The History Boys: A Play: A Play (Faber Drama)

First, many thanks to the Amazon friend who recommended THE HISTORY BOYS by Alan Bennett; I doubt I would have discovered it on my own. And reading it was a treat. It is a contemporary play (winner of the Tony Award for best play in 2006) that is sophisticated, moderately literary, humanely compassionate, and witty - even, at times, laugh-out-loud funny. It is, however, quite British, but enough survives transport across the ocean to have made it nonetheless rewarding and engaging for this American reader. And more so than most plays, it reads easily and naturally as a work of fiction, as a novella. The plot is relatively simple. A grammar school in the north of England finds itself with eight unusually talented male students in the sixth form (i.e., seniors in high school). The headmaster determines to pull out the stops to get as many as possible admitted to Oxford or Cambridge. So, in September, he hires Irwin, himself only recently awarded a teaching diploma, to teach the boys history and, more importantly, how to succeed on the Oxbridge entrance exams. Irwin teaches the boys to be clever, to stand out, to be learnedly contrarian, to have an angle. Facts and "the truth" are not the desiderata - or, as Irwin tells his charges: "History nowadays is not a matter of conviction. It's a performance. It's entertainment." (And how many popular British historians of the past quarter century does that encapsulate?) As an example, Irwin begins his first lecture by stating, "At the time of the Reformation there were fourteen foreskins of Christ preserved, but it was thought that the church of St John Lateran in Rome had the authentic prepuce." The boys think he perhaps is trying to shock them and then their discussion begins to turn, sophomorically, to which of them have foreskins. But Irwin then confronts them with his pedagogical point: "some silly nonsense on the foreskins of Christ will come in handy" in the event the Church on the eve of the Reformation is one of the subjects of the entrance exams; for a bored examiner reading one hundred and sixty competent papers, "the fourteen foreskins of Christ will come as a real ray of sunshine." Strenuously opposed to the relativistic, sensationalist teaching of Irwin is Hector, the entrenched, elderly teacher of "General Studies" (primarily, English literature). Hector finds Irwin's approach to history to be "flip", "glib", and even worse, "journalism." He believes that the teachers should be educating their charges for life and for death, not for entrance exams. Needless to say, one of the themes of THE HISTORY BOYS is the purpose of education. Broadly perceived, the question is: To cheat or not to cheat? In addition to matters of pedagogy, the history boys also learn about life and making their way in the world. One is Jewish and an outsider. Another is a rugby-player and not quite as intellectually facile as his mates. Some are sexually supercharged, and there is more than an undercurrent of homosexuality. Most of the play takes place in the three months leading up to the boys' entrance exams. A portion takes place shortly after the exams and three other brief segments are set many years later, so that, eventually, the reader learns the careers of the history boys as well as something about the later lives of Hector and Irwin. The play is sprinkled with references to cultural works and figures - including, notably, Larkin, Auden, Hardy, Wittgenstein, and (yes) The Pet Shop Boys. For the most part THE HISTORY BOYS sparkles, drawing its energy from the high spirits of the eight young men. But it also has its sober moments and the occasional insightful comment, such as this one from Hector: "The best moments in reading are when you come across something - a thought, a feeling, a way of looking at things - which you had thought special and particular to you. Now here it is, set down by someone else, a person you have never met, someone even who is long dead. And it is as if a hand has come out and taken yours."

I saw The History Boys on Broadway. I could tell the play was fabulous, very funny, with exceptional actors. People were laughling and the little I heard was entertaining. I was sitting in the last row on the far right of the mezzanine, Now I have ringing in the ears, so my hearing is not the best. So afterwards I thought I would buy the play and chuckle about it to myself. Then, according to the Playbill, I'd go to the movie that's already been filmed with the original cast. But first I I bought and sent the play to the woman who went to the play with me. She couldn't hear it either. I get it when she's finished with it. But I do know enough to recommend the play itself, the script and I hope the movie. Do something, at least one of the three, don't miss it.

I think there is two ways to enjoy this book. The first way is to enjoy it as a popular school drama. The second easy is to enjoy author’s excellent, but a little bit pedantic, intelligence and profound philosophical thoughts. I recommend to read Sallinger’s “ the Catcher in the Rye” before reading this book. You could get the theme that the author would tell us . Have you already encountered your “Henley VIII”, which means your lifetime subject ? If you have already encountered that, I think you know what is happiness and what is education.

Alan Bennett began delighting the theater-going world almost before he needed to shave, being one of the mad troupe of "Beyond the Fringe" that tromped onto Broadway as college smart-alecks and ended up with a Tony. Bennett starts by making us laugh, and ends by making us wonder, in every sense of the word. In "The History Boys" (also a Tony winner)we meet eight English boys who are being groomed for Oxford and Cambridge scholarships. But just how do these young and randy scholars best impress their examiners? Each of the four adults coaching them has a different idea, and the sparks fly in every direction as the boys are readied for their examinations. Language, laughs, love and lust--everything comes up for discussion. "Pass it on, boys; pass it on!" And Bennett certainly passes it on to us, for which this reader is hugely grateful.

This edition of The History Boys leaves out the stage directions usually published with plays in print. As a result it is impossible to tell who is in the room unless they speak, or worse, at times, where a scene begins or ends. For those who have not seen a staged production in London or New York City, just reading this play can be a frustrating task. It would be a great gift to record the National Theatre production as a dvd. In the meantime, this will have to do. Fans of Mr. Bennett who have read his Untold Stories can skip the introduction to this edition.

ストーリー構成、展開が、想定、期待してたのと 若干違いあり。その分、評価マークは、普通レベル。

A good account of past school days - Days I lived through as a teacher in England - the pressure of the SAT's and League tables did much to change what teachers are about. Few are the teachers called to a vocation and overpowering are the many who teach as a soft option or desire a fast career path - thus obeying all the stipulations etc. Flair, interest, the spark are seen less and less as the mark of success is seen by exam results within a school and conformity creates a pool of 'zombies' to be released into the wider world with fewer basic skills, a shallow knowledge of what has been deemed proper and generally with their personal spark flickering low if not out. This book portrays many different styles of teaching but without the basics of Lintott, the brashness of Hector, and the wideness of Irwin's teaching the Headmaster's high aspirations would never have been achieved. Strong foundations are needed to build ever more flexible erections.

Alan Bennett is a wonderful story teller. A great user of language and employer of humour. This and his other works are recommended.

Sur un sujet assez simple au départ - la préparation d'un petit groupe de garçons pour être admis à Oxford - Alan Bennett nous livre une pièce très plaisante et pleine d'humour, avec cependant des réflexions plus profondes sur l'éducation, la littérature, la nature humaine, la destinée, ... Par certains côtés, la pièce m'a rappelé Le cercle des poètes Disparus.

Good dialogue