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The Getting of Wisdom
Henry Handel Richardson's The Getting of Wisdom is the coming-of-age story of a spontaneous heroine who finds herself ensconced in the rigidity of a turn-of-the-century boarding school. The clever and highly imaginative Laura has difficulty fitting in with her wealthy classmates and begins to compromise her ideals in her search for popularity and acceptance.
233 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1910
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1723 people want to read
About the author
Henry Handel Richardson
72 books41 followersEthel Florence Lindesay Richardson Robertson for mixed motives used and adopted Henry Handel Richardson, a pen-name that probably militated against recognition especially when feminist literary history began. Maurice Guest was highly praised in Germany when it first appeared in translation in 1912, but received a bad press in England, though it influenced other novelists. The publishers bowdlerized the language for the second imprint. The trilogy suffered from the long intervals between its three volumes: Australia Felix (1917); The Way Home (1925) and Ultima Thule (1929). The last brought overnight fame and the three volumes were published as one in 1930. Her fame in England was short-lived; as late as 1977, when Virago Press republished The Getting of Wisdom, some London critics referred to the author as 'Mr Richardson'. Her short stories, The End of a Childhood (1934), and the novel, The Young Cosima (1939), had lukewarm receptions.
Henry Handel Richardson's place in Australian literature is important and secure. The Fortunes is an archetypal novel of the country, written about the great upsurge of nineteenth-century Western capitalism fuelled by the gold discoveries. With relentless objectivity it surveys all the main issues which were to define the direction of white Australian society from the 1850s onwards, within the domestic framework of a marriage. Powerfully symbolic in a realistic mode it is, as an English critic said in 1973, 'one of the great inexorable books of the world'.
Henry Handel Richardson's place in Australian literature is important and secure. The Fortunes is an archetypal novel of the country, written about the great upsurge of nineteenth-century Western capitalism fuelled by the gold discoveries. With relentless objectivity it surveys all the main issues which were to define the direction of white Australian society from the 1850s onwards, within the domestic framework of a marriage. Powerfully symbolic in a realistic mode it is, as an English critic said in 1973, 'one of the great inexorable books of the world'.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 163 reviews
November 6, 2022
I very much enjoyed this book. I enjoyed it so much I read it in one sitting. 🙂 🙃
Laura lives with her widowed mother and her siblings out in the country in Australia (circa 1890). The mother skimps and saves enough money for Laura who is 12 to go to boarding school for a proper education. She is the newcomer in the school of 50 some girls ranging in age from about 12 to over 18, and has trouble making friends. Cliques have already been formed. The school is run by a stern older lady, Miss Gurley, and staffed with a number of governesses and teachers. Laura eventually makes some friends
I think I was expecting Laura to eventually fit in with those in the boarding school and for good things to happen to her. Well, is that what happened? I shan’t tell! But I will tell what H.G. Wells said in a letter to the author about the main protagonist of the story:
• Your little rag of a girl is a most adorable little beast...and the way it is done is wonderful; I do not think that particular thing could have been done better.
And I’ll also say that what I liked about the book was Laura... she was no saint and made a buttload of mistakes during her 2-year stay at the boarding school, but that’s the way life can be some time. It was a more realistic book than I had envisioned.
Supposedly this was a semi-autobiographical book, and after reading a Wikipedia biography of Richardson, I can see how there would be some truth mixed with fiction in ‘The Getting of Wisdom’. It has been described as a coming-of-age novel.
The author is Henry Handel Richardson and is female. She chose to take her uncle’s name as a pen name because ‘There had been much talk in the press ... about the ease with which a woman’s work could be distinguished from a man’s and I wanted to try out the truth of the assertion.’
Review:
• https://librofulltime.wordpress.com/2...
• https://theconversation.com/the-case-...
• https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-x...
An interview with Richardson: https://www.academia.edu/800965/A_Neg...
Laura lives with her widowed mother and her siblings out in the country in Australia (circa 1890). The mother skimps and saves enough money for Laura who is 12 to go to boarding school for a proper education. She is the newcomer in the school of 50 some girls ranging in age from about 12 to over 18, and has trouble making friends. Cliques have already been formed. The school is run by a stern older lady, Miss Gurley, and staffed with a number of governesses and teachers. Laura eventually makes some friends
I think I was expecting Laura to eventually fit in with those in the boarding school and for good things to happen to her. Well, is that what happened? I shan’t tell! But I will tell what H.G. Wells said in a letter to the author about the main protagonist of the story:
• Your little rag of a girl is a most adorable little beast...and the way it is done is wonderful; I do not think that particular thing could have been done better.
And I’ll also say that what I liked about the book was Laura... she was no saint and made a buttload of mistakes during her 2-year stay at the boarding school, but that’s the way life can be some time. It was a more realistic book than I had envisioned.
Supposedly this was a semi-autobiographical book, and after reading a Wikipedia biography of Richardson, I can see how there would be some truth mixed with fiction in ‘The Getting of Wisdom’. It has been described as a coming-of-age novel.
The author is Henry Handel Richardson and is female. She chose to take her uncle’s name as a pen name because ‘There had been much talk in the press ... about the ease with which a woman’s work could be distinguished from a man’s and I wanted to try out the truth of the assertion.’
Review:
• https://librofulltime.wordpress.com/2...
• https://theconversation.com/the-case-...
• https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-x...
An interview with Richardson: https://www.academia.edu/800965/A_Neg...
March 28, 2020
4★
I was not in the mood for this period piece, but it is such a good depiction of the times that it’s hard not to appreciate it. Laura is a feisty little girl, eldest daughter of a widowed mother who sews and embroiders to keep the family together and to send Laura to boarding school in Melbourne in the late 19th century.
The style and language may well appeal to lovers of Jane Austen and similar literature, but it’s not my first choice. She arrives at school, thinking she’s bright.
"These early weeks only served to reduce, bit by bit, her belief in her own knowledge. How slender this was, and of how little use to her, in her new state, she did not dare confess, even to herself. Her disillusionment had begun the day after her arrival, when Dr. Pughson, the Headmaster, to whom she had gone to be examined in arithmetic, flung up hands of comical dismay, at her befogged attempts to solve the mysteries of long division."
