Customer Reviews

Goodbye Mr Chips

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This short, sentimental composite portrait tugs at my heart with each reread, even though it was never my privilege to have a teacher like Chips. An instant "classic" when it first appeared in book form in America in 1934 (after serialization in the Atlantic Monthly), this unpretentious tale about a mild-mannered teacher charms us by its very simplicity of style and honesty of emotion. We snatch glimpses into the unremarkable life and becalmed career of a Master at a gracefully moldering English boys' school--and even into his more distinguished retirement.

We celebrate Mr. Chipping's gradual metamorphosis from indifferent disciplinarian, average teacher, gentle eccentric, confirmed bachelor, glowing husband, fusty Acting Head--ultimately to achieve social distinction and honor: becoming a beloved institution in his own right. For despite decades of academic obscurity, Chips emerges as the representative of what is right and good about Brookfield. He becomes a living symbol of harmony between ancient ritual and "modern" methods and ideals.

World events beyond the hallowed walls seek to touch and reshape the lives in this secluded school, which witnesses the ceaseless stream of future new boys, waring Masters and Heads. Yet all their strivings take back seat to the gentle dodderings of a witty, childless graybeard in a shabby robe, who prides himself on being the father of thousands of boys. This book is a light-hearted tale which will bring both tears and joy to readers of all ages.

James Hilton's work sometimes shows its age from the vantage point of sixty five years later. In the case of Lost Horizon, the story becomes a set piece, lost in its 1930s era assumptions. Random Harvest is rarely read, as its voice also seems better suited to BBC makeover dramas than poignant reading. Hilton's simple, sentimental story about an English school teacher, Goodbye, Mr. Chips, remains as unabashedly accessible as it must have been when it was written.

The story recaps the professional life of a devoted teacher. But Mr. Chipping is not the "to the ramparts" crusader we see in our current movies of the week. Unlike Hard Times or the sloganeering of our current political debates, Goodbye, Mr. Chips is not a call for wholesale reform of an educational system. Instead, Hilton uses the Chipping character as a metaphor for the value of education in giving the student that most elusive of the commodities of civilization, a sense of proportion.

The novel's style is magazine fiction in the best sense of the phrase. The story is propelled jauntily along, through flashbacks and ironic anecdote. Although the author's approach may be said to be sentimental, the construction of the plot and the direct yet subtle way in which the themes are driven home are quite appealing. Hilton wrote at the time that "Goodbye, Mr. Chips" was written in a single burst, with little need for revision (a work of "inspiration"). The book does indeed read as though the author understood the potential in his story from the opening paragraph onward.

Mr. Chips' schoolbound world is not a "real world" in many ways, and yet the novel retains a sense of warmth and reality that many schoolboy days books cannot sustain. Hilton squeezes into a brief novella gentle wit, a mild love story, and shrewd observations about the importance of a sense of permanence. In some ways, Mr. Chipping is a metaphor for the survival of English middle-class life in the wake of the first world war. We might also view Hilton's creation of Mr. Chipping in the late 1930s as an attempt to preserve the English middle-class sense of proportion and the rightness of things for a generation under the shadow of the impending war against fascism. Whether we take Goodbye, Mr. Chips as an extended metaphor, or merely as a crackling good read, we are drawn again and again to its quiet, direct story and simple message. In a time when we are rediscovering the virtues of simplicity, perhaps it is time we rediscovered the value of educators who pass our values through the generations. This English novel retains its relevance to contemporary people worldwide. Hilton's simplest novel may well be considered his best one. I highly recommend this slim volume.

Goodbye Mr. Chips is a fun and easy book to read. The story is about old man who was a teacher for his whole life. He taught to three different generations of students, and made a long-lasting impression on his them and on his fellow teachers. Mr. Chips was not a remarkable teacher with new ideas or a special way of teaching. He had a great memory, and remembered names, faces and stories from his many years of teaching at Brookfield. His stories and the experiences he shared with his students made him popular and well liked. What makes the story particularly interesting is that it gives the reader the image of a person who had a full and successful life. It was a life with no regrets that most of us would want for ourselves. It is easy to read because there are no long and difficult words to look up in the dictionary, and the story flows with interesting events and stories. Not everything that happens in the story is happy, but that makes it more real and more believable. It is very easy to relate to Mr. Chips because he was popular for who he was and what he knew, and not for what he did. If he were famous or special, he would be harder to relate to. It shows that you can lead a fulfilling and successful life without needing to achieve something remarkable or special. This book is a book that can be enjoyed by children, young-adults, and adults.

