The White Feather

School Stories

by P.G. Wodehouse

When Sheen, a quiet and studious boy, finds himself facing a street brawl between boys of Wrykyn and those of St. Jude's, their sworn enemies, he slips away to safety to avoid the wrath of his masters. However, his cowardliness is noticed by his fellows, who send him to Coventry. In order to save his reputation, he must train secretly under boxing legend Joe Bevan. Can he overcome the many obstacles in his path and restore the school's honor in the ring?

Genres: Fiction, Humor, Classics, Historical Fiction, British Literature, School, Comedy

196 pages, Paperback

First published October 9, 1907

About the author

Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, KBE, was a comic writer who enjoyed enormous popular success during a career of more than seventy years and continues to be widely read over 40 years after his death. Despite the political and social upheavals that occurred during his life, much of which was spent in France and the United States, Wodehouse's main canvas remained that of prewar English upper-class society, reflecting his birth, education, and youthful writing career.

An acknowledged master of English prose, Wodehouse has been admired both by contemporaries such as Hilaire Belloc, Evelyn Waugh and Rudyard Kipling and by more recent writers such as Douglas Adams, Salman Rushdie and Terry Pratchett. Sean O'Casey famously called him "English literature's performing flea", a description that Wodehouse used as the title of a collection of his letters to a friend, Bill Townend.

Best known today for the Jeeves and Blandings Castle novels and short stories, Wodehouse was also a talented playwright and lyricist who was part author and writer of fifteen plays and of 250 lyrics for some thirty musical comedies. He worked with Cole Porter on the musical Anything Goes (1934) and frequently collaborated with Jerome Kern and Guy Bolton. He wrote the lyrics for the hit song Bill in Kern's Show Boat (1927), wrote the lyrics for the Gershwin/Romberg musical Rosalie (1928), and collaborated with Rudolf Friml on a musical version of The Three Musketeers (1928).

Reviews

[Andrew Fish · Rating 3 out of 5]

Those who know their Wodehouse well know that he did not spring his light fully-formed on the world, but rather rose slowly like an elderly aunt at daybreak. This, then, is Wodehouse at the cock-crow - a pre-Jeevesian jaunt into the world of public school life. As such it differs significantly from what comes after: straighter plot and characters, less literary allusion and an overall grittier tone. Wodehouse's earliest novels were school stories with a heavy emphasis on sporting aspiration and achievement, but The White Feather is something of a transitional novel, the sport - in this case boxing - being included not simply for its own sake but as part of a broader story. Some readers have commented that it was actually something of a step back after Love Among the Chickens, but the truth is the former book was not an immediate success and Wodehouse thoroughly rewrote it a decade later.

Anyway, back to The White Feather. This being Wodehouse, the initial set-up is relatively simple - boy suffering guilt after avoiding a fight takes lessons from a professional boxer to redeem himself by winning a school trophy - and being a relatively short novel there are fewer twists and turns than in Wodehouse's later tales. As with those later novels, however, it isn't the plot that draws you in but the characters. The hero, Sheen, is rooted and realistic - a studious but not profoundly intelligent boy who isn't quick to confrontation. It is his transition from sympathetic coward to sporting champion provides the emotional hook on which the novel hangs. Boxer Joe Bevan is the mentor, less prosaic than Wodehouse's later pugilists like Porky Chop, he combines a simple philosophy with a history as a Shakespearean bit-part actor, making him the somewhat improbable mouthpiece for Wodehouse's love of the Bard. The other characters are largely recognisable as the beginnings of Wodehouse types, from the self-interested fellow schoolboys who invite themselves to tea (think Claude and Eustace in the Jeeves books) to the anonymous toughs and political agitants of the town (think of the rallies when Bingo gets involved with the Communists). The dialogue may not crackle with the absurd wit which later came to characterise Plum's world, but once it gets into its stride it reads well enough, and there are flashes of observation here and there in the narrative which suggest the author beginning to get to grips with the style which would finally flourish in books such as Piccadilly Jim or the revamped Love Among the Chickens a few years later.