Two things stand out. First, as the French say, the more things change, the more they are the same. And second, girls were given a broader classical education – language, culture, and history – than they are now. However, they were being schooled to become good wives when they married, which was their common goal.
The teasing, bullying, fibbing, laughing, and pranks haven’t changed at all. Kids are the same, and they have the same fear and regard for teachers and elders as they do now.
The good kids tried their best and behaved with respect, as they do today, but back then, the seriously naughty ones who got up to mischief were humiliated publicly by adults with no thought for the serious damage they were doing to the young souls in their care. Indeed, the girls were turfed out of school pretty promptly.
As for the education, Laura quotes Nietzsche, in German, throughout the novel (and it is not translated*), and there is reference to Latin and the classics. I don’t recall a lot of philosophy and classics taught in primary and high schools here or in the U.S. where I grew up.
They dressed up and play-acted scenes from history and literature and seemed to be conversant with ancient empires and civilisations in a way kids of today are not. I wonder if people actually had a broader view of the world back then when they actually had less day-to-day information about current events.
Maybe if the Western world today were as aware of the significance of ancient Asian and Middle Eastern civilisations we’d be more sympathetic to cultures other than the one we are born into. A good historical perspective of the times.
*Regarding Nietzsche, my German allowed me to understand one quote which I had no idea came from him: "What doesn't kill me, makes me stronger." Now I'm showing my own ignorance, eh? :)
I was not in the mood for this period piece, but it is such a good depiction of the times that it’s hard not to appreciate it. Laura is a feisty little girl, eldest daughter of a widowed mother who sews and embroiders to keep the family together and to send Laura to boarding school in Melbourne in the late 19th century.
The style and language may well appeal to lovers of Jane Austen and similar literature, but it’s not my first choice. She arrives at school, thinking she’s bright.
"These early weeks only served to reduce, bit by bit, her belief in her own knowledge. How slender this was, and of how little use to her, in her new state, she did not dare confess, even to herself. Her disillusionment had begun the day after her arrival, when Dr. Pughson, the Headmaster, to whom she had gone to be examined in arithmetic, flung up hands of comical dismay, at her befogged attempts to solve the mysteries of long division."
Two things stand out. First, as the French say, the more things change, the more they are the same. And second, girls were given a broader classical education – language, culture, and history – than they are now. However, they were being schooled to become good wives when they married, which was their common goal.
The teasing, bullying, fibbing, laughing, and pranks haven’t changed at all. Kids are the same, and they have the same fear and regard for teachers and elders as they do now.
The good kids tried their best and behaved with respect, as they do today, but back then, the seriously naughty ones who got up to mischief were humiliated publicly by adults with no thought for the serious damage they were doing to the young souls in their care. Indeed, the girls were turfed out of school pretty promptly.
As for the education, Laura quotes Nietzsche, in German, throughout the novel (and it is not translated*), and there is reference to Latin and the classics. I don’t recall a lot of philosophy and classics taught in primary and high schools here or in the U.S. where I grew up.
They dressed up and play-acted scenes from history and literature and seemed to be conversant with ancient empires and civilisations in a way kids of today are not. I wonder if people actually had a broader view of the world back then when they actually had less day-to-day information about current events.
Maybe if the Western world today were as aware of the significance of ancient Asian and Middle Eastern civilisations we’d be more sympathetic to cultures other than the one we are born into. A good historical perspective of the times.
*Regarding Nietzsche, my German allowed me to understand one quote which I had no idea came from him: "What doesn't kill me, makes me stronger." Now I'm showing my own ignorance, eh? :)
March 14, 2023
A group read at NTLTRC* in March and April 2023.
This book is a semi-autobiographical story about an Australian girl’s time at a boarding school in Melbourne at the end of the 1800s. Laura, the central protagonist, is shy and unsure of herself but she is creative, imaginative, intelligent and has an inner strength. She is the square peg that doesn’t fit into the round hole. She is the odd person out. We watch how she deals with the world around her.
Four stars quite simply because I grew to like Laura a lot. My appreciation of this girl took a while to flower. You don’t like her right off the bat. That would be too simple and not real. You grow to like her as you grow to know her. I like her spunk and her individuality. She doesn’t strike others as being loveable or even likeable. I like that one’s first opinion of her is off track. Getting to know her is like getting to know a real person—it takes time.
At the girls’ boarding school we get to know quite a few girls in their teens and preteens. Laura is twelve at the start. What is particularly good is that you learn about the other girls one or two at a time. They are not all dumped on you simultaneously. You get an in-depth view of a handful of teenage girls. The author draws people of different types well. You smile ant think, “Oh, I know someone just like that!”
Laura’s imagination and spunk get her into scrapes. You ask yourself how she is going to get herself out of this?! You find yourself rooting for her even when she is completely in the wrong. Heck, everyone makes mistakes, right?!
Laura has matured by the story’s end, but she is still Laura, the square peg that doesn’t fit into the round holes of life. If she had completely changed that would not have been as real and true to life as this is!
Laura is free-spirited. I have enjoyed getting to know her. Really this is all you need to know! I bet you will enjoy getting to know her as much as I did, unless you’re a person that fits into the groove of conventionality.
I listened to this read by Barbro Nordin. It was easy to follow, and the words are clearly spoken, so four stars for the audiobook’s narration.
I will definitely be reading more by this author!
*The GR group Never Too Late To Read Classics
*******************
*'The Getting of Wisdom 4 stars
*Australia Felix 4 stars
This book is a semi-autobiographical story about an Australian girl’s time at a boarding school in Melbourne at the end of the 1800s. Laura, the central protagonist, is shy and unsure of herself but she is creative, imaginative, intelligent and has an inner strength. She is the square peg that doesn’t fit into the round hole. She is the odd person out. We watch how she deals with the world around her.
Four stars quite simply because I grew to like Laura a lot. My appreciation of this girl took a while to flower. You don’t like her right off the bat. That would be too simple and not real. You grow to like her as you grow to know her. I like her spunk and her individuality. She doesn’t strike others as being loveable or even likeable. I like that one’s first opinion of her is off track. Getting to know her is like getting to know a real person—it takes time.
At the girls’ boarding school we get to know quite a few girls in their teens and preteens. Laura is twelve at the start. What is particularly good is that you learn about the other girls one or two at a time. They are not all dumped on you simultaneously. You get an in-depth view of a handful of teenage girls. The author draws people of different types well. You smile ant think, “Oh, I know someone just like that!”