I marveled at this book, which passed my tests with flying colors. Mr. Chips was a delightful and subtle balance of a lovable, caring teacher and a mildly pathetic person...so real...so true to life. It's the story of an unfulfilled man who falls into his place in the world and grows to accept it as best he can, and becomes loved by others in the process.

I found myself increasingly awed by the writer's style as the book proceeded. There was an extreme comfort in his flow, like he knew exactly what he wanted to say and how to say it. He was brief yet descriptive, sometimes so perfectly and marvelously descriptive that it really brought me hook, line and sinker into the world of his story - rare in a book, and especially in one so gentle and tender. It was no surprise for me to find he wrote the book in four days - this book was no hard labor of creation...this book flowed from his essence. I don't think a book can get much better than this. This is what writing is all about. I wish libraries were full of books of this quality.

I read this book when I was in fifth or sixth grade when my mom recommended it to me, and now it's my turn to recommend this book to anyone.

Goodbye, Mr. Chips outlines the bittersweet life of Mr. Chips, an ancient professor at an English school, Brookfield, from his first year as a schoolmaster to his dying day. As an old-fashioned, eccentric, British gentleman, his views are sometimes obsolete, but his gentle and kidding nature brings happiness and sadness into his life. An important figure in Brookfield, once a person gets to know Mr. Chips, he/she will never forget him. I know I never will.

This is one of those books which immediately fall under the head of "literary classics". Mind, dont go here looking for an amazing plot et al. You would not find it here - rather enter Hilton's world for the literature and its beauty. James Hilton, to my mind, presents a picture of a typical British author - laidback and rather understatemental. The pre-2nd W war years of British literature were good years - and there was a continuance of the literary traditions from Hardy and Eliot. The tale explores Mr Chips' life as a teacher in a typical British country setting. His romance - short but so very sweet - has been captured quite brilliantly. The changes in hin due to his married life have also been put forward - quite unobtrusively. I would put it down as an amzing book - provided you are attuned to such slow and engrossing books. This is a must-read for all literature lovers.

The novel Goodbye Mr. Chips is a sweet and poignant tale about the life of a gentle, humorous teacher who loyally dedicated his lifetime and heart to the school that he loved, as well as the thousands of boys whose lives he influenced. It is a novel that speaks tenderly of old age without any mockery. This book causes one to stop and ponder all the good things in their own life.

This story is understated yet full of heart. I love the original black and white Robert Donat (sp?) movie of this -- I saw it as a boy and was unusually touched by it; it has stuck vividly in my mind these last 30 years. I recently saw the much newer Peter O'Toole version, which was also good -- but the original movie was sublime and altogether more sophisticated. The author apparently wrote the story quickly and easily basing it to some degree on his own father. It was clearly written from the heart, the prose is simple and direct yet sensitive and thoroughly charming. A delight to read.

The story contrasts the quiet, simplicity and order of an old English public school in the decades around the turn of the centuary (~1900). It touches on the Great War with typical British understatement. It describes the life of a school master until his death in old age...a lovely, but necessarily sad story. Quite beautiful.

Another book, longer and a little more challenging from the same period and with a similar feel is "Memoirs of a Fox Hunting Man" by Sigfried Sasson. Do not be put off by the title.

A small book when measured by words, but a great book when measured by impact. I wonder how many teachers credit at least a prod in that direction, or a heightened sense of passion about the task, to having read GOODBYE MR. CHIPS? I do. It made me cry thirty years ago, and then again a month ago. Thanks, James Hilton.

This is the story of an old British schoolteacher reflecting on his life and career. I love boarding school stories, so I was interested in reading one from a teacher's point of view, and I wasn't disappointed. This is a short but powerful book, though I found it almost painfully sad at times. Mr. Chips is an average, even mediocre, teacher, and it was difficult to be faced with the combination of his mediocrity and personal tragedy. Of course, this also makes it very real. I'm just glad that he could reflect with satisfaction on his achievements in the end, and remember happy times without focusing on what was lost. Anyway, this is not always an easy book to read, but it's certainly worth the time.