Were this a novel by someone other than Wodehouse, I've no doubt it would be regarded as a charming classic of its time. As it is, it is overshadowed by what was then still to come. Those expecting something like Bingo Little's schooldays should look elsewhere (probably to Anthony Buckeridge's Jennings novels), but for those prepared to look past the Wodehouse brand, these early novels do merit a read.

[Ian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding example of a Wodehouse public school ripping yarn of his early era (aged 26 in 1907). Full of chaps, rotters, fags and bounders of various types, rugger, boxing and fives. Has a number of flaws which he later discusses in his "Performing Flea" autobioigraphy, notably the inclusion of too many characters, and having "big" scenes where the major characters aren't actually present. Nonetheless a thoroughly enjoyable read.

[Illiterate · Rating 1 out of 5]

If we’re honest, Wodehouse’s school stories aren’t even good examples of the genre.

[Phrodrick slowed his growing backlog · Rating 4 out of 5]

The White Feather dates to 1907 and was the 6th book of his to be published. At this time he was writing about topics he most loved and were easiest for him. The setting is an English public school, what we would call a private school, and is deeply concerned with school sports and social standing. The intended audience for these early Wodehouse stories was not American and a huge amount of the language will be hard for an American to follow. Playing fives was a British form of Handball, being a member of the sevens and elevens are rugby/football terms. As will be the case with much of his later work there is a fair amount of slang that you may be able to research. My suggestion is that you let your imagination handle what you do not understand and depend on context to carry you through.

This is his second book set in the fictional school of Wrykyn, The Gold Bat being the first. We are to follow young Sheen who dodges a "town versus gown" fight and is labeled a coward. The main story follows his efforts to redeem himself. Filling out the rest of the 150 page we get to see some of what will become the great Wodehouse wit, particularly in a sea battle between Wrykyn and a neighboring rival. Also well drawn are the profiles and motivations of people who will work with and against Sheen.

The White Feather is something of a classic type in British school boy stories, a fact Wodehouse will mention on a few occasions. It has more in common with books like Tom Brown School Days and may be thought of as juvenilia for middle school boys rather than all ages. Those of us who are fans should enjoy it for the chance to enjoy very the author as a young writer.

The Kindle version had no formatting issues and I note that the Amazon page indicates that besides the Kindle edition (free as of this review, April 2014) it can be downloaded from elsewhere on the web. The hardback is not free through Amazon and is part of a handsomely publish reissue of many Wodehouse titles.

My bottom line is that I enjoyed this book, even if parts of it were for me guess work. I recommend it to Wodehouse fans but I suspect that as an intro to this wonderful writer, it will not work for a non-British reader.

[Larry Shackley · Rating 3 out of 5]

PGW went through most of the other school sports in earlier volumes, so this one focuses on boxing. Poor Sheen has disgraced himself. How? By refusing to get involved in a brawl between his schoolmates and some ruffians from St. Jude's, the town school. He's being treated as a pariah, so he tries to rehabilitate his reputation by studying boxing with a guy in town who used to be a champ. But the problem is: the boys aren't supposed to be going up the river to town. How can he remove his "white feather" without giving up his secret and being expelled? This is yet another entirely forgettable school novel by the man who, in a mere 20 years, would be the finest comic novelist in the world. The rules and behavior of English public schoolboys will seem very odd to those who have grown up in today's school environment. And it will also strike you as strange when the "motorcar" is treated as an oddity that very few people have experienced first-hand! It's a slice from a long-forgotten past.

[Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Despite my ignorance involving sports (what is the English sport "Fives"? is it handball?), once I got into this 'School Story' I really enjoyed it. It wasn't as humorous as many of his novels but instead was a good coming of age story from the early years of the 20th century.