Laura’s imagination and spunk get her into scrapes. You ask yourself how she is going to get herself out of this?! You find yourself rooting for her even when she is completely in the wrong. Heck, everyone makes mistakes, right?!
Laura has matured by the story’s end, but she is still Laura, the square peg that doesn’t fit into the round holes of life. If she had completely changed that would not have been as real and true to life as this is!
Laura is free-spirited. I have enjoyed getting to know her. Really this is all you need to know! I bet you will enjoy getting to know her as much as I did, unless you’re a person that fits into the groove of conventionality.
I listened to this read by Barbro Nordin. It was easy to follow, and the words are clearly spoken, so four stars for the audiobook’s narration.
I will definitely be reading more by this author!
*The GR group Never Too Late To Read Classics
*******************
*'The Getting of Wisdom 4 stars
*Australia Felix 4 stars
October 28, 2015
As I was reading the enchanting misadventures of the loveable (and irritating) scapegrace Laura I kept being struck with the impossibility of a male author having not only chosen this topic, but written such a sensitive account of a girl's attempts to relate to other girls in a female dominated setting (Bechdel test registers off the charts) so I googled "him". Yes...well...
The writing is great, there is an edge to it so that no matter how Laura goes from failure to failure- overimaginative, impulsive and foolish and alienates her peers and teachers alike there is just enough joy in the text to let the reader chuckle not cry.
I have to say I relate to Laura. The idea of being thrust into an all girl's school from a home-life where we didn't mix with people, consequently WITHOUT the necessary social capital and maybe with more brains than is strictly helpful...yes that is a pretty faithful account of how it is (though I was never as confident or as irrepressible as Laura, I was even worse). And an all girl's school is such an unforgiving environment.
The book looks at gender (and the constraints of middle-class femininity). It touches on class in the complex and contradictory "classless" Australian society soon after the turn of the century. It has little asides that are frankly racist (which even allowing for the time I just couldn't enjoy) but the main thrust of the story was critical (and sarcastic) enough to be fun.
This story is about "fitting in" (and not) about the unrealistic hopes and limited social mobility (with a hinted at happy ending). It's about a one size fits all femininity that doesn't fit anyone perfectly and some not at all. For such a short book it is quite complex. And it's an Australian classic. Read it!
The writing is great, there is an edge to it so that no matter how Laura goes from failure to failure- overimaginative, impulsive and foolish and alienates her peers and teachers alike there is just enough joy in the text to let the reader chuckle not cry.
I have to say I relate to Laura. The idea of being thrust into an all girl's school from a home-life where we didn't mix with people, consequently WITHOUT the necessary social capital and maybe with more brains than is strictly helpful...yes that is a pretty faithful account of how it is (though I was never as confident or as irrepressible as Laura, I was even worse). And an all girl's school is such an unforgiving environment.
The book looks at gender (and the constraints of middle-class femininity). It touches on class in the complex and contradictory "classless" Australian society soon after the turn of the century. It has little asides that are frankly racist (which even allowing for the time I just couldn't enjoy) but the main thrust of the story was critical (and sarcastic) enough to be fun.
This story is about "fitting in" (and not) about the unrealistic hopes and limited social mobility (with a hinted at happy ending). It's about a one size fits all femininity that doesn't fit anyone perfectly and some not at all. For such a short book it is quite complex. And it's an Australian classic. Read it!
January 7, 2019
"Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding"
Although overall I found that this story went on rather longer than it needed, I was pleasantly surprised by the wit and prose of Henry Handel Richardson.
The story predominantly rests on Laura, a headstrong and imaginative child who is packed off to boarding school in Australia after her mother finds her too difficult to handle.
Here she meets a variety of girls from different backgrounds, some nice, some nasty, but who in general have wealthier parents and are from 'better circumstances' than Laura.
Laura mistakenly releases titbits of information regarding her life to the other girls hoping that it will bring her closer to them, and suffers drastically because of it.
A really fascinating story, and I was rather sorry when it was over.
Although overall I found that this story went on rather longer than it needed, I was pleasantly surprised by the wit and prose of Henry Handel Richardson.
The story predominantly rests on Laura, a headstrong and imaginative child who is packed off to boarding school in Australia after her mother finds her too difficult to handle.
Here she meets a variety of girls from different backgrounds, some nice, some nasty, but who in general have wealthier parents and are from 'better circumstances' than Laura.
Laura mistakenly releases titbits of information regarding her life to the other girls hoping that it will bring her closer to them, and suffers drastically because of it.
A really fascinating story, and I was rather sorry when it was over.
November 28, 2018
“Straightaway she set to work to sharpen her wits.”
I couldn’t help comparing this to Little Women, as if it was Amy March getting teased at school drawn out into a story of its own. There are stark differences, however. Richardson is being honest here. The way the girls act isn’t stereotypical; it’s detailed, and feels true. And this truth gives the story a subversive bent that I thoroughly enjoyed.
Here we see the young girl Laura becoming socially conscious and sexually aware. We see the rise and fall of her religious fervor. This story is more specific and honest, but also more racist. It’s definitely of its time. Little Women may be more timeless in part because of its generalities.
Where Amy March miraculously becomes an accomplished young woman, we see Laura attempting and failing, over and over. Where Jo is told by Professor Bhaer to write what she knows, we see through Laura’s writing attempts how she struggles to figure this out.
I will always love Little Women, but I never felt a real kinship to any of the March girls. To Laura, however, I definitely can relate. Immaturity came back to me in vivid detail.
The end is glorious, and not a whiff of happily ever after.
I couldn’t help comparing this to Little Women, as if it was Amy March getting teased at school drawn out into a story of its own. There are stark differences, however. Richardson is being honest here. The way the girls act isn’t stereotypical; it’s detailed, and feels true. And this truth gives the story a subversive bent that I thoroughly enjoyed.
Here we see the young girl Laura becoming socially conscious and sexually aware. We see the rise and fall of her religious fervor. This story is more specific and honest, but also more racist. It’s definitely of its time. Little Women may be more timeless in part because of its generalities.
Where Amy March miraculously becomes an accomplished young woman, we see Laura attempting and failing, over and over. Where Jo is told by Professor Bhaer to write what she knows, we see through Laura’s writing attempts how she struggles to figure this out.
