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The Compleet Molesworth Paperback – January 1, 1985

by Geoffrey Willans (Author), Ronald Searle (Author)

45

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The Compleet Molesworth

Print length

401 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Pavilion Books
Publication date

January 1, 1985
Dimensions

1.11 x 1.11 inches
ISBN-10

1851450017
ISBN-13

978-1851450015
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Ronald Searle
40
Hardcover
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Ronald; introduction by Philip Hensher Willans, Geoffrey; Searle
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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Pavilion Books; 6th edition (January 1, 1985)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 401 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1851450017
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1851450015
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 10.6 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 1.11 x 1.11 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,992,887 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #43,629 in Humor (Books)

Customer Reviews:
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4.7 out of 5

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Benjamin C. Regen

Memo to file: Zoom about and remove traps for dere Santa

Reviewed in the United States on January 23, 2003

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I am the proud possessor of Down With Skool, How to be Topp, and Molesworth's Guide to the Atomic Age in original bindings. I say "possessor" because I've highjacked them from my mother and brother. Needless to say, knowing that a re-print is out there is proof positive that dere Santa does exist. 'Pon my soul, darling Arabella, but life may not be as tuough as it seems. What I hadn't known until I ran across the factoid some years ago is that Searle began drawing while in a Japanese prisoner of war camp, with burned matches. Since then I've always wondered to what extent that experience informed his views of st custards.
Anyone who enjoys eccentricities and eccentrics simply must have these works in his library, right alongside Wodehouse and Betty McDonald. There is nothing like them.
Just one question: What exactly does the mrs joyful prize actually look like?

14 people found this helpful

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Avery Gordon

HYSTERICAL!

Reviewed in the United States on August 7, 2017

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I'm an admitted Anglophile, and one who remembers schools that are sent up royally as "St. Custard's" in this quintessential best of Britain humor. Any educator will roll on the floor at the errant schoolboy Molesworth's wry comments about his fellow world, and particularly his outrageous misspellings that are as wildly funny as Ronald Searle's illustrations. This, my friends, is as classically English as The Goon Show, Beyond The Fringe, Monty Python, Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, proving once and for all that British humor is ANYTHING but dry, or as Molesworth would put it, "wet and weedy." THE BEST.

2 people found this helpful

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JJ

Second-hand books are worth it...

Reviewed in the United States on July 16, 2014

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Not much point in reviewing the content, as it's hardly a new book. In fact, my copy was second-hand, so I'll review its physical condition: very good, well worth the price.

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Paul Magnussen

Simply the best, as any fule kno

Reviewed in the United States on March 22, 2011

Ronald Searle was one of Britain's best-loved cartoonists, and Geoffrey Willans (if I remember correctly) a former teacher. If there is such a thing as a genius, then Willans and Searle together were one.

The Molesworth books purport to be instructional manuals by an English public schoolboy named Nigel Molesworth, about how to survive the school experience. From the day the first was published in 1953, they became a wild success, especially with schoolchildren. They are still in print and still eminently applicable (which says something both about the quality of the books, and about the nature of the British school system, which even at that point hadn't changed much in 400 years).

The wild misspelling that permeates them caused hysteria among parents, and their removal from many school libraries (the books, not the parents). Nevertheless, many phrases from them have since gone into the English lexicon, particularly "enuff said" and "as any fule kno".

The quartet consists of:

Down with Skool
How to be Topp
Whizz for Atomms
Back in the Jug Agane

and an omnibus edition,

The Compleet Molesworth , reprinted by Penguin as
Molesworth

These are considered absolute classics in the UK along with gems such as 1066 and all that . Whether they're intelligible in the US is another matter; but I didn't think Monty Python would be, and I was wrong about that...

The reviews here are sparse, I see, so look at Amazon UK for a fuller perspective.

I see also that the second-hand price of some of the individual volumes is becoming ludicrous, so best just to go straight for the Penguin. The original "Compleet Molesworth" was actually missing a small part of "Back in the Jug Agane" (which is why I bought the individual volumes), but I don't know about the Penguin.

I hope perhaps this has provided some context; now you can look at Amazon UK :-)

P.S. If you can't remember Britain in the 50's and need a cultural glossary, see my So You'd Like To... Guide.