[Tommy Verhaegen · Rating 5 out of 5]

The time of this story is a year and a term later than that of The Gold Bat. The history of Wrykyn in between these two books is dealt with in a number of short stories, some of them brainy in the extreme, which have appeared in various magazines. I wanted Messrs Black to publish these, but they were light on their feet and kept away—a painful exhibition of the White Feather.
-- P. G. Wodehouse

As we are getting used to, the characters that played the most important parts in the prvious stories in this small series are now filling the background or have made their exit entirely. Quite lifelike for a school environment, and it allows Wodehouse to use a complete new angle on things unbothered by what has happened before (unless when it suits him :-)).
The favoured sport this time is boxing. It is nice to read about the "noble art" through the eyes of somebody living over a 100 years ago. The red thread throughout the story is a boy who commits an act of cowardice, is caught and punished by his peers for this. Het gets the white feather, meaning he is completely "cut", cancelled the wokeists call this, from school social life. As a result he takes up boxing, out of school bounds which can get him expelled when caught, and prepares him for a championship match representing Wrykin. P.G. continues on his elan in the previous books, shows his mastership on this type of stories and you can already see him preparing for the greatest humorous works of all time - Bertie Wooster en Jeeves and the Blandings Castle stories.

[Gláucia Renata · Rating 3 out of 5]

Publicado em 1907 é o sexto volume da série School Books, parte dos primeiros trabalhos do autor. Ainda não reconheço nessa série o espírito engraçado e divertido do autor mas foi meu preferido da série: passado no ambiente escolar inglês do início do século XX, sempre com foco nas disputas esportivas entre as classes e escolas, aqui temos o boxe como esporte da vez. E um muito improvável diletante a campeão tentando encontrar sua redenção e respeito de seus pares através de sua vitória.



Histórico de leitura
20/12/2020

"- With apologies to gent opposite, - said Clowes, - I must say I don’t think much of the team."

[Gautam Valiveti · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is a classic set in a bygone era of relative innocence. Although not descriptive of the geographical setting, it gives a rough idea of the surroundings and it's enough, in my opinion, to understand the story and serves not to distract the reader unduly. The character development of the protagonist is not complete but indicative of his triumph over a foe that he himself chose, giving him the admirable opportunity to win on his own terms - something about which almost everyone might dream. The loss of face and subsequent regaining of it are brilliantly encapsulated in the story as is the emotional merry-go-round associated with overcoming fears. The biggest shortfall however is the slow beginning. The humorous style of writing is seducing enough to continue reading though.

[Farseer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Most of the readers of this rather short novel will be P.G. Wodehouse's fans wanting to explore his early literary career. They may be disappointed because they won't find the wittiness and humor of his Jeeves novels. That's not what this story is about. This is a plot-oriented story, working around two themes: sports and boarding school fiction. As one reviewer said, it's odd to be cheering at the conclusion of a Wodehouse novel, instead of grinning wryly.

Wodehouse was following here the tradition of British school fiction popularized in Victorian times by Thomas Hughes (Tom Brown's Schooldays) and Frederic W. Farrar (Eric), and developed by the likes of Talbot Baines Reed (The Fifth Form at St. Dominic's, and others). This book comes later than the ones I mentioned, in Edwardian times, and by then the style of the genre had changed to focus more on athleticism and less on moralizing.

The story takes place in a boarding school called Wrykyn. The first chapter is less cohesive, because we meet a few characters that don't really play a relevant role in the story. The objective of the character is providing continuity with a previous novel set in the same school (The Gold Bat), by showing where the main characters of that novel are now, and also to establish that after a year of great success for the school on the sport fields, students have graduated and the school sport teams are going through a mediocre period.

Very soon the story starts properly with the introduction of Sheen, a senior boy who focuses more on his studies than on sports or social activities, and therefore is not particularly popular among his schoolmates. At the time, there are a lot of fights among Wrykyn's boys and the boys of a rival school and also town youths. During one particular fight in town, Sheen runs away instead of helping his schoolfellows, in a public display of cowardice that turns him into a social pariah in the school (he is sent to Coventry, which means that everyone refuses to talk to him). He is also not happy about his own behavior, so in a misguided attempt to make amends he goes to the town alone and ends up getting beat by the toughest of the town youths. However, the beating is interrupted when he is rescued, Mr. Miyagi style, by a curious gentleman who turns out to be an ex-boxing champion.

