Billy Bunter of Greyfriars School

Billy Bunter #1

by Frank Richards

'Yarooh!', 'You beast!', 'I say, you fellows', 'Oh scissors', 'Oh Crikey', are some of the utterances you can hear from fiction's most famous school boy, William George Bunter or Billy Bunter. In the 1930s the Bunter stories in the Magnet became so popular that parcels of 'tuck' would arrive at the magazine's offices for the ever hungry 'fat owl of the Remove'. In the 1950s, a very successful TV series with Gerald Campion revived Bunter's popularity again.

Genres: Childrens, Fiction, Humor, Comedy

232 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1947

About the author

Pseudonym of author Charles Hamilton, who created Billy Bunter and who also used plenty of other pseudonyms.

Those other pseudonyms were, in alphabetical order:
Winston Cardew; Martin Clifford; Harry Clifton; Clifford Clive; Sir Alan Cobham; Owen Conquest; Gordon Conway; Freeman Fox; Hamilton Greening; Cecil Herbert; Prosper Howard; Robert Jennings; Gillingham Jones; T Harcourt Llewelyn; Clifford Owen; Ralph Redway; Hilda Richards; Raleigh Robbins; Robert Rogers; Eric Stanhope; Robert Stanley; Nigel Wallace; Talbot Wynyard.

Reviews

[Dennis Mews · Rating 5 out of 5]

Billy Bunter of Greyfriars School is the hilarious story of the adventures of a group of boys in a boarding school. This was the original before Harry Potter added the magic ingredient. What is it about Billy Bunter that made these stories so popular in their heyday (the 1950’s and 60’s)? In many ways he is an unlikeable character - dishonest, selfish and greedy - and is often bullied yet we identify with him as the one (horror of horrors) who doesn't fit in at school. The other boys are superior and aloof and tease him relentlessly and bully him. Yet he doesn’t care.

Mr Quelch the teacher is very strict and the school has a culture of corporal punishment which was routine at the time. I read all of these books when I was younger and had the complete set on my bookshelf. I moved on and the books disappeared. How I wish now I’d kept them all. The modern politically correct versions are not the same. I would recommend Billy Bunter to anyone, young or old.

[Kavita · Rating 4 out of 5]

My dad always raves about Billy Bunter, but I could not get my hands on these books for a long time. I finally managed to find a place to download them, and am really glad I did so!

The first in the Billy Bunter series Billy Bunter of Greyfriars School is a hilarious account of a most unlikable boy and his adventures in school. There is a very old-fashioned flavour to these books, which is delightful. Some of the things like 'six of the best' aka caning ought to have been shocking, but were merely amusing.

The Famous Five are awesome and keep pulling Bunter's leg, while Mr Quelch is strict. Wish I could have got hold of this when I was a kid. I am sure I would have enjoyed it even more then. A superb book!

[T.F. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fans of Enid Blyton school stories - do you remember Alma Pudden? Fat, mean, cunning, unpleasant, steals food, gets into rage and seeks revenge. Not liked by anyone in the form. Bad at school work. Doesn't do sports. Now what if we had school stories with her as protagonist? Horror of horrors! How can it be? Well, that's Billy Bunter for you, though it is a boys' school instead of a girls' school. Of course there is also a series on Bessie Bunter, Billy's sister, which would be of a female protagonist on similar lines. The author's skill lies not in making a likable character liked but in making an unlikable character liked. And Frank Richards succeeds to a great extent. As you go over the books, you begin to start developing a certain affection for Billy. Despite all bad qualities there is an inherent goodness in him, which pulls him out of trouble in the end in every book. Billy Bunter of Greyfair is the first book in the series - the third for me. Initially I was even reluctant to start the series given the premise. But it has grown on me over the 3 books and I am so happy there are so many in this series still unread. Each of the 3 books had an unique situation and I did not find it getting repetitive though in some ways the structure can be called formulaic. The characters are all unique, grey and fun. Harry Wharton is your stereotypical protagonist like the ones in Enid Blyton books - the sports captain, the boy with the heart of gold. He is shown to be such in a more subtle way compared to the Enid Blyton characters. And then he is not the protagonist - it is Billy. Then we have the Bounder, the arrogant son of a rich man, who smokes, read pinks papers and breaks rule. There there is the Nabob of Banipur who has this funny idiomatic way of speaking that has the reader in splits. There are many more such interesting characters. You don't see all of them in a single book. But from the three I have reads, I am guessing you will get to know them all well by the time you are through a dozen books. The thing about these characters are that they are real. Not unrealistically goody, goody. They lie, they cheat, they are mean to their classmates but still there is this basic essence of human goodness in them. This book kind of makes you like people as they are instead of looking out for some imaginary folks with unrealistic qualities. What is unrealistic about these books though is that the boys never grow up. They seem to be having unlimited number of terms in the Upper Fourth of the Remove. And often there is not reference in the latter books to any events in the earlier books. That way each book in the series is a complete standalone of sorts. Over all these books are a terrific read that keeps you laughing throughout.