3 people found this helpful

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Animation Director #401

As described - good price - fast shipping

Reviewed in the United States on August 24, 2014

As described - good price - fast shipping

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Keith louis lortie

In praise of Molesworth. chizz chizz chizz.

Reviewed in the United States on April 26, 2004

It is uterly wet and weedy, but I sa as long as there are clouds and sky (dere Fotherington-Thomas), and skools and MASTERS and noble brave fearless BOYS - and GURLS as well! chizz chizz, and lat. french, geog. hist. geom. peotry and even swots, bulies, snekes,oiks and greedy guts; then, my deres, there MUST also be the timeless prose encountered in 'The Compleet Molesworth'. This heady reference work is kindness of that worthy scribe, Geoffrey Willans and the unassailable art of Ronald Searle, master of the scratchy pen illustration. Noone else in the world space universe could draw Molesworth 1 & 2, gillibrand, peason, grabber, et al with such fearsome accuracy. As long as we have this rich chronicle on education to dive into, then our future generations of skoolchildren shall be uterly safe.
As any fule kno.

10 people found this helpful

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Barb Goode

Unreadable

Reviewed in the United States on August 27, 2013

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The spelling is so bad I can't read it. Not funny if you can't even read it. Want it back?

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William J Cowan

A reminder of boarding school days

Reviewed in the United States on September 3, 2018

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Molesworth's antics as a 3rd former struck a responsive chord with this reviewer. Though these stories were set in the UK there were activities which could have been found repeated in any NZ boys' boarding school; e.g. running the gauntlet through a series of flicked wet towels. It is easy to see how these stories inspired the writings of Sue Townsend and J K Rowling. The sketches by Ronald Searle are a real treat and it was interesting to discover that a close bond was established between Ronald and the author, Geoffrey Willans. A delightful read!

One person found this helpful

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Jane S.

Condition as described, book is a great read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 6, 2022

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The book arrived ahead of delivery date and in good condition. It's written in the first person in the style our hero speaks, which is a useful way of reading the narrative as a small rebellious boy, but not to everyone's taste. Think a less sophisticated Adrian Mole. It reflects many aspects of life in English boarding schools at that time and I really enjoyed it.

Pam

Absolute classic

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 5, 2013

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I'll never get bored with Molesworth. Brilliantly funny every time I read it. It's only a shame that one needs to be 'of a certain age' to really appreciate it. Sadly, the gowned, cane-wielding schoolmasters who whiz chalk at boys are no more, and my 30 year old daughter 'didn't get it'. I'm sad for her because she has the right sense of humour for it, just doesn't have the memories. The only other downside is that once I pick it up I'm late for everything because I just don't want to put it down. I'm now on my fourth copy - foolishly lent them to friends and unsurprisingly didn't get them back.

7 people found this helpful

Mr. Russell K. Law

Sattisfyed of corse

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 6, 2017

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I wouldn't actually have described the condition of the book as very good, but it was structurally sound and clean enough. It was a delight to have this in my possession again, and to savour its unique and groundbreaking humour after many years - in fact, to understand a bit more of it than when I first read it as an inky schoolboy. As any fule kno, this is the most important thing and if you dissaggree grabber will come round and tuough you up.

5 people found this helpful

Mr. P. H. Turner

Molesworth lives on!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 4, 2011

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Having been exposed to the Molesworth world view not too long after the books were published, it's a great pleasure to revisit them and find them as entertaining as ever. Although, I suspect that modern young people, who didn't get the same exposure to proper education, Latin and the whole philosophy of the 1940s and 1950s, will find them a touch opaque in places. But at least they'll find out that "Any fule kno" and similar expressions, which are still to be encountered on the letters page of national newspapers, aren't text-speak.

2 people found this helpful

lotus49

Simply topping

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 23, 2017

Verified Purchase

The Molesworth books were very funny when I was a public schoolboy and now I am a middle-aged man, they are just as funny.

Schools like St Custards no longer exist (which is probably a good thing) but they certainly used to (I went to one) and this is a hilarious send up of English public schools.

3 people found this helpful

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The Compleet Molesworth Paperback – January 1, 1985

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