Up the Down Staircase

I can NOT believe I have missed this 1964 classic until now. But... I know that I have an appreciation for this book after five years of teaching under my belt that I never would have before. Wow. Just wow. This book started out as a short story entitled "From a Teacher's Wastebasket," and the author was nudged to turn it into a book at the urging of an editor. What emerged was the correspondence, student contributions, administrative memos, board of education communications of Sylvia Barrett, a first year high school english teacher in New York City. The style of the book ("weird-looking typographically") was groundbreaking in the 1960s, but could be any book's today: a collection of typed and handwritten -- complete with doodles and show more embellishments -- notes and directives. While the style doesn't seem all that odd to a 21st century reader, unfortunately neither do teaching conditions and the state of education. OMG, truly not much has changed in the 60+ years since the book was written. The only thing that truly dates it is a broken foot, which lands the sufferer in the hospital for some weeks!

From Ms. Kaufman's preface:
Some reviewers paid me the ultimate compliment: They thought I had merely collected and arranged the material in the book. But the novel is invented -- except a few directives from the Board of Education, which I had to tone down for credibility (emphasis mine). I made up reports, memos, notes, records, forms, announcements, confidential files of the school nurse and the school psychologist, class minutes, lesson plans, administrative circulars, and comments from the kids themselves. All of it sounded so authentic that I was delighted to learn that when the assistant principal of my former school sent directives to his teachers, he would add in red pencil, "Do not show this to Bel Kaufman."

I loved it. LOVED it. I laughed frequently, cried a lot (sometimes because the book was sad), and fell in love with the students. Ms. Kaufman absolutely "got" them, and their voices, channeled through her, were brought to glorious life by Barbara Rosenblat in one of the best narrations I've ever heard. show less

Way back in the mid-1960s, Bel Kaufman's unorthodox novel “Up the Down Staircase” (1964) was the hottest book in America. Does it hold up more than 60 years later? Well, yes it does, I discovered.

Kaufman, herself a New York City school teacher, imagines Sylvia Barrett as an idealistic young English teacher in her first semester at Calvin Coolidge High School in New York. What's unorthodox is the author's telling of her story without any narrative whatsoever. The novel is simply a collection of memos, announcements, notes, blackboard scribblings, student excuses, etc.

The frustrations Sylvia endures comes as much from the school's administrators as from her students. She writes in a letter to a friend, "We have keys but no locks show more (except in the lavatories), blackboards but no chalk, students but no seats, teachers but no time to teach."

Humor stays plentiful, as when one of her students leaves her a note saying, "You are my most memorial teacher, you teach a subject as fast as it can enter and stay put in my brain." Yet there is as much bitter as sweet, as when a girl attempts suicide and a surly boy corners her in a dark room after school.

Sylvia is pretty — nothing wrong with that, certainly — but Kaufman reminds us of this over and over again until it gets annoying. But perhaps this just helps reveal the immaturity of her students, both boys and girls, who can't resist mentioning it.

Really good books stay good with the passage of time, and I think “Up the Down Staircase” passes this test. show less

From the book jacket: Never before has a novel so compellingly laid bare the inner workings of a metropolitan high school. This is the funny and touching story of a committed, idealistic teacher whose clash with school bureaucracy is a timeless lesson for students, teachers, parents – anyone concerned about public education.

My reactions
This is written in a kind of epistolary style – notes in the suggestion box, memos from the school principal or nurse or clerk, letters written to a college friend, messages from fellow teachers, items posted on the bulletin board, etc. There are misspellings and doodles (where the kids are writing in the suggestion box or school assignments), ALL CAPS (memos from the “all important” vice show more principal), and bureaucratic gobbledygook psychobabble (from the school counselor who fancies herself a Freudian psychoanalyst). Guess we can be thankful that Kaufman wrote this before texting abbreviations! It makes for a fast and very engaging read, and lends an air of verisimilitude.

The novel crams much truth into this wild ride of a semester’s experiences for this brand new teacher. It’s interesting to watch Sylvia Barrett come to recognize her students’ hidden talents, aspirations and needs. It’s also interesting to witness her growth as a professional educator, how she learns the ins and outs of the system, whom to trust, where to seek mentoring, and determining where her future lies.

I loved the way her students interpreted the classics! Some were hilariously off the mark. But many were poignant and reflected their modern-day experiences.

Some of these students have heartbreaking back stories. Children having to take on responsibility for ailing parents and younger siblings, or fearing for their own safety. Kids facing homelessness, tempted by gangs, or struggling with prejudice or bullying. Girls worrying about their appearance; boys concerned with looking tough. As in real life, this good teacher managed to connect to a few of these students, and tragically lost others.

Hard to believe this was written in the ‘60s and still stands up today. I’ve never seen the movie, but am tempted to track it down. show less

I'm not usually a big fan of the epistolary style, but Kaufman makes it work beautifully in Up the Down Staircase. I'm always (this is my second read? third?) startled by how much I connect with Sylvia's students even though we only see them through little snippets of their writing and through Sylvia's letters to her friend. The final moment with Joe Ferone is heartrending. Excellent depiction of the hardships and the joys of teaching, with a predictable but believably-rendered outcome. I boggle at administrative life before the advent of electronic mail (I date myself as a young'un, I know)--imagine sending a conventional memo to several hundred people that says only "Ignore the bells." And then sending several more memos to all those show more people later in the day. And then again tomorrow. And the next day. I mean, the paper. show less

Persoonlijk en tegelijk universeel

Bijzondere lerares op uitdagende school met uitdagende leerlingen
Het verhaal opgebouwd uit briefjes van leerlingen en leraren en mededelingen van de schoolleiding. Brieven naar een verwante. Heel knap dat de schrijfstijl past bij de verschillende afzenders. Regelmatig een glimlach. Hilarisch, bij tijden vertederend. - Het blijkt een klassieker, uit 1964 maar nog steeds actueel.
En oproep en een aanklacht. Een hart onder de riem. (voor leraren en leerlingen) De voorkant vind ik net zo kloppend, dit is maar een heel klein deel van de leerlingen.
Jammer dat het uit is."

I don't think I've ever been able to relate to a character in the way that I related to Sylvia. When you're a teacher, you realize that the hopeful expectations, the unbridled giving of yourself, and the love of your subject matter is constantly in contrast with the never-ending, mundane administrative "to-do" list, the constant bullying of helicopter parents, and the reality that most students don't covet, value, or respect the material that you cherish. A work that is even more relevant now that it was when it was written.

The author uses a unique and distinct style to tell the story of a young woman who accepts a teaching job at an inner-city high school. No narrative to speak of, just scraps of notes, fragments of assignments, blackboard jottings, and episodic letters to an old school chum, but in spite of that, the story flows and engages the reader. You begin to see the characters, and the seemingly disjointed style, jumping from wastebasket to blackboard to hall notes, fits the material very well, and gives a sense of being part of the school world.

Just re-read my favorite book after all these years, and it does not diminish with age. In fact, I found new things to enjoy now that I am myself a teacher, and relate to the book on a whole new level. It show more isn't going to work for some people due to the structure, but the story is there, it holds together, and the way of presenting it is, IMHO, nothing short of genius. show less