Stand Before Your God: An American Schoolboy in England

I read Paul Watkins memoir, STAND BEFORE YOUR GOD, based on a recommendation from a Canadian author, Brian Payton. I had read a couple of Watkins novels years ago, but had not heard of this memoir. It was a riveting, beautifully written account of Watkins' years at two famous English boys' schools. Watkins was the son of a Welsh-born, well-known geophysicist, Norman David Watkins. The family lived in Rhode Island when Paul, at seven years old, was packed off to the Dragon School in England, where he was a boarding student to the age of thirteen, after which he attended the very prestigious Eton prep school. Watkins' story covers a whole spectrum of experiences and feelings. Imagine being sent away from home and everything you know at show more age seven, plunged suddenly into a strange foreign culture and environment. Homesickness, culture shock, the casual cruelty of fellow students and harsh punishments from house masters and teachers, sexual awakening in an all-male cloistered type of environment where homosexuality was not uncommon, and the early urges to write, as a way of escape - all these things are in here. And Watkins' father died of cancer during his first year at Eton, a terrible loss which nearly scuttled his chances at the school. But Paul Watkins persevered and finished his studies at Eton, which is where the narrative stops. From there, I have learned, he went on to Yale and began publishing his well-received novels at a very early age.

I found this book to be absolutely fascinating. It has been compared to A SEPARATE PEACE, but I was reminded of another more obscure book, a memoir by Englishman John Cornwell called SEMINARY BOY. I also thought of a literary memoir by another alumnus of the Dragon School, Pico Iyer, and his book about a life-long fascination with author Graham Greene, THE MAN WITHIN MY HEAD. And I thought again of those two Watkins novels - NIGHT OVER DAY OVER NIGHT and CALM AT SUNSET CALM AT DAWN - and remembered enjoying both very much. Watkins is simply a born storyteller, and he tells his own story with eloquence and style. I loved this book. Thanks again to writer Brian Payton for telling me about it. HIGHLY recommended. show less

Watkins is a fantastic writer. This is a memoir of his years as an American boy attending the Brittish schools, Dragon and Eton. His parents were English and sent him to give him all the advantages they were not able to have. He becomes something of a mid-atlantic person, neither American in England or English in America. What is most remarkable is the style of writing. There is no looking back aspect, it feels as if a chikd of the age he is at the time is writing it. He captures a feel of each place through his bits of rememberances. A truly fascinating read.

Memoirs of coming from the US, to Oxford, via the famous Dragon prep school and then Eton.

It is written from the view of a young, abandoned child: the sights, smells and traditions of school life. Some parts were very evocative of the time and place and I saw parallels with when I was at boarding school in Oxford at exactly the same time (although unlike Watkins, I didn't feel abandoned, and enjoyed it).

Other incidents seem much less plausible; I wondered if they were taken from films and comic strips! For example, I remember various hand-warmers being in vogue (no proper heating in boarding schools then!), but an over-charged one setting the wearer's trousers on fire stretched my credulity, as did the cliched filling of a whole dorm show more with feathers from pillow fights (it's actually very difficult to achieve). Other points were just carelessly inaccurate, eg term ending 3 weeks after bonfire night and his going to Eton only 4 years after starting the Dragon aged 7 (entry is at age 13).

The echoes with my own experiences made it more frustrating but also more compelling than it might be for others. show less

Anyone who has spent time in a boarding school will relate to certain episodes recounted in this book. I know I did!

Paul Watkins is a gifted writer, and his pared-down prose (somebody compared his style to Hemingway) provides a clarity to reminiscences that could so easily have become golden-tinged nostalgia. Instead, the book is remarkably unsentimental while being life-affirming. Eton and the Dragon School are never idealised or demonised - their existence is just a fact of life for the young Watkins as he graduates through the strange all-male world of private English education.

Very easy to read. I demolished the book in under two days.

The book opens as a very young boy is suddenly seemingly abandoned by his father in a house with a group of other boys and a housemaster. A memoir of growing up in English boys' schools, the narrative is both sincere and heartwarming. The author, Paul Watkins, shares his experiences as a young American among the, mostly, young British boys in two schools, The Dragon School and, later, Eton. The memoir is filled with various memories including both friendships and fun. There are typical schoolboy activities, however these are often punctuated by the harsh reality of being an outsider in a system with very old, slowly changing, traditions. The schools became, for Paul, places where "You had to stand before your God and commit." Throughout show more the memoir Paul's relationship with his father is a motif that develops to a climax in his father's death; an event that leads to an epiphany for Paul that helps define his life and career as a writer. Written with lucid prose and a pleasant expository style this is an excellent read; ultimately presenting an uplifting message. show less

If you are going to compare yourself to A Separate Peace, and This Boy's Life, you'd better be prepared to deliver the goods. This book fails to live up to expectations so highly set. So, okay, it wasn't awful, and in moments you can really see how this guy could be a great writer. BUT, this memoir is amateurish -- I was shocked to find that he's published a bunch of books (although any hack who gives good plot can get published these days, I guess). And I suppose, with a memoir, you go to war with the material you have (hey, it would be so much more awesome if I had gone to Westminster instead of Eton!) But nonetheless, it disappoints.