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Books: Trials for the Chalet School
http://www.the-cbb.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=5120
Author:  Róisín [ Thu Oct 16, 2008 2:04 pm ]
Post subject:  Books: Trials for the Chalet School
Synopsis here.

Naomi Elton, 'slightly deformed' and with a 'warped mind' arrives at the School. Mary-Lou is the obvious candidate to take on this new girl, although it takes her some time to have a breakthrough. The School is turned into an isolation ward after it is gripped by scarlet fever. Towards the end of the book there is a car accident but Jack Maynard saves the day.

So what do you think of this book? Did you read it in HB or PB? Do you sympathise with Naomi, or dislike her? Should Herr Laubach have retired? Are you annoyed at or do you appreciate yet another night spent in a snow-surrounded hut drinking onionish milk?! What do you think of the new little trio of Ailie, Janice and Judy? Is it realistic that Joey would place a weekly ad in the Times about Naomi's recovery? And lastly, Evadne's engagement is in this book.

Please join in with any discussion you like below!

Next Sunday: Theodora and the Chalet School
Author:  Alison H [ Thu Oct 16, 2008 3:12 pm ]
Post subject: 
I think Naomi is an interesting character and am sorry that she only featured in one book. Whilst a lot of girls are described as being "delicate", Naomi is about the only pupil the school ever has who has an actual long-term physical disability - although of course at the end she is magically cured by the doctors at the San, who succeed where her previous doctors (presumably specialists in the field) had failed.

I don't usually post about religious matters as I know they can be controversial, but I find EBD's views on atheism, as expressed in this book, using Mary-Lou as her mouthpiece, quite offensive. Mary-Lou makes it fairly clear that she thinks atheism is nonsense, which is totally out of order given that Naomi has told her that her late parents were atheists. Mary-Lou comes across well otherwise, though, e.g. when she stays behind so that Naomi won't be left on her own - especially considering that she is expected to sheepdog Naomi (thanks to Joey!) even though she already has a lot of responsibility as Head Girl, Naomi is not even in her form, and Naomi already knows both Barbara and Vi but has never met her (Mary-Lou) before.

Ailie, Janice and Judy are great! I'm so sorry that they were pushed into the background by Jack Lambert & co later on. And it's nice to see Evvy happy.
Author:  KB [ Thu Oct 16, 2008 10:04 pm ]
Post subject: 
This is a particularly interesting discussion for those people who have read about Naomi in the hardback/GGB version, as she is a very different kettle of fish in that book! The paperback version has greatly softened Naomi's worst points and the features of her 'warped mind'. You can find an article about the differences here.
Author:  Miriam [ Thu Oct 16, 2008 10:48 pm ]
Post subject: 
Quote:
This is a particularly interesting discussion for those people who have read about Naomi in the hardback/GGB version,


Is there a GGBP version? I thought it was one that they hadn't got to yet. :shock:
Author:  Róisín [ Fri Oct 17, 2008 7:56 am ]
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I had no idea they had changed Naomi's character via editing! :o

This was my very first hardback, with dj, in first edition and so will always have a special place with me :D
Author:  JS [ Fri Oct 17, 2008 8:26 am ]
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Thanks for that link, KB. I must say this has always seemed one of the so-so books to me - not as completely mad as they got further into the series but a bit blah and shallow, but it sounds as if the h/b really tackles a lot of issues I find interesting, so I must try to get hold of it.
Author:  Emma A [ Fri Oct 17, 2008 12:56 pm ]
Post subject:  Trials
I've always objected to the portayal of atheism as wrong too, but it would have been, to EBD, I suppose. After all, Naomi is shown to find some comfort in religion as the book goes on, so she may have need some sort of spirituality to help her cope with her disability.

I've always felt sorry for Naomi, but I doubt whether I could have been friends with her because of her attitude. I do feel that Herr Laubach's outburst (one of the latest) was unjustified - and not because Naomi slipped having taken the wrong stick. Perhaps it brought home to him how he shouldn't go round yelling at his pupils - he's certainly far from being a good teacher, and I think the mistresses and Joey are wrong to try to persuade him to stay. Some of the girls might feel sorry for him, but will any of them miss his lessons?