I will always love Little Women, but I never felt a real kinship to any of the March girls. To Laura, however, I definitely can relate. Immaturity came back to me in vivid detail.
The end is glorious, and not a whiff of happily ever after.
July 19, 2007
I have had this book on my shelves for years.I am an inveterate purchaser of books and to my shame it can take me a long time to get around to doing the required reading.In this case the effort was not misplaced.
I always find it amazing that despite the sophistications of the modern age we still have the same underlying emotions as generations before us.
I always find it amazing that despite the sophistications of the modern age we still have the same underlying emotions as generations before us.
February 9, 2013
Laura is sent to a private girls' school in Melbourne for her education. Her mother is adamant that this will happen even though they struggle financially. She believes it is the best way:
"To a State school, I've always said it, my children shall never go - not if I have to beg the money to send them elsewhere."
The Getting of Wisdom was published in 1910 and we still have this kind of conversation about private versus public education today.
Laura is thrown in with the lions immediately, her Cousin Grace not at all tactful when they arrive at the school:
"Oh my eye Betty Martin! Aren't I glad it isn't me that's going to school! It looks just like a prison."
Laura appears flighty and thoughtless, acting before thinking. But she is observant, especially of the oddities of human relationships. Watching her Godmother's daughter and her boyfriend at a meeting, Laura is curious of the boy's compulsion to 'save' his lady even when the lady in question was not at all in distress. To me, This kind of observation makes her a unique girl of her time, unfortunately this is not an asset. Laura finds herself a misfit in her own home and at school. Partly for her behaviour, viewed as careless, and partly the expectations of her in both domains.
School was a daily torture for me. I do not look back fondly on any of it. I wonder if this has any relevance to my attraction to coming-of-age novels (not that I wish to analyse myself). For many of us, school days bring back a lot of memories, good and bad; Laura creates quite a few bad memories:
"...anxiety turned her into a porcupine, ready to erect her quills at a touch."
Anyone remember that feeling?
I often tell my friends that I spent my school days trying to fit in and spend the rest of my days trying to stand out. So when I read this sentence, I felt a concrete connection to the story:
"The lesson went home; Laura began to model herself more and more on those around her; to grasp that the unpardonable sin is to vary from the common mould."
I tell you about my relationship with novels: With contemporary fiction I feel I'm in a boat that's leaking and the water is at a point where at any moment it will spill over and I will sink. I don't move, I don't breathe, in the hope that I get to the end of the story without getting that sinking feeling. With the classics and fiction such as The Getting Of Wisdom, I feel like I'm on a sturdy boat, basking in the sun, relaxed, arms stretched out, and enjoying the ride.
This was a nice ride.
"To a State school, I've always said it, my children shall never go - not if I have to beg the money to send them elsewhere."
The Getting of Wisdom was published in 1910 and we still have this kind of conversation about private versus public education today.
Laura is thrown in with the lions immediately, her Cousin Grace not at all tactful when they arrive at the school:
"Oh my eye Betty Martin! Aren't I glad it isn't me that's going to school! It looks just like a prison."
Laura appears flighty and thoughtless, acting before thinking. But she is observant, especially of the oddities of human relationships. Watching her Godmother's daughter and her boyfriend at a meeting, Laura is curious of the boy's compulsion to 'save' his lady even when the lady in question was not at all in distress. To me, This kind of observation makes her a unique girl of her time, unfortunately this is not an asset. Laura finds herself a misfit in her own home and at school. Partly for her behaviour, viewed as careless, and partly the expectations of her in both domains.
School was a daily torture for me. I do not look back fondly on any of it. I wonder if this has any relevance to my attraction to coming-of-age novels (not that I wish to analyse myself). For many of us, school days bring back a lot of memories, good and bad; Laura creates quite a few bad memories:
"...anxiety turned her into a porcupine, ready to erect her quills at a touch."
Anyone remember that feeling?
I often tell my friends that I spent my school days trying to fit in and spend the rest of my days trying to stand out. So when I read this sentence, I felt a concrete connection to the story:
"The lesson went home; Laura began to model herself more and more on those around her; to grasp that the unpardonable sin is to vary from the common mould."
I tell you about my relationship with novels: With contemporary fiction I feel I'm in a boat that's leaking and the water is at a point where at any moment it will spill over and I will sink. I don't move, I don't breathe, in the hope that I get to the end of the story without getting that sinking feeling. With the classics and fiction such as The Getting Of Wisdom, I feel like I'm on a sturdy boat, basking in the sun, relaxed, arms stretched out, and enjoying the ride.
This was a nice ride.
January 6, 2021
A charming coming-of-age story from fin-de-siècle Australia. At her boarding school, teenager Laura Rambotham’s path is dotted with all the usual banana skins, and she slips on every one: the gaucheries, crushes, snobberies, snubs, fibs, passing phases of jealousy, despair and religious fervour, exam disasters. There are moments of exhilaration as well as of humiliation; for this flawed and vulnerable heroine, an Everygirl all too recognizable even today, life is a rollercoaster ride.
The novel also seduces the reader back into a long-lost era. Here is a scene from the school:
But despite the portrait of Laura as the ordinary daughter of a widow who pays for her education by taking in sewing and embroidery commissions, we also have a sense that there is something special in her, a strong spark that might someday blaze. Whereas for the other girls the one and only goal is a respectable marriage, for Laura
The tension between desires – to fit in, to be free of convention – explored with sensitivity and humour, makes this a novel to savour.
The novel also seduces the reader back into a long-lost era. Here is a scene from the school:
At eight, the boarders assembled in the dining-hall for prayers and breakfast. After this meal it was Mrs Gurley’s custom to drink a glass of hot water. While she sipped, she gave audience, meting out rebukes and crushing complaints – were any bold enough to offer them – standing erect behind her chair at the head of the table, supported by one or more of the staff. To suit the season she was dressed in a shawl of crimson wool, which reached to the flounce of her skirt, and was borne by her portly shoulders with the grace of a past day. Beneath the shawl, her dresses were built, year in, year out, on the same plan: cut in one piece, buttoning right down the front, they fitted her like an eelskin, rigidly outlining her majestic proportions, and always short enough to show a pair of small, well-shod feet.They don’t make headteachers like that today.
