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Molesworth #1
Down with Skool!
If headmasters were honest a prospectus would be a book which sa how many kanes he hav, contane a warning about the skool dog and the amount of prunes and rice served during the term.Nigel Molesworth may not be the best student St Custard's will ever have, but he is certainly able to express his feelings about his beloved school - not to mention botany walks and foopball. With his handy guide to Masters at a Glance (Know the Enemy) and Lessons (chiz chiz) and How to Avoid Them, no noble brave fearless etc. boy will ever have to suffer at the hands of the 'swots, bulies, milksops greedy guts and oiks' ever again WIZZ.
112 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1953
About the author
Geoffrey Willans
41 books28 followersHerbert Geoffrey Willans was an English author and journalist, is best known as the co-creator, with the illustrator Ronald Searle, of Nigel Molesworth, the "goriller of 3b and curse of St. Custard's".
He was educated at Blundells School, Tiverton, and became a schoolmaster there. Molesworth first appeared in Punch in the 1940s and was the protagonist and narrator of five books, beginning with 1953's Down with Skool!, and followed by How to be Topp, Wizz for Atomms and, posthumously, Back in the Jug Agane and the anthology, The Compleet Molesworth. Comic misspellings, erratic capitalisation and 1950s public schoolboy slang are threads running through all the books.
According to Ronald Searle in his obituary:
"His cunning was more refined than Bunter...Willans was delighted that schoolmasters, far from feeling publicly disrobed, were in fact giving away his books as end of school prizes."
Willans co-wrote the screenplay for the 1959 film The Bridal Path, which starred George Cole, but died at the age of 47 before the film was released. He also wrote a number of other, mostly humorous, books, including The Dog's Ear Book (also with Searle), My Uncle Harry (an exploration of the British gentlemen's club), Fasten Your Lapstraps! (an account of the early days of intercontinental flight), and Admiral on Horseback (a rather serious one about the navy). He was a keen amateur botanist, and spent so long in the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew that the staff gave him a key.
A review in The Times newspaper describes The Whistling Arrow as having a futuristic aeroplane as the 'heroine'. "It is his apparent strength in writing about planes and the people that flew them." The reviewer compares it with one of Evelyn Waugh's earlier novels.
He was educated at Blundells School, Tiverton, and became a schoolmaster there. Molesworth first appeared in Punch in the 1940s and was the protagonist and narrator of five books, beginning with 1953's Down with Skool!, and followed by How to be Topp, Wizz for Atomms and, posthumously, Back in the Jug Agane and the anthology, The Compleet Molesworth. Comic misspellings, erratic capitalisation and 1950s public schoolboy slang are threads running through all the books.
According to Ronald Searle in his obituary:
"His cunning was more refined than Bunter...Willans was delighted that schoolmasters, far from feeling publicly disrobed, were in fact giving away his books as end of school prizes."
Willans co-wrote the screenplay for the 1959 film The Bridal Path, which starred George Cole, but died at the age of 47 before the film was released. He also wrote a number of other, mostly humorous, books, including The Dog's Ear Book (also with Searle), My Uncle Harry (an exploration of the British gentlemen's club), Fasten Your Lapstraps! (an account of the early days of intercontinental flight), and Admiral on Horseback (a rather serious one about the navy). He was a keen amateur botanist, and spent so long in the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew that the staff gave him a key.
A review in The Times newspaper describes The Whistling Arrow as having a futuristic aeroplane as the 'heroine'. "It is his apparent strength in writing about planes and the people that flew them." The reviewer compares it with one of Evelyn Waugh's earlier novels.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 67 reviews
August 23, 2020
As any fule kno this is the BEST book ever!
N. Molesworth M. Rayner
___________________
Sum peeple e.g. Nott ahem ahem say this book haz bean fogottin this is NOT TREW iff you want an eggsample just luk at the Wikkipeadier page for me Nigel Molesworth you will sea I invented Hogwarts skool ov weedy wet Harry Potter and girl swot Hermione Granjer chiz chiz say no moar.
___________________
Sum peeple e.g. Nott ahem ahem say this book haz bean fogottin this is NOT TREW iff you want an eggsample just luk at the Wikkipeadier page for me Nigel Molesworth you will sea I invented Hogwarts skool ov weedy wet Harry Potter and girl swot Hermione Granjer chiz chiz say no moar.
December 20, 2016
Another foray into the category that is "Books I read as a child". I read this as part of "The Compleet Molesworth" which collects all four Molesworth books into one.