On finding that said gentleman now makes a living by giving boxing lessons, Sheen engages his services, and starts learning to box in secret. He proves to have talent for boxing and soon becomes quite competent. However, he continues being ostracized at school, false rumors about him are spread and he doesn't find the occasion to prove himself. For different circumstances he can't compete in the inter-school boxing competition, so his last chance of redeeming himself and regaining the steem of his peers before graduating may be Aldershot, a prestigious, high-level boxing event where the best public school boxers from all the country compete.

This is therefore a sporting underdog story. Think Karate Kid in a boarding school, only with boxing. But beyond the sport, it's a story about a young man losing and regaining the respect of his peers. Wodehouse, of course, even though this is very early in his career, is one of the most talented writers to write in this genre, second only to Ruyard Kipling. His characterization and dialogue is good and there are a few funny moments. Apart from Sheen, I quite liked Drummond, the strong but kind-hearted boy who was the school's best hope for Aldershot but is unable to compete because of an illness. There are some secondary plots but mainly it's a very straightforward tale, and one that I enjoyed thoroughly, being a fan of the genre.

[Darcy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ah! A school story where I know a bit about the sporting events that make up much of the plot! This time out it is boxing! Who knew that P.G. was such an avid sportsman? Of course some of the advice labeled liberally throughout the book by the protagonist's trainer is somewhat, shall we say, dubious, it nevertheless makes for a corker of a story.

What goes on is that a young lad, a studious sort, is presented with a difficult choice early in the goings on. He can partake of a brawl will some local thugs, or he can turn and walk away. We all know what our mothers would have said, but the fact is, if discretion is the better part of valor, than valor will have you tagged as a rum sort and ostracized to boot. Sadly, our lad beats a hasty retreat and this leads to much chagrin among his class mates and a very lonely existence from that day forward. What is he to do? How can he regain his self-respect and his standing among his peers? That is the conundrum he is faced with. It also evolves into a dilemma as he is faced with a choice of breaking the school rules in order to extricate himself from his plight or he can adhere to the Headmaster's wishes and remain a pariah. On this our story turns.

This is a fun little story with a fairly simple plot. There is the usual schoolboy banter which abounds in these novels and a few good laugh lines. There is not the intricate plotting of a Blandings or Wooster story, but it hangs together and is a step up from a Boy's Own Adventure. Overall, an enjoyable read from a bygone age.

[Shannon Cooke · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was all set and ready to dislike this book. (What? Shawn, dislike a Wodehouse book? Read on.)

Another of the school stories, The White Feather takes some of the worst aspects of the schoolboy culture and raises it front and center. Scholastic achievement? Worthless. Sport is all that matters. Are you a shy kid who doesn't like fighting? Better be willing to get into a fight that one of your schoolmates starts -- for fun! -- because if not, you're branded as a coward and considered a disgrace. These sorts of attitudes are anathema to me.

And yet... dammit, the story was a lot of fun. Because it's about a boy who feels like he has nothing to give, but through the help of a mentor and a lot of effort on his part, acquires a skill that brings him back to the good standing of his fellows. The fact that the skill in question is boxing does little to diminish that.

So in finishing the book, I was left with this weird dichotomy. I still differ philosophically with the book on a fundamental level. The underlying assumption is that the reader will be wholeheartedly on board with the main character's treatment, even while sympathizing with him. It is a moral object lesson in conformance.

But on top of that, it was cleverly written and fun to read. So I just don't know. This one will take some mulling over, and my review may change as a result of it.

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

Given that this is about a boy's school and a boxing champion, it was more enjoyable than I would have expected. Wodehouse was a talented writer, and his insights into life and characters are always, in my view, well done.

