Goodbye, Mr. Chips

Rating:
Summary: a beautiful book, which I heartily recommend
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Touching
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent stuff.
Review: I watched, "Goodbye, Mr Chips" (teh Robert Donat version) when I was just a teenager, and loved it. Now 33, I've wacthed the film again several times, and had to retrieve the box of tissues every time! :-) My husband recently bought me the hardback book (been looking for it for YEARS!!), which I'm thrilled with. The story is such a wonderful one (Old school teacher reminiscing about loves ones and events that influenced and changed his life), and I really do wish that more younger people (usually those under 20) could stop for a moment and enjoy the history of an ordinary life, without rejecting the whole concept as 'boring'. Disturbingly enough, I've heard the same word (boring) used to describe, "The Diary of Anne Frank" (the actual diaries of a Jewish girl hiding from the Nazis). Makes one wonder about people, really, when such beautifully-written diares and novels are rejected as 'boring'. Perhaps those readers just don't fully understand the subject matter or the language used in either book. That's a shame, because this (and The Anne Frank diaries) is a wonderful book. Read it, enjoy it, and read it again later.

Rating:
Summary: One of my all-time favorites...
Review: This is one of those books (a novelette, really--it's only a little over 100 pages) that has become a classic, and rightfully so. It's about a somewhat shy man, Mr. Chipping, who comes to teach at Brookfield School in 1870. He begins to warm up to his students, after falling in love and marrying Katherine, who brings him out of his shell. He becomes a beloved institution at the school, and is there until the end of his life. It's a wonderful story, told by one of the best of the modern story-tellers, James Hilton.

Hilton is a wonderful author, and I never tire of reading his books. He's very good at characterization, and that talent really shines in "Chips." "Chips," "Lost Horison," and "Random Harvest" are among his best, but I've never read a bad book by Hilton. By all means, check out his books--you'll be glad you did!

Rating:
Summary: No goodbyes to Mr Chips
Review: 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.