I wonder what a child of today would make of Molesworth? Even when I was growing up, in the 1970s, this 1950s depiction of boarding schools felt dated. An arcane world of Latin, Trig, Chizz, etc. That said, there was, and is, something wonderful about N. Molesworth's comic musings. The splendid illustrations by Ronald Searle, the incessant misspellings, the ongoing fight against the teachers, and (my personal favourite) fotherington-tomas ("Hullo clouds hullo sky hullo sun"). All of it evokes a lost world of canings, school caps, the remnants of a classical education, masters, bulies, gurls, cads, sops, oiks, parents, and even the skool dog. The book concludes with Molesworth's masterly short story about the Prunes uprising.
As a bit of light relief, and a trip down memory lane, I really enjoyed it. Genuinely funny, although perhaps you had to have enjoyed it as a child?
I wonder what a child of today would make of Molesworth? Even when I was growing up, in the 1970s, this 1950s depiction of boarding schools felt dated. An arcane world of Latin, Trig, Chizz, etc. That said, there was, and is, something wonderful about N. Molesworth's comic musings. The splendid illustrations by Ronald Searle, the incessant misspellings, the ongoing fight against the teachers, and (my personal favourite) fotherington-tomas ("Hullo clouds hullo sky hullo sun"). All of it evokes a lost world of canings, school caps, the remnants of a classical education, masters, bulies, gurls, cads, sops, oiks, parents, and even the skool dog. The book concludes with Molesworth's masterly short story about the Prunes uprising.
As a bit of light relief, and a trip down memory lane, I really enjoyed it. Genuinely funny, although perhaps you had to have enjoyed it as a child?
July 4, 2016
I teach school, which means that I am forever being serenaded with laments of how much better education was in some bygone era. Students were more respectful; students were more intelligent; most of all, students were more devoted to learning.
These experiences provide me just one more reason to love Down with Skool! Geoffrey Willans’ book purports to be the extended description by one young Nigel Molesworth of his English boarding school, St. Custard’s. Published in the 1950s, Down with Skool! proves what we all secretly suspect: that students have always been as fidgety, rebellious, ignorant, lazy, and pigheaded as they are today. As a schoolmaster himself, Willans had plenty of experience with early 20th century ignoramuses.
Nigel Molesworth, the self-described “curse of St. Custard’s,” is a blockhead, not to put it too finely. (He is known as Molesworth 1 at St. Custard’s in order to distinguish him from his even stupider younger brother, Molesworth 2.) Nigel’s spelling, punctuation, and syntax are atrocious, and he finds French, Latin, English (especially poetry), mathematics, geography, science — actually, anything academic — a complete waste of his valuable time. He finds his schoolmasters “weedy” and “wet,” and he devotes an entire chapter of the book to strategies for getting his masters off-task and for avoiding work.
But allow me to quote Molesworth himself on Macbeth:
I could join Molesworth’s English master in weeping.
Seriously, though, at just 114 pages, a reader can knock off this pretty funny book in just a few hours. Molesworth’s rantings will delight even a hard-hearted schoolteacher like me, while giving one an appreciation for all of the non-Molesworths in one’s class. Lastly, it provides this excellent explanation for endless supply of idiots in the world:
It hapens very often that parents think they are worred about the progress a boy is making. they do not realise that all boys are numskulls with o branes which is not surprising when you look at the parents really the whole thing goes on and on and there is no stoping it it is a vicious circle.
Thus shall it be ever.
These experiences provide me just one more reason to love Down with Skool! Geoffrey Willans’ book purports to be the extended description by one young Nigel Molesworth of his English boarding school, St. Custard’s. Published in the 1950s, Down with Skool! proves what we all secretly suspect: that students have always been as fidgety, rebellious, ignorant, lazy, and pigheaded as they are today. As a schoolmaster himself, Willans had plenty of experience with early 20th century ignoramuses.
Nigel Molesworth, the self-described “curse of St. Custard’s,” is a blockhead, not to put it too finely. (He is known as Molesworth 1 at St. Custard’s in order to distinguish him from his even stupider younger brother, Molesworth 2.) Nigel’s spelling, punctuation, and syntax are atrocious, and he finds French, Latin, English (especially poetry), mathematics, geography, science — actually, anything academic — a complete waste of his valuable time. He finds his schoolmasters “weedy” and “wet,” and he devotes an entire chapter of the book to strategies for getting his masters off-task and for avoiding work.
But allow me to quote Molesworth himself on Macbeth:
Sometimes we hav to recite which is girly in the extreme and there is no chance to read famous CRIB which you copied out in prep, when I recite it is something like this:Tomow and tomow and tomow
Um ah um ah
Tomow and tomow and tomow
Um — ah creeps creeps in the last syll–
No!
