 am ]
Post subject:  Books: Carola Storms the Chalet School
A can be found here

What do you think of Carola, her running away to school, and the connection with Jack and Joey? Is this one two many idiot aunts, after Annis's aunt in Island? How about the reappearance of Biddy? What about the incident with Grizel and the match; how does that fit in with the path to redemption of Grizel?

Any other comments or opinions?
Author:  Maeve [ Wed May 07, 2008 5:11 am ]
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I've always had a soft spot for this book and for Carola -- maybe it is because of the somewhat clever idea of reversing the cliché of having someone run away from school. As a child, I loved reading how she managed to assemble her uniform on the sly, and how she tricks her way into the school. It was a great start to a story.

I loved seeing Biddy back as an adult as well, because she was such a great character as a girl. This is one of the first books I recall where not knowing one of the official three languages was a problem for someone, so that story thread seemed quite exotic.

Not reading the books in any order, I didn't pick up on possible similarities between Annis' aunt and Carola's cousin, but on the whole, I found the latter more sympathetic and always thought she was given a slightly bad rap as I think she was really rather a conscientious lady, but didn't see any reason why Carola's life shouldn't adapt to her lifestyle. I think I find Carola's parents more the guilty party here -- surely they knew that Cousin Maud was dragging Carola from pillar to post.

I like this era of the school, the St. Briavel's setting, characters like Tom and Bride. Usually, I find the sale of work story dull and skippable, but like this one because of the prominence of Carola and her friends in it.

Grizel's setting Len on fire: well, it was an accident and Grizel was immediately contrite and Len is fine, so I never understood why there had to be much breast-beating about Len's injuries at all, but at least Joey is very nice about it and Grizel does get a kind of happy ending here.
Author:  Alison H [ Wed May 07, 2008 6:45 am ]
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Possibly a few too many "idiot" relatives, if not here then certainly when it's followed by Wrong , but at least the idea of running away to school is different. Why it had to turn out that her dad was a long-lost friend of Jack's I don't know, though! It's nice to see Biddy back, although for years I wondered where I'd find all the stuff about her going to Australia - then I eventually realised that it wasn't anywhere!

EBD seems to've decided to go for a change at this point - it was first published in 1951 (just checked!), so maybe she was waiting to see what'd happen in Austria (the occupying troops finally left in 1955) and if it'd be practical to move the school back to Tyrol, and trying something a bit different in the meantime? Grizel finally leaves - and how lovely to see her get to do something she wants at last! - and, more importantly, the Maynards decide to spend some time in Canada, separating the School and Joey at last.
Author:  JayB [ Wed May 07, 2008 9:28 am ]
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This was the first CS book I read, aged around eight. I found a lot of it quite confusing, because I didn't know it was part of a series and I didn't understand who most of the people were. It's probably not a good one to begin with, because it does require quite a lot of background knowledge of Biddy, Joey, Grizel etc. And at age eight, some of the adult scenes went over my head.

As others have said, I found the idea of running away to school original, having read Malory Towers and other stories where running away was the norm.

From an adult perspective, I wonder why Cousin Maud didn't think to write to Dr and Mrs Johnstone and suggest it was time for Carola to go to school. But of course there'd have been no plot if she had!

Len's injury was an accident that needn't have happened. An adult should know better than to chuck lighted matches around, and being upset isn't an excuse. Grizel could have started a serious fire. I think she got off fairly lightly, in comparison to the blame heaped on Sybil for Josette's accident.
Author:  Sunglass [ Wed May 07, 2008 9:45 am ]
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I always really like the beginning of this, for its slice of Carola's domestic life - all that high dudgeon, supper on a tray, and filling your hot water bottle from the tap - and the way she surreptitiously puts a uniform together. I've always found that subtly comic - aren't she and her aunt supposed to heading for Jamaica or somewhere warm? I'm trying to imagine Carola trying to justiify taking a brown velveteen dress etc on a cruise to the West Indies (I mean, if her ruse hadn't worked, and she ended up on the cruise, boiling to death in an endless series of sturdy brown garments on the Equator...)