I do also object to Mary-Lou knowing more about surgery techniques (how? Joey never allowed any medical shop at home, and I doubt she was interested enough to ask Jack Maynard) than Naomi does - the other girl, having gone through a lot of them, must have been far more aware of modern technqies than M-L. It would have been more realistic if she'd got Jack Maynard in to talk about them.

I have read this one several times, but only in pb, so will try to get the hb/GGB version.
Author:  moiser30 [ Fri Oct 17, 2008 5:34 pm ]
Post subject: 
I realy like this book :) but I just wish that Herr Laubach should not have retired he was a great teacher and the school still needed him.

it had a lot of drama in this book how they could let some pupil teach I don't know.
Author:  Nightwing [ Fri Oct 17, 2008 8:19 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Trials
Emma A wrote:
I've always objected to the portayal of atheism as wrong too, but it would have been, to EBD, I suppose. After all, Naomi is shown to find some comfort in religion as the book goes on, so she may have need some sort of spirituality to help her cope with her disability.


I think it shines pretty strongly through her books that EBD believes that spirituality is something that everyone needs, and I think she does show pretty convincingly that Naomi in particular needs it.

Having said that, I don't think she depicts Naomi-the-atheist particularly well! Naomi seems to delight in saying she's atheist as much as she does in pushing her disabilities on people's notice - as if she's saying it to make the devout uncomfortable rather than because she truly holds strong beliefs in this regard. Or maybe she identifies as atheist as a kind of loyalty to her dead parents?

That aside, I do enjoy this book. It's sad to see Herr Laubach leave, but he does go out with a bang which is perfectly fitting, and he does keep in close contact with the school. I like that the Staff are not immune to the scarlet fever epidemic, and that the elder girls step up to help them out.
Author:  lizarfau [ Fri Oct 17, 2008 11:49 pm ]
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The whole atheism thing is a sign of the times as well as a reflection of EBD's own views. The majority of people back then, even if they didn't go to church, seemed to believe in God. In my first two years of (UK, state) high school, in the 1970s, we had hymns and prayers in Assembly every morning, which would have been bizarre in a state school only a few years later.

The reverse would happen in a school story now - the majority of girls and teachers would be atheists and a committed Christian girl coming into the school would be seen as a bit of a nutter!
Author:  Pado [ Sat Oct 18, 2008 12:41 am ]
Post subject: 
I never much liked this book, but I had no idea that it had been cut to such an extent, either. I think Herr Laubach was definitely too old school in his teaching style and needed to be replaced, but I'm sad that he had to leave on such a bad note.
Author:  KB [ Sat Oct 18, 2008 4:24 am ]
Post subject: 
Miriam wrote:
Quote:
This is a particularly interesting discussion for those people who have read about Naomi in the hardback/GGB version,


Is there a GGBP version? I thought it was one that they hadn't got to yet. :shock:


Clearly I am completely losing the plot! I was so sure I remembered that book being published that I didn't even check what I'd typed. Apologies, everyone. :oops:
Author:  Sunglass [ Sat Oct 18, 2008 2:13 pm ]
Post subject: 
I have to say that I also get cross about the fact that Naomi's atheism is represented as a symptom of her 'warpedness'. I realise EBD was a devout Catholic, and that in the late 1950s it was possible to assume a greater general level of belief, but making atheism (particularly in a young girl who'd had an extremely difficult life, losing her health, her career, her parents in one fell swoop and who surely had every reason to have difficulty believing in a beneficient Higher Being) essentially a sign of mental ill-health is a bit of a stretch!

(Also, had EBD been reading 'Richard III' - all those references to being 'twisted' and 'warped' mentally and physically sound very Richard III!)

One other thing that occurred to me in religious terms - Joey asks whether Naomi is Jewish before she arrives at the school. Does this mean that the CS was technically open to accepting non-Christian pupils? I'd always assumed not, given the extremely Christian ethos, plus the fact that there's clearly no possibility of a girl 'opting out' of Prayers etc, as Naomi's case shows.
Author:  macyrose [ Sat Oct 18, 2008 4:34 pm ]
Post subject: 
I always found Jo's question about Naomi's religion quite off-putting since Jo asks it in the negative - "She isn’t a Jewess, is she?" which makes me think that if she was that wouldn't have been a good thing. Had Jo simply asked "Is she Jewish?" I would have assumed she was just curious. Much as I'd like to think that the Chalet School would be open to students of other religions I don't think it would have been. I think EBD's ecumenism only went so far when it came to integrated schools.
Author:  cruelladevil [ Wed Oct 22, 2008 9:02 am ]
Post subject: 
Alison H wrote:
I don't usually post about religious matters as I know they can be controversial, but I find EBD's views on atheism, as expressed in this book, using Mary-Lou as her mouthpiece, quite offensive.