Tomowandtomowandtomow
Creeps in this um um
Out!
OUT!
Brief candle
Yes i kno sir half a mo sir
Yes
fie
O fie!
Um um tis an unweeded syllable an un–
No!
Tomowandtomowandtomow etc.
In other words quite frankly i just don’t kno it.
Also quite frankly
I JUST COULDN’T CARE LESS
What use will that be to me in this atomic age?
Occasionally english masters chide me for this point of view o molesworth one you must learn the value of spiritual things until i spray them with 200 rounds of my bakterial gun. i then plant the British in the masters inkwell and declare a whole holiday for the skool. boo to shakespeare.
So much for English masters.
I could join Molesworth’s English master in weeping.
Seriously, though, at just 114 pages, a reader can knock off this pretty funny book in just a few hours. Molesworth’s rantings will delight even a hard-hearted schoolteacher like me, while giving one an appreciation for all of the non-Molesworths in one’s class. Lastly, it provides this excellent explanation for endless supply of idiots in the world:
It hapens very often that parents think they are worred about the progress a boy is making. they do not realise that all boys are numskulls with o branes which is not surprising when you look at the parents really the whole thing goes on and on and there is no stoping it it is a vicious circle.
Thus shall it be ever.
January 4, 2012
Molesworth 1, the curse of st. custard's. As everbode kno, st. custard's is uterly wet and weedy, but of course that is the same with all skools. Best bit: skool food, or the piece of cod which passeth understanding.
June 24, 2015
Pequeña gran joya completamente recomendable a todos aquellos que les guste el humor británico o que, simplemente, deseen pasar un muy buen rato leyendo un buen libro y disfrutando de unas magníficas ilustraciones. La edición de Impedimenta es, como siempre, espléndida. El personaje de Nigel Molesworth es de los inolvidables.
Reseña completa:
http://www.libros-prohibidos.com/geof...
Reseña completa:
http://www.libros-prohibidos.com/geof...
September 23, 2024
There's a particular strain of British comic prose that reached its zenith in the late 1940s, early 1950s; no less surreal than the later Spike Milligan and Monty Python, it was satire that came out of harsher economic times, so the background is always a bit shabby, worn out, held together by string. Maurice Richardson, J.B. Morton and W.E Bowman were three of its finest exponents...
Geoffrey Willans was another master. This is the first 'Molesworth' book ('Molesworth' ought really to be written in lowercase letters) and it's a gem. Brilliantly illustrated by Ronald Searle, to the point where it is right to speak of Searle as an equal collaborator, it satirises the kind of school life that has long been dead in Britain and yet the inherent anarchy and subversiveness is still as valid as ever...
Geoffrey Willans was another master. This is the first 'Molesworth' book ('Molesworth' ought really to be written in lowercase letters) and it's a gem. Brilliantly illustrated by Ronald Searle, to the point where it is right to speak of Searle as an equal collaborator, it satirises the kind of school life that has long been dead in Britain and yet the inherent anarchy and subversiveness is still as valid as ever...
November 7, 2016
First read while I was at skool (hem hem) these are books that I return to time and time again and they never disappoint. The adventures of our narrator Nigel Molesworth, the curse of St Custards and his skool chums (chiz, chiz). So funny and still so relevant. Mrs Grabber's speech (a woman as young as she is attractive) at sports day never fails to make me laugh out loud, "Cor strike a light". Five stars as any fule kno.
November 12, 2023
Delightful to revisit Molesworth 1 and the gang after so many years. Far more insightful than I appreciated as a kid, but still just as funny
December 20, 2016
Funny school guide. Although set in a british boarding school of the 50's there is still a lot of things which are familiar. The entire book however is written in broken english which can get annoying at times.
Overall pretty enjoyable and strangely subversive. I never would have thought that this was written in the 50's, seems much more like a product of the early 70's.
Overall pretty enjoyable and strangely subversive. I never would have thought that this was written in the 50's, seems much more like a product of the early 70's.
March 31, 2012
Grabber - winner of the Mrs Joyful prize for rafia work. Just one treat among many.
September 9, 2013
This is the kind of humour I only enjoy for 2-3 pages. After that I'm bored and can't really laugh about it anymore.
July 31, 2021
A satirical expose of British prep. school (particularly a boarding school in this instance), Willans and Searle's Molesworth would be worth of reintroduction in today's Private Eye. Rich with appalling spelling from our narrator and writer, coupled with hopeless teachers and vaguely foggy parents, it is an over-the-shoulder view of many junior and secondary school experiences. Lessons which seem to bear little meaning, and Masters who seem more sadistic and cynical than most of the villains out of a Dickens novel, this is a school classic with tongue firmly planted in cheek. All overflowing with humour thanks to Searle's incredible art.
