Customer Reviews

Looking for Class: Days and Nights at Oxford and Cambridge

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is an imminently readable, well-written and informative book. Bruce Feiler did a wonderful job of describing his experience at Cambridge in 1990-1991, sometimes in incredibly lucid detail. You won't learn much about what he actually learned pursuing his master's of philosophy in international relations, but you will learn volumes about British upperclass society (through the eyes of an American), their social interactions, and most importantly, about how higher education shapes people's lives indirectly. An excellent book.

This gem of book begins, in Feiler's self deprecating style as he finds himself somewhat increduously accepted for his Master's at Cambridge (certainly not because he doubts his own abilities but more because of the imposing wall between Oxbridge and the rest of us). Feiler journals his year with a selective and at times detached air. Snapshots and glimpses of Cambridge float by as he makes his way towards his degree. Yet, this is no mismatched mosaic, but rather an expressionistic view of a year well spent in "the game." Academia is, of course, a construct built much for its own purposes and the two institutions of Cambridge and Oxford represent the grandest of these constructs. Feiler seems to know this starting out, and nevertheless, he dives into life at Cambridge with all the eagerness of a ten year old embarking on a day at the Magic Kingdom. Throughout his year of study he is frequently caught up in the juxtoposition of very high ideals and very low life; very fine minds with very little common sense. All is not what the romantics might imagine along the banks of the Cam. But Feiler is no anti-intellectual detractor aiming for a cheap expose. So, while the layers are peeled back in what is at times a very private journal, revealing both the ironic and the farcical, he never loses respect for, and never insults the tradition that is Cambridge. In the end, it is a very humane and forgiving look at what is at once both a place of lofty thoughts and grimy academia. It is in essence a lovingly realistic journal of one man's ride through what remains for most us, intellectual Oz.

Bruce Feiler has proven that he is a fine writer. This is my second selection of his bibliography. Not only does he introduce the reader to an interesting destination, he competently contrasts the place and its people to his own culture. The resulting information has more depth and clarity than a mere travel piece. "Looking For Class" reads like a novel, with interesting characters and situations, while illuminating the educational systems of two of the world's most prestigious institutions. For anyone considering college in the near future, any reader who has interest in understanding culture and higher education across the pond, or just an armchair traveller this is a great read.

Bruce Feiler was "Looking for Class" at Cambridge University - he didn't get it. Well, in the sense of seeking out a location at which to study, he seemed to get the hang of that, gaining an M.Phil degree in a year as a mature student. A member of The Class of Sometime in the Early 90's, I presume. But the fact that he entitles this book "Looking for Class", and that one suspects he means "Searching for Social or Economic Status", implies that he missed the point of the institution altogether.

Feiler is a professional author, and uses language competently (although some of his metaphors are clumsy - "Feeling as lonely as a chimney in a burning wooden house..."). He would be able to make comparison with an American university, having attended Yale. And whilst his descriptions of Cambridge University life are perhaps factually accurate, the spin he puts on them result in a book about a place I scarcely recognise. I should say that I am an American citizen and attended Cambridge University as an undergraduate, albeit in the late 70's rather than the early 90's.

By over-emphasising perceived eccentricities and peccadilloes, he populates his Cambridge with chapter upon chapter of stereotypes and caricatures. Whilst I recall some unconventional types, most of the people I met were as normal as... well, as only Feiler seems to be in the book. In consequence, an air of his superiority permeates. He is well travelled and educated, but he uses a faux naiveté as a device to highlight the cultural differences which bemuse him. The one sequence which rang true was his drubbing at the Union debate. And whilst he appreciates sarcasm, inevitably he fails to grasp the ironies.

Above all, it is outrageous that this book perpetuate the myth that modern Oxbridge is a world of "the British upper class, a world romanticized but rarely seen". Yes, in the late 70's, the Cambridge student intake did not fully reflect the socio-economic structure of the country, with a preponderance of students from private schools. But 95% of my colleagues were "upper class" in only one aspect, that of being academically bright. The true nature of the British class system totally escaped Feiler after a year long scrutiny. "Brideshead Revisited".... yeah, right.

The book gets one star because I did finish it, despite never being so annoyed at a book before. This is not journalism; it is either an inept investigation or an arrogant hatchet job. Read something else if you wish to "part the curtains on the mysterious firmament of British education".

