Old School (novel)
Encyclopedia
Old School is a novel by Tobias Wolff
. It was first published on November 4, 2003, after three portions of the novel had appeared in The New Yorker
as short stories.
The book is narrated by a high-school senior ("sixth former" in prep-school vernacular) at an (unnamed) elite boarding school in the Northeast in 1960-61. It is possible to infer that The Hill School
, which Wolff attended, at least partially inspired the setting for the novel. Further proof of this can also be inferred based on the fact that Hill's dining hall is the photograph depicted on the novel's cover.
The narrator aspires to be a writer, and the school he attends is an embodiment of a certain kind of academic fantasy, where non-English teachers (teachers are "masters" here) "floated at the fringe of [the English masters'] circle, as if warming themselves at a fire", and literature is still believed to hold the key to the soul. Robert Frost
, Ayn Rand
, and Ernest Hemingway
, with each of whom the narrator crosses paths, appear in the story, dispensing wisdom, pseudo-wisdom, vitriol and nonsense in varying degrees. Aside from its service as a sort of literary fantasy camp, the novel addresses issues of class, privilege and ethnic identity in a manner subtle enough to mask their importance to the story.
Stylistically, the novel is marked by direct, clear language, appearing simpler than, upon inspection, it actually is:
"The crowd had gathered around the old field house at the near end of the football field. The firemen stood by their truck drinking coffee and taking turns with the hose. No flames were visible, though I could hear the water seethe as it hit the roof. The shingles had burned through here and there, exposing a sheet of charred subroofing that sent up a greasy hiss of smoke as the firemen played the hose over it."
The New York Times
published two reviews of the book. Michiko Kakutani
wrote (12 December 2003) that Wolff, best known for short stories and memoirs, "seems thoroughly ill at ease with the long-distance form of the novel: his book feels overstuffed and undernourished at the same time." A.O. Scott's review (23 November 2003) was more positive, characterizing Wolff as a "modest and resolutely un-self-aggrandizing" writer and "no mean caricaturist. Well, maybe a little mean."
The book also features an editorial curiosity: there are no quotation marks indicating speech. This detail prompted the following sudden splash of ire from Thomas Mallon
, reviewing the novel (otherwise favorably) in The Atlantic Monthly
(2 December 2003): "And let me say this, above all, Mr. Wolff: the lack of quotation marks around the dialogue is a ridiculous piece of postmodern pretentiousness that has no place in your book."
Tobias Wolff
Tobias Jonathan Ansell Wolff is an American author. He is known for his memoirs, particularly This Boy's Life , and his short stories. He has also written two novels.-Biography:Wolff was born in 1945 in Birmingham, Alabama...
. It was first published on November 4, 2003, after three portions of the novel had appeared in The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
as short stories.
The book is narrated by a high-school senior ("sixth former" in prep-school vernacular) at an (unnamed) elite boarding school in the Northeast in 1960-61. It is possible to infer that The Hill School
The Hill School
The Hill School is a preparatory boarding school for boys and girls located in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, about 35 miles northwest of Philadelphia....
, which Wolff attended, at least partially inspired the setting for the novel. Further proof of this can also be inferred based on the fact that Hill's dining hall is the photograph depicted on the novel's cover.
The narrator aspires to be a writer, and the school he attends is an embodiment of a certain kind of academic fantasy, where non-English teachers (teachers are "masters" here) "floated at the fringe of [the English masters'] circle, as if warming themselves at a fire", and literature is still believed to hold the key to the soul. Robert Frost
Robert Frost
Robert Lee Frost was an American poet. He is highly regarded for his realistic depictions of rural life and his command of American colloquial speech. His work frequently employed settings from rural life in New England in the early twentieth century, using them to examine complex social and...
, Ayn Rand
Ayn Rand
Ayn Rand was a Russian-American novelist, philosopher, playwright, and screenwriter. She is known for her two best-selling novels The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged and for developing a philosophical system she called Objectivism....
, and Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Miller Hemingway was an American author and journalist. His economic and understated style had a strong influence on 20th-century fiction, while his life of adventure and his public image influenced later generations. Hemingway produced most of his work between the mid-1920s and the...
, with each of whom the narrator crosses paths, appear in the story, dispensing wisdom, pseudo-wisdom, vitriol and nonsense in varying degrees. Aside from its service as a sort of literary fantasy camp, the novel addresses issues of class, privilege and ethnic identity in a manner subtle enough to mask their importance to the story.
Stylistically, the novel is marked by direct, clear language, appearing simpler than, upon inspection, it actually is:
"The crowd had gathered around the old field house at the near end of the football field. The firemen stood by their truck drinking coffee and taking turns with the hose. No flames were visible, though I could hear the water seethe as it hit the roof. The shingles had burned through here and there, exposing a sheet of charred subroofing that sent up a greasy hiss of smoke as the firemen played the hose over it."
The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
published two reviews of the book. Michiko Kakutani
Michiko Kakutani
is an American Pulitzer Prize-winning critic for The New York Times and is considered by many to be a leading literary critic in the United States.-Life and career:...
wrote (12 December 2003) that Wolff, best known for short stories and memoirs, "seems thoroughly ill at ease with the long-distance form of the novel: his book feels overstuffed and undernourished at the same time." A.O. Scott's review (23 November 2003) was more positive, characterizing Wolff as a "modest and resolutely un-self-aggrandizing" writer and "no mean caricaturist. Well, maybe a little mean."
The book also features an editorial curiosity: there are no quotation marks indicating speech. This detail prompted the following sudden splash of ire from Thomas Mallon
Thomas Mallon
Thomas Mallon is a novelist and critic. He was born in Glen Cove, New York. He attended Brown University as an undergraduate and earned a Master of Arts and a Ph.D. from Harvard. He received the Ingram Merrill Foundation Award in 1994 and won a Rockefeller Fellowship in 1987...
, reviewing the novel (otherwise favorably) in The Atlantic Monthly
The Atlantic Monthly
The Atlantic is an American magazine founded in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1857. It was created as a literary and cultural commentary magazine. It quickly achieved a national reputation, which it held for more than a century. It was important for recognizing and publishing new writers and poets,...
(2 December 2003): "And let me say this, above all, Mr. Wolff: the lack of quotation marks around the dialogue is a ridiculous piece of postmodern pretentiousness that has no place in your book."