Yes, the aunt who is either quasi-demonic (Annis Lovell's) or bats (Katharine Gordon's) becomes a bit of a pattern in this bit of the series, though it seems to me slightly hard lines on Carola's aunt that an obsessive traveller be saddled with the care of a school-age girl with two perfectly extant parents, one of them a father who doesn't appear to have the faintest idea how old she is, and a mother who decides that her husband is more important than her daughter. But we're encouraged to blame the aunt for dragging Carola around the world, and not the parents for letting that situation continue.

I do also find the endless coincidental connections funny - here, Carola's Dad being a schoolmate of 'Jigger' Maynard, but even more so, C. having encountered Biddy at Penny Rest (although at least there was a plot reason for Biddy being there). But does anyone else find it comic that the CS mistresses and ex-mistresses and ex-pupils clearly talk about NOTHING but the CS? Maybe it's part of the mistresses' staff contracts or something, that they must always talk about the school in highly attractive terms to any potential pupils, as a kind of advertising! I'm surprised they bothered printing those prospectuses that no one ever seemed to read.
Author:  JS [ Wed May 07, 2008 9:53 am ]
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I wonder if the setting on fire thing was something that EBD had witnessed in real life? In any case, it's quite a good metaphor for Grizel who, if you think about it, had a bit of a 'fire' motif. She was a bit of a firebrand in her own schooldays, Deira burnt her letter from her grandmother and she seemed constantly to be smouldering with resentment (until redeemed by the love of a good doctor, of course). Maybe things could only come to a head when she literally caused flames to flare up??

I like Carola - I always lump it in my head with 'Wrong' rather than 'Island' but see the points made above about the pesky relatives. I seem to remember there are some really clunky continuity problems - doesn't Carola visit Joey's house then not recognise it?? Or is that another book?

I also loved the buying uniform/planning section - still do. Maybe I still like the idea of running away to school (particularly when work deadlines are looming!)
Author:  Kathy_S [ Wed May 07, 2008 5:52 pm ]
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I think that in Carola we have a pretty good combination of the series book -- return of Biddy (yay!), Grizel finally getting to do something she wants, Joey appearing at opportune moments -- and a stand-alone volume, with Carola herself holding it together. I do like the way the school handles Carola's arrival, except for being a bit scandalized that Miss Wilson would accept a chemistry student without demanding some remedial algebra. As for the cousin-godmother, I'd have found her ungratefulness lectures a bit much -- especially after Carola's absence probably furthered the sugar planter romance -- but have to agree that the parents have taken shameless advantage of the poor woman. I'd say Carola fairly inherited her "I just didn't think."

Grizel's treatment after the accident is probably the best possible for one of her temperament, though I still can't figure out why anyone would be "throwing away" a lighted match. Was she aiming for a fireplace or something?

This is also the book that makes me really wonder about the English climate, what with fully open lily pads in February. Has anyone witnessed this? It's particularly strange given the blizzard just two chapters before.
Author:  Dreaming Marianne [ Wed May 07, 2008 6:52 pm ]
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I really like this book - and in common with everyone else, especially like the bit about her getting her school stuff together. Personally I always thought that Carole deserved some sort of award for common sense and perseverence.
Author:  Mez [ Thu May 08, 2008 7:42 am ]
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JS: that bit about Carola not recognising Joey's house always bothered me as well.
I too like this one because of the running to school, and I think I was mainly relieved that Grizel managed to find an escape route from the CS (to her own and her student's relief I imagine!).
I only have the paperback so am looking forward to obtaining a GGBP reprint later this year to see what I've missed.
Author:  Maeve [ Thu May 08, 2008 8:36 am ]
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Re: the continuity problems mentioned, I always thought it odd how Daisy lets the cat out of the bag about Carola having run away to school, after the authorities have decided that no one should know (to be fair to Daisy, maybe no one told her it was all hush-hush), and how Jean evidences no surprise on hearing this.

Quote:
‘Yes; that’s me,’ Daisy agreed. ‘Now tell me who you are.’
‘I’m Jean Ackroyd and this is Carola Johnstone,’ Jean explained.
‘The girl who ran away to school?’ Daisy gave another of those friendly grins. ‘I’ve heard all about that, Carola. It was a new one on me. I’ve heard of girls running away from school, but you’re the first who ever went the other way round.
Author:  JayB [ Thu May 08, 2008 9:26 am ]
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Daisy wasn't supposed to know about it at all, was she? Even most of the staff didn't know at this point. Obviously Joey gossiping again.

