Books with an academia or schooling focus or setting

[kansaskyle]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Two classics I'd recommend would be "Goodbye Mr Chips" by James Hilton, and "To Serve Them All My Days", by R.F. Delderfield. Both tell the story of a British schoolmaster. Both wonderful stories. Delderfield in particular is one of my favourite authors.

on To Serve Them All My Days by R.F. Delderfield

I really enjoyed this book, which led me to several of Delderfield's other works.

Below is my short review on Amazon.

This is an excellent book if you like long, character-driven novels, although I found parts of it hard to follow being an American born long after World War 1. I found the novel interesting because it told of the war from the British perspective and what they went through after the victory in 1918.

The focus is on David Powell-Jones (a.k.a. PJ) as he takes on a teaching job as a means of recovering from war wounds received serving three years on the Western Front. PJ finds he is a natural teacher, and we see the impact he has on a generation of young men who would grow up after the "war to end all wars" only to find themselves thrown into harm's way during World War 2.

[ShortNet]

A classic of 'preAcademia' is A Clerk of Oxford and His Adventures in the Barons' War by Evelyn Everett-Green available from Gutenberg.

A completely different kind of school based books are the MacDonald Hall series by Gordon Korman, set in a Canadian boys boarding school: (This can't be happening at MacDonald Hall, Beware of the Fish, The Zucchini Warriors, The War with Mr. Wizzle...). They are written at the middle school level but are very very funny.

[JSWolf]

The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
Young Wizards series by Diane Duane
Matilda by Roald Dahl
Tom Brown's School Days by Thomas Hughes
Goodbye Mr. Chips by James Hilton
To Sir with Love by E. R. Braithwaite
The Real Animal House: The Awesomely Depraved Saga of the Fraternity That Inspired the Movie by Chris Miller

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by issybird

Dorothy L. Sayers's Gaudy Night, set at Oxford. It's pretty far along in the Wimsey canon, but you wouldn't have to read all the earlier books first. Perhaps just Strong Poison, which introduces the female protagonist, if you wanted to get up to speed, but it's not necessary.

I have to disagree. Whenever I read or hear of someone say a book in a series is standalone, it's usually not and in this case, it's sounds like not.

Personally, I dislike reading a series out of order.

[John F]

A Catcher in the Rye?

[issybird]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I have to disagree. Whenever I read or hear of someone say a book in a series is standalone, it's usually not and in this case, it's sounds like not.

Personally, I dislike reading a series out of order.

I think you might have mentioned that once or twice.

Here's the thing: we can't read everything. Why slog through an entire series if you're really interested in only one book? And for a lot of series, the first book is relatively weak. You're better off reading a later one that grabs you from the get-go; you might even go back and read the earlier stuff once you're hooked.

There are no rules. Enjoy! It's not like when you were a kid and your mother made you eat your string beans if you wanted dessert.

Back on topic:

This Side of Paradise, F. Scott Fitzgerald's first novel, set at Princeton.

Stover at Yale by Owen Johnson, published in 1912 and called the textbook of his generation by Fitzgerald.

[GlenBarrington]

This might be a little "Out there", but I recall the Harry Turtledove fantasy series "Darkness" has a major character that works in a magic research facility where the politics rival anything seen in our academia. The series covers far more than that, the academic setting is just one section of the larger work.

Plus, it's Harry Turtledove, so stand ins for Nazis are everywhere!

[John F]

A little bit of a stretch, but how about The Magicians by Lev Grossman?

[sun surfer]

Wow, I wasn't expecting such a lot of recs! I was going to respond to each one but that might be a bit long-winded (not that I can't be nice and long-winded when the mood strikes ). I still may reply to certain posts but, needless to say and either way, I appreciate all of the recs and there's so many here that sound really interesting and 'fit the bill' so well. I think I'll be enjoying many of these in the future and I'm looking forward to reading them!

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by sun surfer

Wow, I wasn't expecting such a lot of recs! I was going to respond to each one but that might be a bit long-winded (not that I can't be nice and long-winded when the mood strikes ). I still may reply to certain posts but, needless to say and either way, I appreciate all of the recs and there's so many here that sound really interesting and 'fit the bill' so well. I think I'll be enjoying many of these in the future and I'm looking forward to reading them!

Which of the books mention catch your fancy?

[Pulpmeister]

The Paper Chase, John J Osborn Jr, 1971. Filmed in 1973; later made into TV series lasting 4 seasons. I saw the movie, but not the series. Set in Law School.

Brothers in Law, Eric Cecil (humour)

Doctor in the House, Richard Gordon (medical school, humour)

[hildea]

On Smart Bitches Trashy Books, there's a rant about annoying tropes about academic heroines in romance (like the super genius with four PhDs before she's 25). In the comments there are lots of recommendations for books with academic heroines who don't suffer from these tropes

[taosaur]

If you don't mind allegorical deconstructions of academia, and none of them light reading, there are:

1. Magister Ludi/The Glass Bead Game by Hermann Hesse
2. Giles Goat-Boy by John Barth
3. Anathem by Neal Stephenson

Like Vonnegut, Barth was first recommended to me by someone who could easily have been a character from one of his books.

[Dr. Drib]

I don't know if these two have been mentioned.

I read "Small World," By David Lodge, back when I was working on a Ph.D in English. It's absolutely hilarious and captures the academic mind-set that I found myself immersed in at that time. By the way, this was shortlisted for the Booker Prize.

Also, there's another wonderfully witty 'academic' book by Joyce Carol Oats, titled "Unholy Loves."

[issybird]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

I don't know if these two have been mentioned.

I read "Small World," By David Lodge, back when I was working on a Ph.D in English. It's absolutely hilarious and captures the academic mind-set that I found myself immersed in at that time. By the way, this was shortlisted for the Booker Prize.

Also, there's another wonderfully witty 'academic' book by Joyce Carol Oats, titled "Unholy Loves."

You could always read the thread first!

Originally Posted by issybird

What I think of as campus fiction is a favorite genre of mine.

Somewhat along the lines of Lucky Jim, I'll start with three novels by David Lodge, Changing Places, Nice Work and Small World; two by Tom Sharpe, Porterhouse Blue and Grantchester Grind; and Evelyn Waugh's first novel, Decline and Fall.

But I have a lot more!