Worth reading by fans of Wodehouse, and as a piece of cultural history, albeit (I hope) slightly caricatured. But the gradual growth of a studious schoolboy into a strong fighter is nicely done, albeit rather depressing to those of us who prefer quiet, intelligent types and loathe any form of violent sport.

I read a Project Gutenberg free edition; as far as I know it's only currently available in electronic form, or second-hand.

[Joe Stevens · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another Wodehouse school boy book that is hard to recommend except for those reading straight through The Master's works or for someone who loves turn of the century school life and boxing. This is better than most of the others in the school series with a sympathetic hero. Sadly the plot is very obvious and has little drama nor is there much humor in the book which will surprise those who have read the great Wodehouse books of the mid 1920s and beyond.

[Keshav Prasad · Rating 5 out of 5]

Aged quite well

Loved this book when I read it as a boy. Just bought it and it's aged quite well. It is a product of it's times and contains words and ideas that are not politically correct in this day and age - or for the past fifty years at least. If you can get your head around that and enjoy it for the hundred year old English public school story it is - and it may be possible that no one born in the New World may, for a variety of reasons, appreciate the writing or late Empire humor - you're sure to like it.

[S. Suresh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wrykyn College is in a funk! In every sport, Wrykyn is lagging behind. There isn’t much life even in the inter-house competitions amongst Wrykyn Houses. That is the setting in The White Feather.

All that all changes when Sheen, an ex-communicated sixth former, takes to boxing to remove the scourge he had brought upon himself. Wodehouse’s school story, this time anchored in the sport of boxing, is a fine exhibition of one of his early works.

[Cindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve been reading Wodehouse’s early “school stories.” This is probably the best one yet. Wodehouse is not quite to his “Jeeves”/“Blandings” level but he’s getting there. He’s always amusing but in this novel the characters are becoming more sympathy-generating and more realistic. And the story is more cleverly crafted.
Wodehouse is one of a very few authors that I’ll always read. Even their lesser works are better than 90% of the books I read.

[Doug Ward · Rating 4 out of 5]

A boy at a British boarding school, perceived by his classmates as cowardly and ineffectual, receives training in boxing from a master instructor and grows in character and courage.

Published in 1907, this is one of Wodehouse's early novels. I read the book in a Kindle edition that is well-formatted and easy to navigate.

[Amrith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another early inning foray by the master is just that -- solid, flowing, keeping the scorer busy with neat singles, with an occasional flash that goes to the ropes. While not in the finest fettle of the mid and late season form, navigation of the early innings uncertainty is quite, er, masterful.

[Ana Bugalho · Rating 4 out of 5]

The White Feather, published in 1907, it’s one of P.G. Wodehouse’s earlier works, set in the competitive world of English school sports, focusing on boxing. Though it lacks his later humor, it offers a classic tale of redemption as a boy seeks respect through unexpected victory. It’s an enjoyable slice of early 20th-century life, best suited for younger readers.

[Senad Subasic · Rating 1 out of 5]

dnf

[Chaston Kome · Rating 3 out of 5]

You can see what Wodehouse will doing in a decade or so, the bits if his style that are in their seedling form. An enjoyable if a bit bland story.

[William · Rating 3 out of 5]

👌OK

Another British school novella by P. G. Wodehouse which are not my thing. Give it a try. Enjoy 2021 🏰

[Brennan Lawrence · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun story. Makes me want to box.

[Vireya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining, but does contain racist language which may not have raised eyebrows in 1907, but definitely does today.

[Stasia · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting early Wodehouse story with a good lesson - don't give up the fight.

[Olly Colluphid · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the weakest of the school stories I think, and they are not his best series.

Racist terminology of the era.

[Vinaya Wagh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not humorous but surely very interesting.

[Dayo Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this one

[Shannon (That's So Poe) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Engaging plot and characters, especially Sheen's growth arc. Some very dated language, though.