I agree. This book aside, I found the religious aspect to the Chalet books quite charming - there's a simple, unquestioning manner of belief, and, however unrealistic, everyone seems to follow this. As a result, the introduction of Naomi was, at first, interesting and very refreshing! However, to me this was the book where it crossed the line by pushing one's beliefs on someone, and found the way Naomi's situation was handled to be quite tactless and insensitive.

Sunglass wrote:
One other thing that occurred to me in religious terms - Joey asks whether Naomi is Jewish before she arrives at the school. Does this mean that the CS was technically open to accepting non-Christian pupils? I'd always assumed not, given the extremely Christian ethos, plus the fact that there's clearly no possibility of a girl 'opting out' of Prayers etc, as Naomi's case shows.


I always used to think the opposite, simply because the Chalet School was always described as being an international school, so assumed it would have to be open to other religions. However, there are no examples of this, and Naomi's case indicates that one would have to at least participate in Christian services! I do wonder, though, if it would be a different case if Naomi had been Jewish or Muslim or some other sort of faith? Would allowances be made, would she be expected to at least participate with the other students in the Christian services, or yet again, would Mary-Lou be bringing her to the right way of thinking? :wink:
Author:  Sunglass [ Wed Oct 22, 2008 9:52 am ]
Post subject: 
I was thinking about how other school stories deal with belief/devoutness/atheism. Antonia Forest was an extremely devout Catholic convert, so not unlike EBD, but even in books written around the same period as Trials, and despite the fact that she writes a lot about belief, she shows a much greater variety of attitudes to religion. Kingscote, like the CS, is a Christian (C of E) school which has a chapel, services, prayers, nativity plays and carol concerts. It has extremely devout Christians like Ann Marlow, more dubious-but-interested ones like Nicola, but it also has Jewish girls, and a mechanism whereby girls in the Fifth form can opt out of compulsory chapel after they've claimed a kind of 'CO' status in a conversation with the Head.

I mean, I can understand EBD writing her 'perfect' schoolgirl, OOAO, as a devout, evangelising C of E - it's clearly her ideal - but what I find more difficult to understand is that she can't bring herself to be realistic enough to show that some CS girls, though nominally Christian, are inevitably just going through the motions at school. (Even in the 1950s!) She does have Mary-Lou say in passing that there 'had been some girls who hadn't cared in the least about religion, but even they had been nominally members of a denomination.' But we never get to see anything of these girls - we get lots of mischievous Middles and the Dawbarns and eternal misfits like Francie Wilson and Joan Baker, who are bound to yawn in prayers and skip private prayers in their cubicles - who would find out as long as they're quiet? - but we never get a hint of this!
Author:  Maeve [ Wed Oct 22, 2008 10:35 am ]
Post subject: 
EBD seems to use the word "warped" pretty casually, as Francine Wilford in Ruey is also described as warped because of her jealousy of her stepfather. EBD seems to have used it to mean anyone whose perspective was skewed because of difficult circumstances, so I don't think she ties it to Naomi's religious non-identity in any special way.

Not to be pedantic, but Naomi describes her parents as agnostics, not atheists, and Naomi herself implies that her mind about a deity is not yet made up:
Quote:
“My people were agnostics, I believe, and Aunt Harriet thought it better to try everything before I made up my mind. Quite reasonable, when you think it over.”


Mary Lou's speechlessness in the face of this can be put down to simple surprise, it seems to me. She never has encountered such a situation before. Girls attending the CS seem to have been required to attend either the Catholic or Protestant prayers and services (surely there was a box to tick on the application forms) whether they did so nominally or not, and so Mary Lou is reasonably perplexed by a girl who seems to have no idea as to which prayers to attend. I think we should remember too that Naomi delights in answering questions in such a way as to make the questioner feel awkward, so I imagine she is enjoying Mary Lou's reaction here out of pure mischievousness. Naomi's guardian has indeed said which prayers she should attend - I wonder if she discussed this with Naomi?

