This is a seminal novel of English public (i.e. private!) school life in the 1830s, arguably the first influential novel in a school setting, that has formed a template for many subsequent school-based novels, including much more recently, the Harry Potter series.

I found the novel amusing in many places, and pointed in its detailed description of the customs of school (Rugby) life, though it also dragged for me in places and it took me a longer to read than a novel of its length (slightly under 300 pages in my version) normally would. There is a real historical personage here - Dr Thomas Arnold, the headmaster of the real Rugby School at the time. The author, expressing his views and experiences through the title character, clearly has a lot of respect for Dr Arnold, and the changes he brought about to the "public" school system; as one (adult) character says "perhaps ours is the only corner of the British Empire which is thoroughly, wisely and strongly ruled just now".

The real central "character" of the novel, though, is probably the custom-bound way of life of the school itself, with its arcane traditions that the students value and revere more than the masters if anything. There are detailed descriptions of the original version of the sport of rugby as well as, of course, cricket, described by one character as "the birthright of British boys old and young, as habeas corpus and trial by jury are of British men", as it is an "unselfish game" that "merges the individual in the eleven; he doesn't play that he may win, but that his side may", as opposed to individual sports where the object is to win for oneself.

An interesting examination of the life and mores of a particular section of society at a particular time, but which has been massively influential on the literary genre well beyond that place and time. ( )

3.5*

This book struck me as being the boys' version of Louisa May Alcott's Little Women - the same mixture of stories of childhood events and moralizing. Not being a boy nor from England, this one didn't make the same connection with me that Alcott's classic did.

I was spurred to read this by the references to it in Flashman, which I read (and hugely enjoyed) last year. It was interesting to see how Hughes portrayed Flashman, who was much more prominent in this book than I had expected. Fraser did a great job taking such a cowardly bully & sneak and, without making him a different person, making him the 'hero'. That interest & the lovely illustrations by Rhead made me give this an extra ½ star. ( )

Written in 1857, the language can be quite antiquated and hence not that easy to read. It can be quite pious and preachy for some people but I like the courage and honesty shown by Tom and George Arthur. ( )

'Cover design adapted by Gerry Downes from original illustration by Arthur Hughes' showing cricket bat at centre of illustration and perhaps meaning of life

This starts well enough, a love letter to old england. Its view of early 1800's schools being pretty unique. The story has a fair bit to say about bullying which i found surprising, when you have in Dickens kids being beaten and starved to death i wouldn't have thought anything as smalltime as bullying would register with the victorians ;).
Some of the slang and other word usage can be a little difficult at times. Our protagonist is also a little too tough to completely sympathize with. You expect someone a little weaker for a coming of age tale like this. The narrator can also be a bit of a problem as you always feel his presence and that adds more distance between reader and characters.

But its still not bad and at the half-way point looks like improving. The introduction of a weaker character seems as if its correcting one of the issues i pointed out.
However thats when it all starts to fall apart. The book devolves into an insipid mess, actually reminded me of [b:What Katy Did|730501|What Katy Did (Carr Family, #1)|Susan Coolidge|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1327538133s/730501.jpg|1401152], not the sort of company any book should want to be in ;) .
Its also far too sporadic and makes too many time leaps preventing any potential connection to the characters.

At its best its ok, but for parts of the second half its far from its best.

Listened to some of it on a good Librivox recording. ( )