To Serve Them All My Days

My dream profession had always been teaching. I got my degree and then I did work as a teacher in Poland for a period of two years and even now, ten years later, I look back at it as my best times working. Somehow, life didn’t work out the way I wanted and while living here I gave up teaching and became a translator instead. But I still do look back with nostalgia and sentiment at the time when I felt most fulfilled spending time in a classroom with my students. Therefore, reading To Serve Them All My Days by R.F. Delderfield became a very personal and beautiful experience to me.

The novel gives us a story of David Powlett-Jones, a young man traumatized by three years fighting in WWI , who ends up getting a teaching position in show more Bamfylde, a public school for boys in England. P.J., as he is called by all who know him, applied for this job at the suggestion of his war doctor to heal his mental and emotional wounds acquired while fighting in this war meant to end all wars. David soon finds out that teaching is not merely a job but that it becomes a way of living and true healing. He makes dear friends among teachers and students alike and discovers that he was born to be a teacher, a guide for all the boys who change from children into adolescents right in front of his eyes and under his guidance. And miraculously, his own wounds do heal and the school prepares him for what’s to come in life just as much as it does those boys he teaches. It’s another wonderful saga by Delderfield spanning the years between the end of WWI and the beginning years of WWII in which there is a lot happening in England just as much as in all other parts of the world.

In my review of God Is An Englishman, I already expressed my great affection towards Delderfield’s writing talent. To Serve Them All My Days not only confirmed it but turned out to be actually better even though I didn’t think it possible. It is not an easy book to read in terms of the subject it deals with. There are many heartbreaking moments when I was reminded how much havoc WWI did wreak in lives of all people, especially the ones who survived. David, who as a boy went through the death of his father and his two older brothers who died buried in a collapsed coal mine, emerged from the three years spent on the battlefield shattered and without hopes for ever being able to deal with war experiences. Bamfylde’s headmaster, Algy, deals with the deaths of boys he came to treat as his sons, he raised to adulthood only to send them to their demise. Many times I cried because I was reminded how real all these war experiences were even to us, almost a century later. Not to mention, David’s commitment to his students and his life lived through his teaching, was something I could identify with to the point where I would stop and think that by giving up teaching myself, I defied my destiny somehow.

I truly adored this novel and I was sad to let it go. I wish there had been more of David and all others that came after him. R.F. Delderfield is now officially on the list of my favorite writers. The book is quite big, with 600 pages but once I started reading I didn’t notice the length at all. Reading To Serve Them All My Days is an experience, not merely an activity and it is one of those books that give you a story you will not soon forget, that will give you characters that you will know, inside out, and you will crave to meet one more time. show less

So I'm apparently the last person on earth to read this one but that oversight is finally over. And what a book! David Powlett-Jones returns from WWI, damaged both physically and mentally and is directed to try his hand teaching at Bamfylde, a boys' boarding school near Devon. No degree or experience but he seems to have found the place to heal his soul, among the boys and colleagues, all so vividly portrayed by a master storyteller.

The book is long, over 600 pages, but the time just flew by as I was reading because it was so very engaging. And compelling. Complex characters, especially his characterization of the female characters, which is particularly impressive considering the book was written in the early 70s and depicts the years show more between the wars. Someone described it as sentimental. Maybe so but also compassionate, funny, endearing and just wonderful all the way around. This book was enhanced for me by the Backlisted podcast which I listened to earlier today. I found the BBC mini-series on YouTube and will have to watch that, because of course I will. show less

(28) Oh dear - I loved this book . . . just loved from the first page to the last. It checks all the boxes for me - long and twisty with the passage of time; strong sense of place; historical backdrop; erudite yet whimsical at the same time - none of the ponderous pretension of postmodernism - just excellent story-telling and dialogue. A shell-shocked young Welshman, survivor of trench warfare is sent to a remote public school in the north of England to be a schoolmaster. Perhaps a sense of purpose away from everything can help him recover in some meaningful way. David Powlett-Jones is a fish out of water but with the help of the jovial Headmaster, and some crusty friends, he earns the trust of the boys who are balm to his wounds. He show more finds he is a damn good teacher and mentor and Bamfylde - the school - becomes his universe. And the readers too, for several weeks as this is a 600 page book with closely-spaced type on big pages! I was lost in it and looked forward to reading it everyday.

I loved Howarth and Towser, and the interlude with Alcock as Head and the tense exchanges between he and PJ - so well done. I couldn't believe Beth and the twins; and never really warmed up to Chris. I am now watching the BBC miniseries on You-tube and think it would make a great re-make for HBO/Netflix. Anyway, I digress. I think this is a tremendous testament to living a life defined by meaningful work. however that is defined by you. You stay with it; through the ups and the down; sometimes just showing up is all you can do; and then sometimes you are inspired and you move forward in great leaps and bounds. It resonated for me in the medical profession where so many of us are experiencing burn-out and looking to jump ship. Some days are Carters, and Alcocks, and tedium, and the smell of the piggeries. And some days are frost on the moor; Boyer, the Kassavas; and Scotch with an old friend.