March 30, 2013
Publicado en http://lecturaylocura.com/abajo-el-co...
Solo puedo aplaudir ante la publicación, si todo va bien, de toda la serie de Nigel Molesworth y que se inicia con este “¡Abajo el colejio!, obra perpetrada con el ingenio conjunto de los dos autores, Geoffrey Willans, el escritor, y Ronald Searle, el ilustrador. Simbiosis es lo que podemos comprobar que se sucede en cada página que pasa. Estamos ante una obra en que los textos y las ilustraciones están tan unidos que es difícil separar una de la otra sin causar perjuicio a la percepción de la misma.
En el primer capítulo “Bueno, vamos hallá” tenemos la presentación del sátiro protagonista: “Yo soy este, Nigel Molesworth, el terror de San Custodio que es mi colejio. Es un sitio húmedo y cutre como voy a dejar claro (espero), aunque en realidad todos los colejios son iguales.
En San Custodio hay bastonazos, latín, geografía, historia, mates, geometría, directores, un perro que vive en el colejio, salchichas misteriosas, mi hermano molesworth-2 y sobretodo PROFES por todas partes.”
Este va a ser el tono del libro acompañado por ilustraciones excelentes del gran Searle que no harán más que acentuar el tono satírico de la narración; no nos engañemos, a pesar del tono lúdico, de divertimento, los autores no cejaron en su empeño de mostrar la decadencia de la enseñanza inglesa en la que había cosas que no iban del todo bien, empleando un eufemismo; esta denuncia se puede presentar de una manera panfletista; o bien, se puede presentar como lo hacen este par, con ingenio, locuacidad y saber hacer.
Por citar algún capítulo me quedo con el del capítulo 3 “un recorrido por los calabozos o los profesores uno a uno” donde se describe de la siguiente manera, entrañable, a los profesores de literatura: “Los profesores de literatura lleban el pelo largo corbatas rojas y sueltan chorradas como “Wordsworth nos conduce al éxtasis” y “Dios mío molesworth, seguro que no era su intención escribir una frase semejante”. Para los deberes siempre te mandan una redacción, si es que se les ocurre algún tema.”
En la siguiente ilustración podemos observar la capacidad de expresar los gestos que Searle tenía, con los impagables textos de Willans en ese intento de categorización de profesores por parte del advenedizo e informal Molesworth.
Es muy divertido el capítulo 7 “la comida en el colejio o asta preferiríamos bacalao”, donde el locuaz alumno denuncia la hipocresía de sus compañeros a la hora de la comida:
“Algunos chicos nunca hablan mal de la comida de el colejio. No es por que tengan buenos modales. Me gustaría recordar a esos canallas y sinvergüenzas sus caras de asco y sus lloriqueos cada vez que les ponen delante otra de las salchichas especiales de el colejio.
Cuando se enfrentan a uno de esos asquerosos trozos de carne que ni el perro probaría los hay que ponen cara de que no les gusta pero luego se lo comen todo sin rechistar.”
El único problema que se le puede sacar al libro es que se hace demasiado corto, pero no hay tiempo para aburrirse con él; textos excelentes, ilustraciones ingeniosas, empaste, composiciones de páginas a cuál más divertida, y crítica de fondo. No quiero, eso sí, dejar de reseñar la fantástica traducción de Jon Bilbao; en este caso, por las peculiaridades fonéticas de Molesworth al hablar, es bastante difícil transmitir esos fallos de un idioma a otro y tengo que reconocer que el efecto, en mi opinión, es el deseado y está muy logrado.
En conclusión, una muy buena lectura para pasar un rato ameno; por momentos, descacharrante.
Solo puedo aplaudir ante la publicación, si todo va bien, de toda la serie de Nigel Molesworth y que se inicia con este “¡Abajo el colejio!, obra perpetrada con el ingenio conjunto de los dos autores, Geoffrey Willans, el escritor, y Ronald Searle, el ilustrador. Simbiosis es lo que podemos comprobar que se sucede en cada página que pasa. Estamos ante una obra en que los textos y las ilustraciones están tan unidos que es difícil separar una de la otra sin causar perjuicio a la percepción de la misma.
En el primer capítulo “Bueno, vamos hallá” tenemos la presentación del sátiro protagonista: “Yo soy este, Nigel Molesworth, el terror de San Custodio que es mi colejio. Es un sitio húmedo y cutre como voy a dejar claro (espero), aunque en realidad todos los colejios son iguales.