Jean's non-reaction is probably EBD, but I think in character for her. She wouldn't make a song and dance about it there and then - and they were both already embarrassed at having been caught staring at Jo's house.

Having just skimmed through this again, I realise it's the first in which the triplets (or at least two of them) play a significant part. I like the way Carola feels protective towards them - especially Con, whom she was attracted to even before she knew Jo or had cause to feel grateful to her. It's a pity that couldn't have been developed a bit in subsequent books, but the Maynards' going off to Canada prevented it. In fact, the whole in loco parentis thing seems to be forgotten.

Do we know what Carola did after leaving school? Not medicine, presumably, as she wasn't taking science.
Author:  Lisa_T [ Thu May 08, 2008 11:57 am ]
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Didn't she end up going into PT? I might be making that up, though.

I've always loved Carola as well. I think it was possibly the third CS book I'd read (Triplets and bowdlerised Genius preceded it). The scene where they try to walk down the icy slope with Biddy reduced me to hysterics the first time I read it, and still guarantees a laugh.

For me, it was lovely to see something of a young Len and Con after having just read about their older selves, so I didn't actually find this book as confusing as I might have done. I enjoyed the whole running-away-to-school storyline, and didn't find it odd that Biddy would talk about the CS to her. She may have casually let it drop that she'd been to boarding school, and then Carola would respond with something along the lines that she'd always wanted that, and it would go from there. Besides, as someone points out in New Mistress, the school itself is home to Biddy, so it's no surprise she would talk about it.

I think that the Grizel storyline works well. The impulsiveness of her action with the match (was it really lighted, or just smouldering?), coupled with her repentance sounds very much in character, and it's so nice to see her eat 'white bread' at last. I also thought it was lovely that Miss Annersley stepped in to give her the financial backing to follow her dream, and it shows that the school's concern for Grizel was genuine. It Gay, for instance, Miss Wilson tells Matey when Grizel is threatening resignation that neither Madge nor Hilda would let Grizel walk as they both liked to have her where they could keep an eye on her, or words to that effect. I've always thought that attitude was an inappropriate one to have towards a grown woman, even if she is an ex-pupil. Carola shows that Hilda isn't going to act as Grizel's gaoler after all.
Author:  Karry [ Thu May 08, 2008 12:04 pm ]
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I could neer understand why Carola, after going to Joey's house to meet her father, still didnt recognise it when out with Jean? Even a 13 year old would have more nouse about them than that!
Author:  Sunglass [ Thu May 08, 2008 3:21 pm ]
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It does have some odd continuity errors - which is I suppose what you'd have to call Biddy, arriving at Joey's in the early New Year en route to taking up her job at the CS, claiming to be totally unaware that the school is now on St Briavel's, even though she has had her trunk sent on already, AND she was hired by Miss Annersley the previous autumn, when the school was already on the island for the autumn term! We're told that school starts for Biddy two days after she comes to Joey's, so it seems very weird to me that she has no idea that her employer isn't at Plas Howell any more, and hasn't been for six months!
Author:  Rosalin [ Thu May 08, 2008 5:34 pm ]
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Lisa_T wrote:
It Gay, for instance, Miss Wilson tells Matey when Grizel is threatening resignation that neither Madge nor Hilda would let Grizel walk as they both liked to have her where they could keep an eye on her, or words to that effect. I've always thought that attitude was an inappropriate one to have towards a grown woman, even if she is an ex-pupil. Carola shows that Hilda isn't going to act as Grizel's gaoler after all.


I'd always taken that as meaning they wanted to make sure there was someone around who cared about her. Lisa's interpretation does sound more in keeping with the phrasing though.

I do like Carola. 'I didn't think' might well have been a catchphrase for me a lot of the time at her age (and still can be, come to that :oops: ). Like others, I loved the running away to school idea and I remember trying to replicate the bit with the clothes so that I could pretend to be at the CS. It didn't work very well as my mother didn't feel the need to buy me most of the things which CS girls require.

