To think we are all ready to remove to Inter V at the Chalet School.

[SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius]

New thread for all the Chalet School fans!

I've just been rereading The Chalet School Goes to It (a title that confused me for years; for once I sympathise with Armada in their renaming of it) and the first couple of pages are taken up with an utterly random anecdote about Jack Maynard's nephew and how he died in a disobedience-related accident; you guessed it, he was massively spoilt by his mother.

Also notable are Beth Chester's chestnut hair and violet eyes (oh, how I longed for chestnut hair and violet eyes!) and the Chester twins becoming boarders... at the age of five.

Well Bob's wife (Ralf, or Rolf was the nephew wasn't he?) didn't immediately fall at the feet of Joey and heroworship her, so she had to be taught a lesson didn't she?

Yes, the nephew is Rolf.

You must be right, DeWee. Dissing Joey = death of firstborn.

Although considering how many times put her own life in danger when she was at school you'd think Joey could have a bit more sympathy. In rivals it said she'd promised Madge not to go off again but she disobeyed and went through the ice. Do you think Madge ever thought how much easier it would have been to stay in Cornwall and just send Joey away to school?

A strict convent school?

She's a blackmailer as well and gets away with that.

This is such a great thread. I'm another one who when reading always pronounced Inter V as "Inter Vee" in my head. I also thought Margot was "Mar-got" and Tyrol was "Tie-rol".

My first CS book was this edition of "three go" when, in a very CS way, my uncle was visiting from India and said I could choose a book as a gift and I chose this as I wanted to know why the lady was so angry (sorry Plato - I thought you were a lady!). I must have read that book 20 times though - & I can remember the joy of Christmas/Birthday money and going to the bookshop and eagerly gathering up the latest publications - bliss!

Beeyump - that site is hilarious - I can't believe when I was a kid I never really noticed the insanity of the covers and the plotlines - although perhaps reading them so out of order as they were published in the Armada pbs/I found them in charity shops helped with that, as already I had to make sense of characters being school girls/aged mamma's/prefects/juniors in concurrent (to me) books.

Anyway, keep up the good work mes filles!

Can I just say I am loving the transcripts. Spiffing larks. There's been a swimming regatta, a child has been locked into a classroom, about 50 really dull pages about tennis and a pageant.

I'm thrilled beyond belief my lambs.

Must go and see Matey. Time to unpack my trunk.

Made some time to enjoy the transcripts this evening. Whilst in Innsbruck on a day out they forgot to buy cakes for tea "Gisela interrupted him with a cry of dismay the cakes! We have forgotten the cakes! Now we shall only have rolls and butter. Gott in Himmel! But how thoughtless Her Marani looked as perturbed as his daughter"

Correct me if I'm wrong but doesn't 'Gott in Himmel' translate as god in heaven?! I mean for goodness sake they forgot some cakes its not the end of the world

Much as though I am enjoying re-reading the books and the early ones do still have good story lines have to say EBD style of writing with her punctuation and descriptions is something most english teachers would despair of. It seems very childlike the way it's written. The way the story is told is how I used to write stories aged 11 when I dreamt of becoming an author

I thought "Gott in Himmel" means "GOd in Heaven" too. Maybe it wasn't considered too bad. as expressions go.

I think I'd think it was a disaster forgetting the cakes too.

I do find the descriptions of sports' days (apparently totally hilarious to the point of people crying with laughter) rather odd. And the descriptions of the Christmas plays Apparently EBD used to often use the plays she described for the Christmas plays at her school too. Although I doubt they got many pupils afterwards wondering why it made them feel so wonderful.
The Christmas plays seemed to be her way of ranking people. The higher up they are in her eyes the bigger (and solo) part they got. Joey even had a main part the year after she left school
The only main character who couldn't sing was one from the Lucy clan-was it Betsy, who gets briefly mentioned that sh couldnt' sing at all. Although knowing EBD's consistancy, she probably was singing solos in a different book

And they always made such a thing of "the smallest child in the school" often had a big part. Or how they looked "no one would overlook your golden hair when casting angels"-as bad as Kingscote's casting!

Using Gott im Himmel in this way is more informal, it's more "Good Heavens" than "God In Heaven" much as someone may say "lordy, I forgot" (Hey, could that be SLANG? Take an order mark each!)

(now of course it would be bollocks, we forgot the cakes!)

I did wonder how they were keeping the butter fresh if it was as hot a day as EBD implied and also as they were going to buy kaffee anyway so why not buy the rolls, butter and cakes there too? You wouldn't take food to a cafe, surely?!

Wasn't Betsy Lucy the one 'with the puckish face' who wasn't a beauty although all her sisters were drop dead gorgeous. I think it's either her Mum or one of her aunts (Janey Lucy) who goes to see Jo and Jo gapes at her because she's not as pretty as her sisters and Janey makes a joke of it. I'd have been off down the garden path myself.

EBD always made a point of how pretty people were, neither Joey or Mary Lou were meant to be pretty at first although both had 'very distinctive faces' and I think both turned out pretty as they got older.

Revenge - i think the cafe sold kaffee, rolls and butter (and 'sehr gut marmalade') but no cakes. They make do with coffee and rolls and Herr Marani promises the cakes for Madge's birthday instead.

Whyamihere, yes you're right. Now why did EBD mark Betsy out as being totally tone deaf and the plain one in a beautiful family? Usually that's a sign of a bad character (as is being good at maths in EBD world ) but I don't think there's anything negative about her character I can think of.

I don't think there was anything bad in her character, I've always liked her, she seemed the forgotten one in between Julie and Vi.

Surely, nowadays it would be

"Who on earth packed these picnic baskets? Did they not get the latest directive from the education department? Good thing someone forgot to pick up the basket full of cakes. This sweet bread is already over their ration daily allowance of carbohydrates, let alone the fact it's white not brown bread!! As for the thick layer of butter they've spread on everything - has no one ever heard of cholesterol levels? Next thing someone is going to tell me is that those flasks contain coffee for the young girls!!"

Btw, hope you like the new name!!

Ofsted report:
"Those featherbeds of whipped cream go against the Healthy Eating Policy."

I've been rereading the transcripts too. While King Herod and his Cock turned out to be a real carol (found the lyrics online), I don't think they'd sing that at the CS Academy in Hackney.

Or how they looked "no one would overlook your golden hair when casting angels"-as bad as Kingscote's casting!

Yes, and remember how all the girls and staff at Kingscote thought Miss Keith's casting ideas were ridiculous?!

Antonia Forest's description of the Christmas Play in End of Term is fantastic, though. Almost the complete opposite of EBD's method - practically the whole book is taken up with the play in one form or another, yet the chapter dealing with the performance is so well done.

King Herod and his cock. Oh dear.

I love that description of the play in End of Term..............it actually sends shivers down my spine! The bit about singing of the ultimate solitude of God...

I always said Inter Vee....then corrected myself to inter five or fifth which sounds wrong...

Evadne just called the Saints coons! I didn't know what the word meant when I first read Rivals, but I'm rather stunned now. Also, they're on the side of the Ku Klux Klan and decide to emulate their ways!

We have subverted a new generation! All hail the Chalet School! :o

(DD age 7 saw some of my paperbacks when I had them out the other day. She asked if they were for her to read. I said that they were my books, but she could borrow them... She's addicted to Malory Towers so I'll have to see what happens now :o )

K