En San Custodio hay bastonazos, latín, geografía, historia, mates, geometría, directores, un perro que vive en el colejio, salchichas misteriosas, mi hermano molesworth-2 y sobretodo PROFES por todas partes.”
Este va a ser el tono del libro acompañado por ilustraciones excelentes del gran Searle que no harán más que acentuar el tono satírico de la narración; no nos engañemos, a pesar del tono lúdico, de divertimento, los autores no cejaron en su empeño de mostrar la decadencia de la enseñanza inglesa en la que había cosas que no iban del todo bien, empleando un eufemismo; esta denuncia se puede presentar de una manera panfletista; o bien, se puede presentar como lo hacen este par, con ingenio, locuacidad y saber hacer.
Por citar algún capítulo me quedo con el del capítulo 3 “un recorrido por los calabozos o los profesores uno a uno” donde se describe de la siguiente manera, entrañable, a los profesores de literatura: “Los profesores de literatura lleban el pelo largo corbatas rojas y sueltan chorradas como “Wordsworth nos conduce al éxtasis” y “Dios mío molesworth, seguro que no era su intención escribir una frase semejante”. Para los deberes siempre te mandan una redacción, si es que se les ocurre algún tema.”
En la siguiente ilustración podemos observar la capacidad de expresar los gestos que Searle tenía, con los impagables textos de Willans en ese intento de categorización de profesores por parte del advenedizo e informal Molesworth.
Es muy divertido el capítulo 7 “la comida en el colejio o asta preferiríamos bacalao”, donde el locuaz alumno denuncia la hipocresía de sus compañeros a la hora de la comida:
“Algunos chicos nunca hablan mal de la comida de el colejio. No es por que tengan buenos modales. Me gustaría recordar a esos canallas y sinvergüenzas sus caras de asco y sus lloriqueos cada vez que les ponen delante otra de las salchichas especiales de el colejio.
Cuando se enfrentan a uno de esos asquerosos trozos de carne que ni el perro probaría los hay que ponen cara de que no les gusta pero luego se lo comen todo sin rechistar.”
El único problema que se le puede sacar al libro es que se hace demasiado corto, pero no hay tiempo para aburrirse con él; textos excelentes, ilustraciones ingeniosas, empaste, composiciones de páginas a cuál más divertida, y crítica de fondo. No quiero, eso sí, dejar de reseñar la fantástica traducción de Jon Bilbao; en este caso, por las peculiaridades fonéticas de Molesworth al hablar, es bastante difícil transmitir esos fallos de un idioma a otro y tengo que reconocer que el efecto, en mi opinión, es el deseado y está muy logrado.
En conclusión, una muy buena lectura para pasar un rato ameno; por momentos, descacharrante.
August 1, 2016
First encountered Molesworth the 'goriller of 3B' aka 'the curse of st custard's' as quite a small child who desperately wanted to go to St Trinians as Mallory Towers seemed rather too earnest and full of sporty types like Darrell Rivers. Molesworth is the complete antithesis of all the goody-goody schoolboy heroes such as Tom Brown and of a far greater criminal tendency than even Jennings. He also benefits from the wonderful line drawings of Ronald Searle allowing us, his adoring audience an insight into the ways of headmasters 'this is not going to hurt me as much it hurts you' and how to avoid all the subjects, academic, sporting and creative.
Written in Molesworth's own inimitable style, we are introduced to Grabber 'who is head of the skool captane of everything and winer of the mrs joyful prize for rafia work. His pater is very rich and hav a super rolls enuff said...' along with other Custardians such as fotherington-thomas - hello trees, hello clouds....
Brilliant satire of 50s life, and possibly one the likes of certain very right wing politicians could do well to read. It wasn't all flowery aprons, perfectly turned out little boys, regardless of the chocolate box nostalgia of some tv dramas.
Written in Molesworth's own inimitable style, we are introduced to Grabber 'who is head of the skool captane of everything and winer of the mrs joyful prize for rafia work. His pater is very rich and hav a super rolls enuff said...' along with other Custardians such as fotherington-thomas - hello trees, hello clouds....
Brilliant satire of 50s life, and possibly one the likes of certain very right wing politicians could do well to read. It wasn't all flowery aprons, perfectly turned out little boys, regardless of the chocolate box nostalgia of some tv dramas.
April 27, 2012
If you have never read one of the Skool books whilst sitting on the loo - you have never lived!
Very funny, I read most of the Molesworth books as a kid. Definitely not moldy chizz! I learned never to annoy the skool dogg or hide the beke's bottle of bere or eat the skool sossiges and that Peason sez helo trees, helo sky, helo berds and has the Misses Joyful Prize for Raffia work.