I feel a bit sorry for her aunt. If Carola's parents weren't willing to settle in the UK to provide a stable base for their daugher, why on earth should her aunt? Lumped together there are too many idiot aunts in this era of the school, but if they had been spread out a bit more they would have been fine. All three have definite differences so they aren't really repeated storylines.
Author:  Mel [ Thu May 08, 2008 6:15 pm ]
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I love a lot of the details in Carola, especially the journey when she buys herself a book and some sweets. Also the girls enjoying the night ferry for the first time. It's also nice to see Jean and Carola allowed to wander round Carnbach. I wish they had had more of that freedom. The aunt motif is repetitive but EBD gets hold of an idea and wrings it dry. She had two books about cellos, then the aunts and two about stray girls who just turn up. Then in Switzerland there are parents in danger, odd St Scholastica Old Girls, long lost relatives and Joey manically adopting every stray child she meets.
Author:  Lisa_T [ Fri May 09, 2008 12:46 am ]
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Quote:
Joey manically adopting every stray child she meets.


Love this line. So true. :lol: :lol:
Author:  Ela [ Fri Sep 26, 2008 4:53 pm ]
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Late to the discussion, but I recently got this as a GGB edition and really enjoyed it. I think, given the number of times Carola saves the lives of small children in this book, she should have become a paramedic! I didn't notice the continuity error that had her not recognising a house that she'd already visited, but perhaps she'd been so excited about her father's visit that she hadn't noticed what the house looked like or where it was on her first trip there.

Like others, I do think that Cousin Maud was rather badly treated by EBD, and that the Johnstones really ought to have sorted out their daughter's education rather than leaving it completely to her guardian. Dr. Johnstone is portrayed as being absent-minded and busy, but at least he spares the time to visit his daughter. Her mother obviously didn't care two hoots about Carola, or she would have at least thought about her in the three years they've been in West Africa, and she couldn't be bothered to sort it out after Carola had run away to school. Would this have been because of the school's insistence that the father give permission (since he would be paying the fees), rather than the mother?

Still, Cousin Maud is not prepared to adjust her lifestyle to accommodate Carola's wishes or needs. Though why she couldn't have written to her cousin, saying that Carola needed a better education than a governess could provide, and would they mind if she found a good boarding school for her? Then she could go travelling when Carola was at school, and either be at home during the holidays or take the girl with her. Perhaps that was too sensible a solution!

I also wonder whether Carola had not evinced such longing to go to school until she had met Biddy and been fired up to go the Chalet School by her tales.

The burning of Len incident I assume happened because Grizel (like quite a lot of smokers who use matches) waved the match to put it out, rather than blowing on it directly, and so, although she thought it was out, it was still stubbornly burning when she flung it into the waste-paper basket.

Anyway, I liked this one very much, even the bit where Dr Graves turns up and helps to rescue Signa :wink:
Author:  JennieP [ Mon Sep 29, 2008 10:42 am ]
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Remind me - I remember Jacynth and the cello, but which was the other cello story line?
Author:  Mel [ Mon Sep 29, 2008 11:17 am ]
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Cello story in 'Jo to the Recue' - Phoebe doesn't want to sell her cello to Zephyr.
Author:  JennieP [ Thu Oct 02, 2008 9:29 am ]
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Of course!
Thanks for reminding me.
Author:  alicat [ Thu Oct 02, 2008 10:04 am ]
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The thing I remember most about reading Carola for the first time is that it was the occasion when i realised EBD's plot device of always having a doctor on hand, when phil Graves dives into the lily pools.

even at quite a young age i recognised this was ridiculous....
Author:  JS [ Thu Oct 02, 2008 10:25 am ]
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And these days there might be problems with indemnity insurance etc so doctors might be reluctant to jump in (in either sense!) in case they get sued - although the temptations of the CS mistresses might overcome that......... :wink:
Author:  Loryat [ Thu Oct 09, 2008 2:03 pm ]
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Rosalin wrote:
I do like Carola. 'I didn't think' might well have been a catchphrase for me a lot of the time at her age (and still can be, come to that :oops: ).

Ditto, lol, yesterday I went round to my grandma and grandad's and while I was there, noticing that the back door was open, I closed it, not realising that my grandad was outside hanging up the washing. The thought of what Miss Annersley would have had to say... :oops:
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