[Vishnu Madhu · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are some people who never agree to their mistakes. A fraction of them are adept at manipulating any proofs against their cause; this story is not about them. The protagonist here is a boy, and he's stupid, lazy, gluttonous, conceited and petulant. He considers himself spotless and awesome, but whines and pleads for release from punishments he deems unjust, only to go back to his uncouth nature the next moment. I don't understand such people. Everyone around him know he is good for nothing, whether he admits it or not. Still, accepting the mistake and redeeming himself is something William George Bunter would not even consider; he just makes another mess and moves on. Students around him make fun of Bunter and he doesn't even understand it. They do get pissed off at times and wallop him, but then they relapse into their mocking and maybe sympathetic nature around Bunter.

The story revolves around Bunter, at his boarding school, the Greyfriars. Bunter's adventures as he goes from one mess to the next form the gist of the story. The way it is written, the reader gets lots of laughs at Bunter's expense. The dialogues are unsteady and comical, directly conveying his perplexed situations; eg: "This is definitely not his jam, and I definitely did not steal it from his study table."

Billy Bunter's stories first appeared in a children's weekly from 1908-1940. They spread to other media in later years. This book was the first of several novels, published in 1947. Billy Bunter's stories are also the first work which use the term 'The Famous Five', that later became famous as a book series by Enid Blyton. Here, the Five are all boys, and one among them seems Indian, but in Blyton's works they are two girls, two boys and a dog.

[Jonathan Harrington · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolute classic. Ridiculously out of date as is based on Magnet comics from 100 years ago but I loved this as a child and still do - not least because it seems 12 year olds knew the difference between Coriolanus and Othello - Milton and Shakespeare - except Bunter of course. Nosey Jenkins is suitably terrifying for children. Bill Sykes revisited

[Wreade1872 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Various funny goings on at a boarding school. Its unusual in that the main character is so awful. He's lazy, stupid, greedy and sneaky (at least tries to be). Its quite difficult to make a story compelling with a main character like that but this makes it work.

[Uri Cohen · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is like a sitcom, and not in a good way. It's basically the same jokes over and over:

Billy Bunter is fat! And lazy! Have we mentioned that he's fat? And yet he thinks he's perfect in every way!

He gets all the answers wrong in Latin class, and then imagines that the irate teacher must have something against him personally, because he's doing great!

He steals the other boys' tuck (snack food sent from home), eats it all, and then denies it while inadvertently admitting it at the same time!

Repeat ad infinitum.

No, I will not plan on reading any of the other 38 (!) books in the series. One was more than enough.

[Simon · Rating 2 out of 5]

This edition is co-written by someone which doesn't help at all. I imagine she was commissioned to take the anachronisms away and the things that would upset the Saturday morning Guardian reader. As with The Grumbleweeds, Benny Hill and Jimmy Edwards there isn't much left if you take away that which might cause offence. Certainly nothing to make you laugh.

I'll stick to one's written by Frank Richards and free from interference and hope that my memory of them being much better than this is not a chimera of youth.

[Rajul · Rating 1 out of 5]

Billy Bunter is a dimwitted, lazy, greedy, lying, thieving pupil of Greyfriars school. Always at the end of Quelch's end of the cane due to his antics.

I picked this up out of curiosity and was eager to read the entire series but I don't know why this is hyped so much. The characters or the story line are not likeable at all. Though it does have its funny moments.

Better to read some Wodehouse again.

[Gavin · Rating 2 out of 5]

wasn't as good as I remembered as a child

[Ruth · Rating 2 out of 5]

10

[Santosh Bhat · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Billy Bunter stories have not aged well. Unlike say William by Richmal Crompton, there would be very few people who would be aware of the character who was very popular in his times. Billy Bunter is a dimwitted, fat, greedy, lying, lazy, thieving pupil of Greyfriars school, who is more interested in filling himself rather than any school activities. The character is one-note, a product of his era, where nuance and subtleties in children's books were not known and is a stereotype for fat kids. But the thing is, you can't help but chuckle occasionally at the scrapes he gets into. There's some talented writing behind these stories to be sure, hidden beneath the stereotypes.
For example there's an Indian student Hurree Jamset Ram Singh who clearly was a childhood inspiration for Navjot Singh Sidhu, with his mangled English and mixed metaphors.
I had read only one Billy Bunter story before - in my teens - when I had found a dog-eared copy of "Billy Bunter comes for Christmas" at a local raddiwala. I probably had a better opinion of it then.
I felt a curious sense of nostalgia reading this book, I won't deny it. Though I spent most of the book glancing at the number of pages left.

[Craig Herbertson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Go back to a time when it was alright to make fun of fat bespectacled children - sad as these activities are and I'm very glad that I never did - this is an enjoyable childrens' book of a time when public schools were full of irritating snobs and stereotypes. See through all of this for what it is and enjoy the antics of the 'fat owl of the remove'

[Richie · Rating 2 out of 5]

A boyhood favorite, I find Bunter did not age well. Formulaic slapstick gets monotonous after a while, and William George Bunter is ultimately a very unsympathetic protagonist. I just didn't want to hear from him any more, and that was three chapters in.

[Anmol · Rating 5 out of 5]

A precursor to Enid Blyton's five find-outers, Billy Bunters's boarding school experience was light and funny, unlike the modern day Harry Potter.

[Erick Njenga · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant book. Very well crafted

[Chris The Story Reading Ape · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yahoo, gosh, spitting, jolly good and other outraged expressions of delight!

[Abhijit Rao · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super !!

[Simon Gough · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hilarious, and essential reading. My only regret is the 1980s edition which annoyingly 'updated' some of the period language.