But despite the portrait of Laura as the ordinary daughter of a widow who pays for her education by taking in sewing and embroidery commissions, we also have a sense that there is something special in her, a strong spark that might someday blaze. Whereas for the other girls the one and only goal is a respectable marriage, for Laura
it was impossible to limit your hopes to one single event, which, though it saved you from derision, would put an end, for ever, to all possible, exciting contingencies.
The tension between desires – to fit in, to be free of convention – explored with sensitivity and humour, makes this a novel to savour.
May 12, 2022
Laura tiene 12 años, aún es pequeña pero su madre tiene muchas esperanzas puestas en ella. Madre se dedica al bordado, gana para mantener a la familia y hace grandes esfuerzos rascando cada mes para poder pagarle un internado.
Así que vamos a acompañar a Laura desde el primer año hasta el último de colegio y veremos todo lo que tiene que hacer para sobrevivir allí académica y socialmente. Tiene mucho en contra, y ella lo sabe: es pobre, su madre trabaja, no ha recibido educación previa, no tiene libros propios, lleva vestidos pasados de moda y horteras, no sabe comportarse como se espera y desconoce todo de las diferencias sociales.
A pesar de ello Laura desea ser aceptada, incluso que la admiren, y se va a meter en más de un buen lío… hasta el punto de poner en peligro todos los esfuerzos que ha hecho su madre.
Esta es principalmente una novela que pretende hacer una crítica principalmente de la educación femenina de la época, pero aprovecha para tocar muchos otros temas: la desigualdad, los roles, la sexualidad…
Me ha gustado, se lee muy bien y me ha sorprendido que se entrevea de refilón pero de forma clara un enamoramiento adolescente lésbico (la autora supuestamente era lesbiana) y creo que es un libro muy valiente con una mirada crítica, feminista y bastante avanzada que la autora firmó con pseudónimo masculino.
Así que vamos a acompañar a Laura desde el primer año hasta el último de colegio y veremos todo lo que tiene que hacer para sobrevivir allí académica y socialmente. Tiene mucho en contra, y ella lo sabe: es pobre, su madre trabaja, no ha recibido educación previa, no tiene libros propios, lleva vestidos pasados de moda y horteras, no sabe comportarse como se espera y desconoce todo de las diferencias sociales.
A pesar de ello Laura desea ser aceptada, incluso que la admiren, y se va a meter en más de un buen lío… hasta el punto de poner en peligro todos los esfuerzos que ha hecho su madre.
Esta es principalmente una novela que pretende hacer una crítica principalmente de la educación femenina de la época, pero aprovecha para tocar muchos otros temas: la desigualdad, los roles, la sexualidad…
Me ha gustado, se lee muy bien y me ha sorprendido que se entrevea de refilón pero de forma clara un enamoramiento adolescente lésbico (la autora supuestamente era lesbiana) y creo que es un libro muy valiente con una mirada crítica, feminista y bastante avanzada que la autora firmó con pseudónimo masculino.
August 17, 2014
I don’t know a great deal about Ethel Richardson – who adopted a male pseudonym when she wrote – but I do know that this story, the story of an Australian girl sent to boarding school, is said to be autobiographical, and, if that is the case, I suspect that I would like her very much.
The book dates from 1910, but the story that it tells could easily have happened years earlier or years later.
I loved twelve- year old Laura Rambotham. At home she was a benevolent queen, ruling over her younger siblings, leading them in wonderful games, enchanting them with lovely stories; while her widowed mother worked had as a needlewoman to support her children, and give them the education that they needed to get on in the world,
Of course her mother sent Laura to school, of course Laura was not happy about it, and of course neither could quite see the other’s point of view.
Miss Richardson began her story beautifully, illuminating her characters and their situations with both clarity and subtlety.
I had high hopes for the school story that was to come.
Laura struggled to fit in with her school-mate. They were from the town, and she was from a rural backwater. They were from wealthy families, she was the daughter of a widow with aspirations …. but Laura was set apart by more that that.
She was artistic she was creative. She couldn’t understand that no one shared her appreciation of the writing of Sir Walter Scott, that no one appreciated the descriptions of the English countryside that she had to share. And nobody could really explain to her satisfaction why it was necessary to be able to be able to pinpoint English towns on a map, or to learn the foreign policy of Oliver Cromwell.
And Laura never really learned to compromise, to learn from her mistakes, to do what she needed to do to get by.
She did try to fit in, and often she did, but there were slips. She lost standing when it became known that her mother had to work to support her family. She lavishly embroidered her account of a day out to make a good story, but when the truth came out she was accused of deception and sent to Coventry.
But I had to love Laura. Her letter’s home were a riot. I loved that she delighted the invitations to tea that the other girls dreaded, because it gave her a chance to examine new bookshelves, and that made the fear of being called on to recite or perform fade into insignificance. I loved her joy when an older girl look her under her wing; and her outrage when she found that she had a young man.
Miss Richardson brought the school, and a wonderful cast of girls around Laura to life. It was very easy to believe in the time and the place and the story.
There was just one wrong note at the very end of the story. Laura did something I wished she hadn’t, she wasn’t called to account for it, and she should have been. Maybe it was something she would have to live with, maybe there was to have been another story. But there wasn’t.
This story ends as Laura leaves school, still not sure what her future might be, what it could be, what she wants it to be.
It makes the point quite clearly that education offered nothing to the creative and the artistic.
But it lacked structure – it was difficult to know how much time was passing – and it lacked a sense of purpose. There was no real journey, for Laura, no real lesson learned.
Maybe that was the point ….
Certainly this was a very fine school story, and an engaging and believable tale of one girl’s life at school.
The book dates from 1910, but the story that it tells could easily have happened years earlier or years later.
I loved twelve- year old Laura Rambotham. At home she was a benevolent queen, ruling over her younger siblings, leading them in wonderful games, enchanting them with lovely stories; while her widowed mother worked had as a needlewoman to support her children, and give them the education that they needed to get on in the world,
Of course her mother sent Laura to school, of course Laura was not happy about it, and of course neither could quite see the other’s point of view.
Miss Richardson began her story beautifully, illuminating her characters and their situations with both clarity and subtlety.
I had high hopes for the school story that was to come.