Very funny, I read most of the Molesworth books as a kid. Definitely not moldy chizz! I learned never to annoy the skool dogg or hide the beke's bottle of bere or eat the skool sossiges and that Peason sez helo trees, helo sky, helo berds and has the Misses Joyful Prize for Raffia work.
January 17, 2008
I just loved these Nigel Molesworth books when I was young. A nice counterpoint to all the Enid Blyton prigs.
November 9, 2012
Magnificent books!
February 20, 2019
Down with Skool, is the first in a series of books about Nigel Molesworth the terror of St. Custard's Boys School.
Geoffrey Willans and illustrator Roger Searle worked together on a comic diary of Molesworth's school escapades for Punch magazine from 1939 to 1942. Down with Skool was their first published book (1953), which became so popular that several books followed before Willans died suddenly of a heart attack. Willans a former headmaster, and quite possibly a young prankster in his early years, most likely based Molesworth on his own experiences and memories. I thought Searle’s illustrations were brilliant and without them Molesworth probably wouldn’t have become so well-known.
Nigel Molesworth shares his cynical and quirky philosophies on life at an English boarding school with this guide for students. One hilarious example of both Willans and Searle’s collaboration is an invention that Molesworth has (patnt pnding.) of THE Molesworth-Peason Lines Machine. This machine was created by Nigel and his best friend in response to write-offs punishment. The drawing shows Molesworth pedaling a tall bicycle that is rigged with paper, an inkpot, and over half-a-dozen pens. The pedaling puts in motion the pens, which simultaneously complete multiple sentences of “I must be good,” expediting written punishment in a most enjoyable way.
While reading this book, I even found connections to the Harry Potter series, taking place at another school for boys, and I’m pretty sure J.K. Rowling was a Geoffrey Willans fan. Molesworth calls his favorite jokes “wizard wheeses,” he fears brainy and athletic “gurls” with names like Hermione and Millicent, and he was once forced to perform in a Latin play entitled “The Hogwarts.” And, though dated, I can see how these books may have inspired the popular comic series Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney.
Molesworth is famous for his horrendous spelling and use of slang. I’m not entirely sure, but I think that ‘chiz’ (used rather frequently) is the British way of saying ‘geez.’ Molesworth refers to himself as Molesworth 1, since he has a younger (less intelligent) brother who is known as Molesworth 2. Getting adjusted to the character’s phonetic way of spelling takes a bit of time. But after reading along, I soon found myself using a cockney accent with an ‘inside-my-head voice.’ I also made a cool discovery about an expression that Molesworth is famous for: “Any fule kno that.” This became the catchphrase and title of a rockin’ Deep Purple song!
Geoffrey Willans and illustrator Roger Searle worked together on a comic diary of Molesworth's school escapades for Punch magazine from 1939 to 1942. Down with Skool was their first published book (1953), which became so popular that several books followed before Willans died suddenly of a heart attack. Willans a former headmaster, and quite possibly a young prankster in his early years, most likely based Molesworth on his own experiences and memories. I thought Searle’s illustrations were brilliant and without them Molesworth probably wouldn’t have become so well-known.
Nigel Molesworth shares his cynical and quirky philosophies on life at an English boarding school with this guide for students. One hilarious example of both Willans and Searle’s collaboration is an invention that Molesworth has (patnt pnding.) of THE Molesworth-Peason Lines Machine. This machine was created by Nigel and his best friend in response to write-offs punishment. The drawing shows Molesworth pedaling a tall bicycle that is rigged with paper, an inkpot, and over half-a-dozen pens. The pedaling puts in motion the pens, which simultaneously complete multiple sentences of “I must be good,” expediting written punishment in a most enjoyable way.
While reading this book, I even found connections to the Harry Potter series, taking place at another school for boys, and I’m pretty sure J.K. Rowling was a Geoffrey Willans fan. Molesworth calls his favorite jokes “wizard wheeses,” he fears brainy and athletic “gurls” with names like Hermione and Millicent, and he was once forced to perform in a Latin play entitled “The Hogwarts.” And, though dated, I can see how these books may have inspired the popular comic series Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney.
Molesworth is famous for his horrendous spelling and use of slang. I’m not entirely sure, but I think that ‘chiz’ (used rather frequently) is the British way of saying ‘geez.’ Molesworth refers to himself as Molesworth 1, since he has a younger (less intelligent) brother who is known as Molesworth 2. Getting adjusted to the character’s phonetic way of spelling takes a bit of time. But after reading along, I soon found myself using a cockney accent with an ‘inside-my-head voice.’ I also made a cool discovery about an expression that Molesworth is famous for: “Any fule kno that.” This became the catchphrase and title of a rockin’ Deep Purple song!