This novel is great entertainment and great solace. It has much to say about duty, honor, paying it forward, recompense for hard work; generational tension; generosity. It reminds me a bit of 'The Cazalet Chronicles, by Elizabeth Jane Howard, of a 'A Separate Peace' by John Knowles. Both very different but impactful books that gave me the same glow after reading as this fabulous novel. Put it on your summer reading list! show less

I must have read this some years ago as parts of it seem familiar, yet others sparklingly fresh. There is much of 'Good-bye Mr Chips' in the story, albeit separated by a couple of generations - young inexperienced schoolmaster comes to an established school, challenges in school, love-marriage and death, and a headmastership. Perhaps that is why this feels so familiar?
To Serve Them All My Days is a much more complex and fulfilling story than Chips. You are drawn into the life of the school and Powlett-Jones, Pow-wow to the boys, in a way Hilton's shorter book cannot achieve.
Thoroughly enjoyable, if a bit long winded at times. Perhaps Delderfield need the editor Pow-wow had for 'The Royal Tigress'!

This is a peculiarly old fashioned thing. Set between 1917 and 1941 I suspect it would have appeared to be looking back at the life of a school master through rose tinted glasses even when first published. David Powlett-Jones was wounded in WW1 and we first meet him as he approaches a private boys school to be interviewed as a school master. He has no degree, no qualifications in teaching, he's been suggested that he try it by the medical officer at the army hospital as a remedy for his shell shock. After this slightly unusual introduction to education, it turns out that he actually has a bit of a flair for teaching and history is his subject. Through the new boy we meet the existing staff, the rather eccentric head master, the various show more boys of all ages. You don't meet all of them, just ones that will re-appear multiple times as the book follows him over the next 20 years or so. Along the way he acquires a wife & twins, then tragedy strikes and his life is in almost as big a mess as it was in the beginning.
By the time you reach the ending, the appeal of the various escapades that have taken place along the way have started to pall slightly. David is engaging enough, although his dealings with women cause me to shake my head at him - this is a man married to the school. The cynic in me is uncertain that schools were ever this good - certainly we don't meet enough of the masters that must be needed to teach 400 boys, so what are the other like? We seem to meet the good ones, or the ones that are good but have a character flaw of some description. Thinking back I can remember a few really good teachers, but the majority were mostly going through the motions. - and I think we knew that even then. His longevity might be surprising, except that I was taught by a teacher who had previously taught my mother at the same school, so while unusual, it's not impossible, although probably increasingly unlikely. It is also unrelentingly male, the few women that appear are David's love life, the matron and the occasional female teacher.
The ending is bittersweet. Having fought in one war, David is recording the names of old boys who have died in a second. There is then the death of a long standing teacher and the birth of a child to balance the account. The arrival of a invalided soldier as a new teacher sees the beginning in the end, although you suspect a rather different story will be played out in the next 20 or so years. show less

During World War I, Welshman David Powlett-Jones is injured and shell-shocked and has returned to England to recover. He has an unconventional doctor who decides that the best cure for "P.J." is to be immersed in a quiet, self-contained community with a strong sense of usefulness and responsibility. There is an opening for a history master at Bamfylde School, a small public school in Devon, and though he has no experience teaching and no degree, the headmaster Algy Herries sees something in young David that qualifies him for the position. Through the years, P.J. faces many trials and hurdles but finds that Bamfylde is in fact his salvation and his cure.

I feel that this book is foremost an ode to public schools. Bamfylde was modeled on show more West Buckland School which Delderfield attended for a few years after spending time in a string of poorer schools. It's obvious that he cherished his time at the school and that he strongly believed that these institutions, when properly run, could instill young men with character and integrity, qualities important to the future of England. To this end, Delderfield populated his novel with many beloved characters such as Headmaster Algy Herries and Powlett-Jones. Those dissonants who value test scores more than community never truly become a part of the Bamfylde family and they are removed from the story in many different ways.

Though Delderfield gives insight and intelligence to many of his male characters, he is not as generous with some of the female characters. I noticed the same shortcomings in God is An Englishman. In both of these books, the strongest female characters willingly give up their positions in business and politics to have families and seem somewhat satisfied to have the burden of thought and responsibility taken from their shoulders. They also tend to be overly willing to physically satisfy the protagonists with no expectations of commitment -- in other words, these ladies are cool with one-night stands. One character in this book is somewhat redeemed by receiving a position of authority at Bamfylde but instead of holding the opinion that this gives her a chance to exercise her mental faculties and use her education, she is said to love the job because of her connection with the children. She is praised for her intuition and kindness but only rarely for her brains. I know that this is a view that would be more acceptable in the early twentieth century but the novel was written in 1972 and could have been a bit more generous toward women.

The second purpose of this story is a criticism of Britain's political and diplomatic decisions between WWI and WWII. The political portion of the story is less prominent but it is obvious that Delderfield felt that Britain made poor choices after World War I and missed opportunities to prevent the disaster of World War II. He seems to feel that there were certain lessons that should have been learned from historical events even before the first World War. Knowing very little about the options open to England during these twenty years, I can't say if Delderfield's views are universal or if they belong to a certain political persuasion.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. It is a well-formed story of one man's recovery and rebirth through the traditions of England. I really fell in love with David Powlett-Jones, cheering his successes and mourning his losses. The novel was occasionally confusing with the scores of nicknamed youths that passed through Bamfylde but Delderfield does a good job of reminding the reader of the previous role that each boy had in the story. Delderfield's love of the boys and the teachers is contagious and provides a touching tribute to this time in British history.

http://webereading.com/2009/09/guard-at-exeter-warned-him-he-would.html show less

I was surprised how hard I found to put this book down when I was reading it—David's life drew me into the life at Bamfylde and I was eager to find out how things evolved over time. Only the last couple of chapters felt a bit rushed, even if they were drawing the book to a full circle.