Laura struggled to fit in with her school-mate. They were from the town, and she was from a rural backwater. They were from wealthy families, she was the daughter of a widow with aspirations …. but Laura was set apart by more that that.
She was artistic she was creative. She couldn’t understand that no one shared her appreciation of the writing of Sir Walter Scott, that no one appreciated the descriptions of the English countryside that she had to share. And nobody could really explain to her satisfaction why it was necessary to be able to be able to pinpoint English towns on a map, or to learn the foreign policy of Oliver Cromwell.
And Laura never really learned to compromise, to learn from her mistakes, to do what she needed to do to get by.
She did try to fit in, and often she did, but there were slips. She lost standing when it became known that her mother had to work to support her family. She lavishly embroidered her account of a day out to make a good story, but when the truth came out she was accused of deception and sent to Coventry.
But I had to love Laura. Her letter’s home were a riot. I loved that she delighted the invitations to tea that the other girls dreaded, because it gave her a chance to examine new bookshelves, and that made the fear of being called on to recite or perform fade into insignificance. I loved her joy when an older girl look her under her wing; and her outrage when she found that she had a young man.
Miss Richardson brought the school, and a wonderful cast of girls around Laura to life. It was very easy to believe in the time and the place and the story.
There was just one wrong note at the very end of the story. Laura did something I wished she hadn’t, she wasn’t called to account for it, and she should have been. Maybe it was something she would have to live with, maybe there was to have been another story. But there wasn’t.
This story ends as Laura leaves school, still not sure what her future might be, what it could be, what she wants it to be.
It makes the point quite clearly that education offered nothing to the creative and the artistic.
But it lacked structure – it was difficult to know how much time was passing – and it lacked a sense of purpose. There was no real journey, for Laura, no real lesson learned.
Maybe that was the point ….
Certainly this was a very fine school story, and an engaging and believable tale of one girl’s life at school.
July 24, 2016
I have a hard time believing this was written by a man. Come on! H.H. Richardson has to be a pseudonym! Really amazing insight into a young girl's struggles to fit in - something I could relate to so closely in parts...I was very impressed with the author's grasp of the cruelty in female relationships. For anyone who grew up too poor to be fashionable, or who had parents too loud, or was embarrassingly back-country for the school sophisticates - this book will seem like it's about you. I was amazed to find someone from my own childhood in this book - that girl who could get me to tell her anything, no matter how socially damaging to myself, just by asking. She had that weird snake-charmer effect, I could not resist her.
I completely sympathized with Laura, even when she was a total git. I've been there.
I completely sympathized with Laura, even when she was a total git. I've been there.
August 22, 2014
This is a classic coming-of-age story, but is based in a girls boarding school and demonstrates the "unwritten rules" of high school and how cruel kids in school can be
April 12, 2023
I can’t believe this sat on my bookshelf for so many years with me ignoring it and assuming it’d be a heavy impenetrable tome. This is actually an early work of progressive feminism and a railing against the narrow-mindedness of Australian society of the 1890s; the observations made about both are pointed and poignant for its time.
One of the benefits of choosing the correct edition in Goodreads is the transcription of the back cover blurb. This hasn’t happened for this edition, but it provides a good summary: ‘This book [...] has been called “the best story of girls at a boarding school that has ever been written.” It tells the story of a spirited and highly unconventional heroine and her attempts to adapt herself to the strict discipline of a narrow society.’
The protagonist, Laura, is a very real, complex character; she’s not Good, nor is she always likeable and because of this I empathised with her. Towards the end, she makes another dubious moral decision, the one with the most serious consequences if caught, but I found myself exclaiming ‘good on you!’.
Laura may have been a recipient of the getting of wisdom, but also the loss of innocence. The book ends on an uncertain note; she runs for her freedom, but to what end?
One of the benefits of choosing the correct edition in Goodreads is the transcription of the back cover blurb. This hasn’t happened for this edition, but it provides a good summary: ‘This book [...] has been called “the best story of girls at a boarding school that has ever been written.” It tells the story of a spirited and highly unconventional heroine and her attempts to adapt herself to the strict discipline of a narrow society.’
The protagonist, Laura, is a very real, complex character; she’s not Good, nor is she always likeable and because of this I empathised with her. Towards the end, she makes another dubious moral decision, the one with the most serious consequences if caught, but I found myself exclaiming ‘good on you!’.
Laura may have been a recipient of the getting of wisdom, but also the loss of innocence. The book ends on an uncertain note; she runs for her freedom, but to what end?
September 10, 2017
There's something completely timeless about a coming of age school story. The innocuous beginnings of fitting in, the challenges of growing up, the daunting task of facing life's expectations.
The Getting of Wisdom is a little different. Unlike Jane Eyre or even Amy March, Laura never quite fits in. She never loses her innate creativity. She doesn't fall prey to the path of teacher or wife that so many female protagonists of the mid to late 1800's do. She remains solely her own, she clutches her wildness.
The unique thing about this novel, and my interpreted lesson, is that as long as you're trying to make your square self fit into that round whole, you'll be miserable. Because Laura is miserable. She's miserable from page one until she flings her hat aside and runs. Her schooling goes beyond teaching her sums and Latin conjugations, but teaches her the true wisdom. That wisdom of self love, despite not fitting in, is the most important of lessons.
The Getting of Wisdom is a little different. Unlike Jane Eyre or even Amy March, Laura never quite fits in. She never loses her innate creativity. She doesn't fall prey to the path of teacher or wife that so many female protagonists of the mid to late 1800's do. She remains solely her own, she clutches her wildness.
The unique thing about this novel, and my interpreted lesson, is that as long as you're trying to make your square self fit into that round whole, you'll be miserable. Because Laura is miserable. She's miserable from page one until she flings her hat aside and runs. Her schooling goes beyond teaching her sums and Latin conjugations, but teaches her the true wisdom. That wisdom of self love, despite not fitting in, is the most important of lessons.
November 30, 2014
Hilarious and subversive. Laura's character and morals are corrupted as she struggles (and fails) to become what society expects from her.
I love HG Wells' description of Laura as 'an adorable little beast'. Though she is more a series of young girls, each focussing on a particular girlish folly (falling insanely in love with your roomate, lying to make people like you, being ashamed of your family...), than a real person, Laura's character is charming and horribly likeable.