June 3, 2015
Bits of it were really funny but I think my dad got the humour more (seeing he went to a school more like that)
The reification of the types of masculinity in the culture of an all boy's school was the worst thing. It poked gentle fun at school (some aspects of it) but played right into sexism and homophobia with some of the jokes and seemed to really be saying that type of schooling is a good thing - there was no critical substance.
It's just humour I guess you could say but as me, a girl in Australia in a slightly later time I couldn;t really relate to most of it (some bits were funny though and the irreverence seemed deliciously transgressive at the time)
The reification of the types of masculinity in the culture of an all boy's school was the worst thing. It poked gentle fun at school (some aspects of it) but played right into sexism and homophobia with some of the jokes and seemed to really be saying that type of schooling is a good thing - there was no critical substance.
It's just humour I guess you could say but as me, a girl in Australia in a slightly later time I couldn;t really relate to most of it (some bits were funny though and the irreverence seemed deliciously transgressive at the time)
May 5, 2011
First published in 1953 - an enjoyable childhood read. The deliberate spelling mistakes were amusing back then, but sadly prophetic of modern day standards.
September 24, 2019
Heste livro hes la ostia ke me troncho, kolega.
January 12, 2024
Bueno, bueno, bueno... A ver, dejad que me limpie la sangre de los ojos, porque esto ha sido superior a mis fuerzas. Leer una especie de diario escrito por un niño que no sabe lo que es la "ortografía" es duro, pero es que si encima lo convierte en una especie de manual de usuario... Madre de dios!
Bueno, ahora independientemente de las muchas (muchísimas) faltas de ortografía intencionadas, me he divertido leyendo, ha sido muy ameno, en gran parte por las ilustraciones (que adjunto un par de fotos de ejemplo), y porque sientes que realmente es la voz de un niño la que te habla (un niño que dios me salve de tener como alumno).
Lectura rápida, amena, y sobre todo válida en mi caso para distraerme un rato. Si no buscáis algo sustancial para leer, os podéis apuntar este, pero ojo, tampoco lo dejo aquí como recomendación, que al menos a mí me ha puesto algo nerviosa!
Bueno, ahora independientemente de las muchas (muchísimas) faltas de ortografía intencionadas, me he divertido leyendo, ha sido muy ameno, en gran parte por las ilustraciones (que adjunto un par de fotos de ejemplo), y porque sientes que realmente es la voz de un niño la que te habla (un niño que dios me salve de tener como alumno).
Lectura rápida, amena, y sobre todo válida en mi caso para distraerme un rato. Si no buscáis algo sustancial para leer, os podéis apuntar este, pero ojo, tampoco lo dejo aquí como recomendación, que al menos a mí me ha puesto algo nerviosa!
January 24, 2021
First of the immortal Molesworth tetralogy as any fule kno. I must have been 9 or 10 when I first read this, and though I've read it countless times in the intervening half-century it still makes me snort with laughter and there are bits I had forgotten among the chunks I recall perfectly. A perfect marriage of comic writing and drawing.
November 16, 2020
Blimmin' adore this forever. Go on, laugh your socks off.
July 16, 2014
No es fácil dar una opinión sobre un libro como este, un libro que según reza el subtítulo nos trae un “manual de instrucciones para la vida escolar destinado a los alumnos y sus padres” y digo que no es fácil porque lo que para algunos será una obra maestra para otros será una auténtica vergüenza plagada de faltas de ortografía, irreverencias y sinsentidos.
Antes de nada creo que es importante poner el libro dentro de su contexto, un libro escrito a mediados del siglo pasado y valido para todas las edades, porque estoy convencido que muchos chavales pueden disfrutar con él.
Un tipo de libro gamberro con algunos puntos muy buenos pero que en ocasiones, y a pesar de su brevedad, ha llegado a parecerme un tanto reiterativo. Evidentemente las faltas de ortografía (magnífico el trabajo del traductor) que nos encontramos están ahí a propósito, con la idea de mostrarnos en todo su esplendor a quién nos está narrando la historia, pero entiendo también que haya quién no soporte este tipo de literatura.
La tabla de contenido del libro no tiene desperdicio y nos muestra todo lo que vamos a poder encontrar: Información pribilegiada sobre colejios,empollones, chibatos, canallas, direztores, criquet, guarros, habusones, padres, profesores, artistas del hengaño, malas llerbas en jeneral, bromitas de dormitorio y desastres diversos… en realidad…el tinglado al completo.