Feiler has developed a great combination with his insightful investigative journalism in novel form. From the perspective of both an Oxford and Harvard alumnus, this book paints captivativating dichotomies between academic life on either side of the pond (Feiler being a Yalie). In essence, he distills the frank truth that Oxbridge still lords over British intellectual and cultural life, and that its students define themselves as the heirs or failures to this 800 year plus tradition in a way that no longer holds for American schools. An excellent read for any future Oxbridge student, or for elite American graduates who are looking to see what it is like on the inside of Britain's ultimate proving grounds.

"Like many Americans, I came to England with a nagging sense of intellectual inferiority. England, in my mind, was not only older, but wiser as well. As a child, I was surrounded by the symbols of English eminence. The spokemen on serious television commercials always had English accents, while the MacDonald's spokeman was dressed like a clown; the marmalade my mother spread on her toast was 'Made in England,' while the Pop-Tarts I ate were made in Illinois; my father's favorite television show was Masterpiece Theatre, while I preferred Gilligan's Island. Like an adolescent craving perpetual acceptance, I felt at times as though I could never be intellectually validated until I proved myself to be as cultured as the British.

A year at Cambridge cured me of my inferiority complex." - Bruce Feiler reflecting on his Cambridge experience.

This, in my opinion, is a funny book. Bruce Feiler has a way with words that kept me reading all night, for which I paid dearly in the morning. But it was worth it.

Mr. Feiler tells of his year-long immersion in British Culture, albeit an Upper Crusty one at one of the oldest universities in Europe. Fresh from a year spent in Japan (Which resulted in his highly acclaimed narrative LEARNING TO BOW.), he attended Cambridge to obtain an M. Phil. degree in International Relations. He says when he went there, he had three goals, "I wanted to row, to debate at the Union, and to have a date for the ball. By the end of the year I had achieved all these desires." All three goals are humorously presented in the book's three parts, which are named after the three terms he spent there: Michaelmas Term, Lent Term, and Easter Term.

What he has to say about getting an education at an elite university and the personalities of his fellow students is both interesting and entertaining. I wish I had enough smarts to have gone to either Cambridge or Oxford. Having gone to one vicariously is good enough for me at this point in my life. Besides, upon reflecting about my own experience, if there is one thing that I got from my having spent two years in graduate school chasing an M.A. degree it's "Never Again!" That was more than enough for this Yank, thank you.

I highly recommend LOOKING FOR CLASS: Seeking Wisdom and Romance at Oxford and Cambridge. (Hardcover Edition) Jolly Good!

"Looking For Class" is one of those books you just might not pick up on a visit to the bookstore. The title doesn't reach out and grab you. The cover doesn't stop you in your tracks. However, I became a fan of Feiler when I read two of his other books about The Middle East and his writing is so articulate and fresh that I decided to read his other books. "Looking For Class" is an indepth look at Cambridge University and as Feiler was a student there, the look is precise, well-focused and entertaining.

In addition to entertaining, you will learn much about this institution of learning you probably couldn't have known except from an American, living and studying inside the sacred walls of Cambridge. Feiler is an expert on "nailing" people and situations, regardless of where he is in the world. You'll find some rare characters in this book, some revealing moments about one of England's higher learning citadels, but mostly, you'll come away just being thankful that Bruce Feiler is a writer. He's very good at it.

As someone who attended the same university (albeit a different college) at the same time, I was pleasantly surprised to find my experiences matched the author's pretty well. Obviously for the purpose of maintaining an interesting and flowing narrative, Feiler focuses on amalgamations of the more interesting characters he encounters, but this is understandable. As a reader I don't want to have to wade through pages on what it's like to sit in a library and study, or humdrum accounts of forgettable nights in the college bar after eating bland food in the cafeteria, which is what 90% of the Cambridge experience consists of. But the other 10% can be truly otherworldly and magical, and I think Feiler captures this well.

I just wish the porters at my college had been as welcoming as Terry of Clare College!

This book should be read along with Learning To Bow (Japan), a homage to Japan by a Southern Yankee.

Looking for Class is filled with humor, and witty observations on Cambridge (and a bit about Oxford). Feiler is right on.

This book primarily concerns an American student's efforts to meet girls in his year abroad at Cambridge, interspersed with dry excerpts from his thesis and smug observations of upper class college students behaving badly. When he gets dumped by a Canadian, he blames it on her pretentious British attitude. Not much introspection, here.

If anything, this book convinced me that Cambridge students are no different from their American counterparts. All college students want to do is get drunk and get laid.