The Getting of Wisdom is ace fun, and quite a contrast to the agonies of 'Richard Mahony'.
I love HG Wells' description of Laura as 'an adorable little beast'. Though she is more a series of young girls, each focussing on a particular girlish folly (falling insanely in love with your roomate, lying to make people like you, being ashamed of your family...), than a real person, Laura's character is charming and horribly likeable.
The Getting of Wisdom is ace fun, and quite a contrast to the agonies of 'Richard Mahony'.
September 2, 2021
Trigger warnings: bullying, racism. I think that's all?
I had no idea this was a female author writing under a male pseudonym, or that it was inspired by Richardson's own experiences. But that certainly explains why the picture of private girls schools rings so accurate, even today.
I liked the writing and I liked Laura as a protagonist. But this felt more like a series of vignettes than a coherent story. Add in some casual racism - it's a classic, but STILL - and unfortunately I didn't like this as much as I'd hoped I would.
I had no idea this was a female author writing under a male pseudonym, or that it was inspired by Richardson's own experiences. But that certainly explains why the picture of private girls schools rings so accurate, even today.
I liked the writing and I liked Laura as a protagonist. But this felt more like a series of vignettes than a coherent story. Add in some casual racism - it's a classic, but STILL - and unfortunately I didn't like this as much as I'd hoped I would.
November 26, 2018
This was my introduction to one of Australia's best writers and I was impressed. This coming of age story is semi-autobiographical and we learn where Ethel Florence Lindesay Richardson developed her feminist leanings and her desire to write. This is also unquestionably a character study, which I guess all coming of age stories are, but in this book the only fully developed character is young Laura Rambothom whom we meet at age twelve as she leaves home for an exclusive girls' boarding school in 1890's Melbourne. Laura is a square peg who wants desperately to fit in and have friends, but her free spirit and the steady voice in her head remind her that she has her own ideas and opinions and they are legitimate as well. Her spirit is never broken although she endures much at the hands of the older, richer, more savvy girls.
Laura is a memorable character, as is her mother who is a large presence in Laura's life, although not in the book.
The prose is straightforward and intelligent. This book would appeal to fans of coming of age stories, character studies, and those interested in boarding school life.
Laura is a memorable character, as is her mother who is a large presence in Laura's life, although not in the book.
The prose is straightforward and intelligent. This book would appeal to fans of coming of age stories, character studies, and those interested in boarding school life.
October 20, 2014
I adore this story!
I first read it as a teenager and a lot of it went over my head, and I can understand how the writing style might not grab the attention of teens. However over the last 40 years I've returned to it many times and I often notice new things in the story - like how subtly comic it is for instance. Or the way the style of speech changes according to who is talking, and reflects the different characters. The speech used by the private schoolboy cousin of Tilly is really amusing for example, and also that of the curate.
I like the way Laura is not painted as a poor victim of social snobbery and exclusion, but as flawed and as capable of excluding others as any of the other characters. She desperately wants to belong, and will do just about anything to achieve that, even if involves using her own type of meanness.
I think Henry Handel Richardson shows enormous understanding of human nature in this novel. No one is judged, but pretty much everyone's character is laid bare.
I first read it as a teenager and a lot of it went over my head, and I can understand how the writing style might not grab the attention of teens. However over the last 40 years I've returned to it many times and I often notice new things in the story - like how subtly comic it is for instance. Or the way the style of speech changes according to who is talking, and reflects the different characters. The speech used by the private schoolboy cousin of Tilly is really amusing for example, and also that of the curate.
I like the way Laura is not painted as a poor victim of social snobbery and exclusion, but as flawed and as capable of excluding others as any of the other characters. She desperately wants to belong, and will do just about anything to achieve that, even if involves using her own type of meanness.
I think Henry Handel Richardson shows enormous understanding of human nature in this novel. No one is judged, but pretty much everyone's character is laid bare.
August 27, 2012
Despite its being published more than a hundred years ago, the central theme of this book: that of the effects of peer pressure: is still very relevant in today's society.
Essentially, this is a compelling volume about an intelligent, sensitive girl's initiation into a society populated by self-seeking, egotistic individuals.
Laura, a country girl, is sent to a boarding where (social) class consciousness is of paramount significance. Her own temperament and upbringing make her a target. Ultimately, she is released from this unpleasantness on the day she leaves; not surprisingly, her experience is indelibly etched into her psyche.
It is a powerful book that has earned its reputation as a classic.
Essentially, this is a compelling volume about an intelligent, sensitive girl's initiation into a society populated by self-seeking, egotistic individuals.
Laura, a country girl, is sent to a boarding where (social) class consciousness is of paramount significance. Her own temperament and upbringing make her a target. Ultimately, she is released from this unpleasantness on the day she leaves; not surprisingly, her experience is indelibly etched into her psyche.
It is a powerful book that has earned its reputation as a classic.
April 7, 2013
This is a great coming of age book. Laura, our heroine, is sent off to boarding school in Melbourne in the early 1900s. Her family has little money and her peers all seem rich and glamorous. Laura finds herself struggling to fit in and weaves a web of lies to gain status. She's too smart and too ambitious to ever be perfectly comfortable either in or out of the cliques in her school.
As much as a coming of age story, this is a book about fitting in, our desire to belong and what lengths we should and sometimes do go to to join into the right group.
It was written as a modern novel but, of course, is now a great piece historical fiction giving an insight into live in the early part of the last century.
A great read on many levels.
As much as a coming of age story, this is a book about fitting in, our desire to belong and what lengths we should and sometimes do go to to join into the right group.
It was written as a modern novel but, of course, is now a great piece historical fiction giving an insight into live in the early part of the last century.
A great read on many levels.
June 9, 2021
Beautiful and full characterizations, a story that charmingly translates the heightened stakes of new experience as a teen. The first half went by a little slowly, but the back half picked up speed.
This felt, to me, almost like a mix of A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett with the relationships and lessons of young girls and Persuasion by Jane Austen with the concern for society and perception, and like both of these references, a heavy theme of class distinction.
I like the detail of Laura’s companions graduating in maturity as the story goes on, which I think is meant to aid in her gaining of wisdom and evolution from child to young woman, but the story would have benefitted from Laura going through more substantial personal change.
In the end, this was a delight.