Por cierto que en la página de la editorial Impedimenta podemos descargarnos el primer capítulo en formato pdf para hacernos una idea de lo que nos vamos a encontrar.
Recomendable para pasar un buen rato, recordar tiempos de escuela y echar más de una sonrisa.
Antes de nada creo que es importante poner el libro dentro de su contexto, un libro escrito a mediados del siglo pasado y valido para todas las edades, porque estoy convencido que muchos chavales pueden disfrutar con él.
Un tipo de libro gamberro con algunos puntos muy buenos pero que en ocasiones, y a pesar de su brevedad, ha llegado a parecerme un tanto reiterativo. Evidentemente las faltas de ortografía (magnífico el trabajo del traductor) que nos encontramos están ahí a propósito, con la idea de mostrarnos en todo su esplendor a quién nos está narrando la historia, pero entiendo también que haya quién no soporte este tipo de literatura.
La tabla de contenido del libro no tiene desperdicio y nos muestra todo lo que vamos a poder encontrar: Información pribilegiada sobre colejios,empollones, chibatos, canallas, direztores, criquet, guarros, habusones, padres, profesores, artistas del hengaño, malas llerbas en jeneral, bromitas de dormitorio y desastres diversos… en realidad…el tinglado al completo.
Por cierto que en la página de la editorial Impedimenta podemos descargarnos el primer capítulo en formato pdf para hacernos una idea de lo que nos vamos a encontrar.
Recomendable para pasar un buen rato, recordar tiempos de escuela y echar más de una sonrisa.
December 21, 2017
So completed Down With Skool! (Molesworth #1) by Geoffrey Willans and Ronald Searle. This was one of the recommendations I got here when I requested for school story recommendations last year. I started it 6 months back but put it down after one chapter. It seemed so different from anything I have read. For one it does not have a story as such - it is more like random jottings on various aspects of school by a school boy. The other thing is the language - it is full of wrong spellings and grammatical errors to give a feel of a real school boy writing. When I started I struggled to read. But after a few pages, I got used to it and started enjoying it. In fact I felt that kind of language adds to the humor especially when some serious observations on society are made like issue with the education system. Similarly once I dropped expectations of a story with a plot and characters, the book began to feel enjoyable. In some ways, it reminded me of Calvin and Hobbes. If Calvin wrote a book about his life, it would be like this. The book is full of cynical observations couple with some word play based humor and funny illustrations. The illustrations are as much part of the story as the text which is why I guess the illustrator is mentioned as a co-author. However I could not enjoy them as much because they did not come out that clearly on my Kindle Paper White. Overall a light fun read for people who don't want to commit to a novel. You don't even have to read it cover to cover. You can just pick it up and peruse a few pages for a few laughs, move on and then come back latter like one reads the comic strips in newspapers.
December 1, 2020
Read this British classic after listening to a rousing conversation about it on my favorite podcast, Backlisted. I have learned about some terrific books through this podcast, my favorite being A Month in the Country. This was fun, quite dark children's book but clearly a cultural treasure that does not necessarily translate to an American reader (at least this American reader). I did enjoy the sly humor and the illustrations. A quick read.
March 31, 2022
I hav joined here speshully to leave a review of this very tome. It would be one book of my choice, if i had to choose ten books to take to somewhere where there will never be any other books. Well ok i would go for the bumper-sized collection of all three books, which i fortunately already own.
This book is part of my life, every day. Any time i write, the correct speling according to Molesworth is in my mind, and also his grate astuteness and disernment in all things.
I heart molesworth.
This book is part of my life, every day. Any time i write, the correct speling according to Molesworth is in my mind, and also his grate astuteness and disernment in all things.
I heart molesworth.
February 9, 2018
Delirante, cómico, agudo y una crítica al sistema educacional en este libro. Suma puntos las descripciones a los adultos, los sin sentido de algunos dibujos y por sobre todo la ortografía delirante del texto. No le pongo más estrellas pues se me hizo muy corto y si bien la traducción es excepcional (titánica labor de Jon Bilbao al traducir las faltas ortográficas), peca mucho de tener un argot marcado que a los lectores de Latinoamérica costará dilucidar.
February 18, 2015
I last read this about thirty years ago, aged ten. It’s a charming book and very readable today.
Molesworth senior is a great guide to all that happens at St Custard’s school and all who labour in her. You can’t help feeling a certain warmth towards all the masters, parents and fellow students he describes to us. The illustrations are magnificent.
Molesworth senior is a great guide to all that happens at St Custard’s school and all who labour in her. You can’t help feeling a certain warmth towards all the masters, parents and fellow students he describes to us. The illustrations are magnificent.
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