The Old School - Simon Raven

There is no doubt that the English Public School carries with it an entire mythology. In The Old School Simon Raven recalls his own schooldays. As a small boy he discovered Tom Merry Co of St Jim’s School in the pages of the boy’s magazine, The Gem. He dreamed of a world of high jinks and jolly japes, of floggings and expulsions, excitement at every turn. The image is such a powerful one that some boys never saw the reality. One headmaster recalls meeting a man who still told stories about the great times he had, forgetting how unpopular and miserable he had been.

By and large however the reports were good. But the young Raven was not told the whole story — ‘Well, my father said: there were certain aspects of school life which were not featured in The Gem . . .’It is Uncle Leo who sheds light on the subject, recalling a world in which juvenile homosexuality is rife and a pretty boy is referred to as ‘a much coveted blond’ or ‘the house tart’. Uncle Leo tells also of the politics of success, fluke prowess at cricket which earned him wide acclaim. We learn about the hierarchy and the petty rivalries which continue into later life, the disapproval earned at school which can never be shaken off.

There are many dissentient voices in Simon Raven’s book: Uncle Isaak who hates Public Schools because of their snobbism; Brian, the boot boy who hates the way Public Schools teach boys to look down on people like him; ‘Opie’, the author’s favourite master, who hates them for teaching the wrong subjects. And yet, when all is said and done, Public Schools do have great charm, a charm which Simon Raven’s wit and candour express to the full. Although he admits that he discovered a great many snakes in the ‘Public School Eden’ he reminds us that ‘the grubs that feed on filth, they say, turn into painted butterflies’.