Remembering Joey's affection for Herr Goldmann in Exile,
Quote:
She knew the old Jew well, for he usually had her watch for repairs at least once in two months. He was a decent old soul, kindly, charitable, and honest, and she liked the old man, who had taken to sending her Passover cake every year, and gibed gently at her misfortunes with her watch.
and
Quote:
I want to go back to England where we don’t have such horrors as concentration camps and protective detention, and beating up of helpless people just because they are Jews. Poor little Herr Goldmann!’ Her black eyes filled with tears. ‘He was such a kind little man, Jack. And I’d known him so many years! And his wife as well.
I think we should give her the benefit of the doubt concerning the remark,
Quote:
“Yes, I was going to ask you about that. She isn’t a Jewess, is she?”
Maybe, given the CS is so mainstream Christian in its religious leanings, she simply thought it odd that a Jewish family might be intending to send their girl there.

Mary Lou does encourage Naomi toward some kind of faith and prayer as the latter struggles with her physical problems, etc., but everyone who has a struggle in the CS is encouraged to remember that there is a God, a father God who cares for them, and this certainly seems to have been EBD's belief expressed throughout the whole series.

Okay -- those are all my muddy pearls of wisdom :) On a totally different note, I love the whole Lost Property episode -- one of the best pranks in the whole series :lol:
Author:  Meg14 [ Wed Oct 22, 2008 9:34 pm ]
Post subject: 
I also love the Lost Property prank! Its one of the pranks where there seems to be real schoolgirl mischief and the punishment fits the crime!

As far as the religious side of Trials is concerned I think you not only have to put the book in the context of the times but also remember that EBD herself was very devout and that atheism may have been something that was beyond her comprehension.
Author:  cruelladevil [ Thu Oct 23, 2008 10:51 am ]
Post subject: 
Maeve wrote:
On a totally different note, I love the whole Lost Property episode -- one of the best pranks in the whole series :lol:


I don't mean to be a pain, but can someone please describe the lost property episode? I can't recall this at all! :oops:
Author:  Sunglass [ Thu Oct 23, 2008 11:09 am ]
Post subject: 
As far as I remember, Ailie Russell and some co-conspirators nick belongings - blazers, pencils, maps, books - from the entire Sixth (apart from Meg White), and put them in Lost Property, having discovered that the key which opens it is the same as the one of their formroom. Vi Lucy (who thinks initially that they rifled through her drawers to get the LP key) pitches a fit, and all the guilty are found, lectured, and punished by having to take each item and return it in person and apologise.

Does Meg White ever come up again in any other episode, apart from being the only person who's overlooked by the mischievous Middles?
Author:  Loryat [ Tue Nov 04, 2008 2:32 pm ]
Post subject: 
The article about the cuts was really interesting. I've always felt this to be a more adult CS than most of the later ones and think that without the cuts it must have been a more complex read and now I really want to read it!

I like the whole idea of Naomi as an aitheist/agnostic. Even in her case it seems clear that there she's bound to end up belonging to some sort of faith group since she says that her aunt wants her to look about. I find this to be perfectly reasonable (like Naomi) especially since Joey herself converts and often went to RC services when she was younger. I think EBD used the device of Naomi to challenge people who didn't believe in God because they had had a hard time. Through Naomi she both points out that religion can be comforting and that Naomi though she has suffered a lot also has some advantages eg her beauty. I think even in the pb Mary-Lou comes off quite well, she appears at her most understanding.

I don't think either Joey or EBD was anti-Semitic; certainly not in the war years so why would she/they become so later on? The comment by Joey is disturbing but maybe she's just wondering how a Jewish girl will adapt to the very heavy Christian ethos of the school, and how they would make provision for her separate requirements. I have to say I've never assumed the CS to be multi-faith because of the ethos, not necessarily because they wouldn't be allowed to join but because their parents wouldn't want them to.

I also find Naomi to be one of the better characters of the later books and would really have liked to see more of her.
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