This felt, to me, almost like a mix of A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett with the relationships and lessons of young girls and Persuasion by Jane Austen with the concern for society and perception, and like both of these references, a heavy theme of class distinction.
I like the detail of Laura’s companions graduating in maturity as the story goes on, which I think is meant to aid in her gaining of wisdom and evolution from child to young woman, but the story would have benefitted from Laura going through more substantial personal change.
In the end, this was a delight.
March 25, 2020
Gosh I loved this book. This is no romanticised bildungsroman. My take away was feisty feminists have existed in every time and space, and more has stayed the same than has changed, which I wasn't expecting. The author succeeds at speaking from the voice of a very young teen and it feeling so authentic it reminds me of inner life memories and immature behavioural choices I had long since forgotten. But in a cathartic way, not unpleasantly.
December 3, 2022
Written in 1910 and set in Australia, this novel acutely demonstrates that 'teenage angst' is not just for the 21st century generation! Unable to put it down, I read the book in a day. Richardson's own life situation is clearly evident which means that her writing is from 'the heart'.
January 22, 2020
4.5 stars. I loved the ending!
July 1, 2018
I was disappointed by this book. Firstly, I thought it was something completely different for some reason. When I realised I had inadvertently stumbled upon a Melbourne period coming of age about a country girl learning about life in a city school, I was quite interested. Mainly because I love coming of age stories, but also because this was my first Australian novel written over a hundred years ago. But this excitement was soon dispelled.
There are a few good things about the work. The way it subtly deals with feminist issues, which isn't surprising considering the author had to use a male nom de plume, is well done and unfortunately not dated at all. There are a few spots where the prose was well done also, but in general the writing is nothing to write home about.
The main character is generally unlikeable. Her personality oscillates depending on circumstance and there doesn't seem to be a common thread that grows and develops. However I kind of like this because it is realistic and shows how humans have ups and downs without seeing a steady trajectory.
Some episodes seem to have been put there simply to extend the narrative or show yet again that Laura becomes over attached to things, such as the religious section.
I am in two minds about the ending (though I don't like the way the author comes in and out of the narrative, I don't think it was effectively done. Stick with telling the story rather than talking about the story unless done well). I liked that Laura had found her freedom, but there was no demonstration of a change of character or development so it comes out of nowhere.
Overall, while I enjoyed the glimpses of Melbourne in time gone by and the flashes of feminism, I would not recommend this book.
There are a few good things about the work. The way it subtly deals with feminist issues, which isn't surprising considering the author had to use a male nom de plume, is well done and unfortunately not dated at all. There are a few spots where the prose was well done also, but in general the writing is nothing to write home about.
The main character is generally unlikeable. Her personality oscillates depending on circumstance and there doesn't seem to be a common thread that grows and develops. However I kind of like this because it is realistic and shows how humans have ups and downs without seeing a steady trajectory.
Some episodes seem to have been put there simply to extend the narrative or show yet again that Laura becomes over attached to things, such as the religious section.
I am in two minds about the ending (though I don't like the way the author comes in and out of the narrative, I don't think it was effectively done. Stick with telling the story rather than talking about the story unless done well). I liked that Laura had found her freedom, but there was no demonstration of a change of character or development so it comes out of nowhere.
Overall, while I enjoyed the glimpses of Melbourne in time gone by and the flashes of feminism, I would not recommend this book.
May 9, 2025
I thought this was going to be like an Australian Anne of green gables. But it wasn’t.
At first, I liked Laura. I liked the fact she was petty, selfish and sulky- it was refreshing, as little girls in books are always so morally superior. Unfortunately though, she just got worse and worse and turned into the biggest brat. The problem with Laura is she has no rich inner life. She relies solely on other people to enrich her. Anne is concerned with what her classmates think for sure, but she at least has imagination and a love of romance. Laura allegedly likes to read. But never once did she romanticise anything! Her pathetic relationship to poor Evelyn was the last straw for me. Horrid child. Good riddance Laura!!!
PS ordinarily I like ‘text classics’ books- even if the story is boring there are always some great snippets of writing: landscape descriptions or some pearl of wisdom. I kept waiting for something like that for this. Nothing. ALSO why does everyone talk like an absolute wanker?? Is that how little girls talked back in the day?!? Embarrassing.
At first, I liked Laura. I liked the fact she was petty, selfish and sulky- it was refreshing, as little girls in books are always so morally superior. Unfortunately though, she just got worse and worse and turned into the biggest brat. The problem with Laura is she has no rich inner life. She relies solely on other people to enrich her. Anne is concerned with what her classmates think for sure, but she at least has imagination and a love of romance. Laura allegedly likes to read. But never once did she romanticise anything! Her pathetic relationship to poor Evelyn was the last straw for me. Horrid child. Good riddance Laura!!!
PS ordinarily I like ‘text classics’ books- even if the story is boring there are always some great snippets of writing: landscape descriptions or some pearl of wisdom. I kept waiting for something like that for this. Nothing. ALSO why does everyone talk like an absolute wanker?? Is that how little girls talked back in the day?!? Embarrassing.
November 17, 2023
HAHA TAKE THAT OJAS
the original gaslight, gatekeep, girlboss. laura is so messy i love her. she has beef with everyone INCLUDING GOD. the way she looks at religion is hilarious omg "god made me cheat on my exams then he made me feel bad about bc he didn't let me cheat in a nice way" 😭😭
the original gaslight, gatekeep, girlboss. laura is so messy i love her. she has beef with everyone INCLUDING GOD. the way she looks at religion is hilarious omg "god made me cheat on my exams then he made me feel bad about bc he didn't let me cheat in a nice way" 😭😭
January 10, 2017
Una novela con algún altibajo, pero que me ha gustado mucho cómo muestra el proceso de aprendizaje de una niña criada sin muchas normas "académicas" que es internada en un colegio en el que aprenderá no sólo las materias habituales de la escuela, sino que adquirirá conocimientos mucho más sutiles y difíciles: cuál es su papel en la sociedad -como mujer de familia trabajadora-; qué se espera de ella como mujer; que es más fácil "escapar" si le dices a los demás lo que quieren oir, que si expresas tus propias opiniones; que ser libre e independiente sólo te crea problemas de adaptación y aceptación; que sólo puedes ser excéntrica o salirte de las normas si eres rica; que la presión del grupo hacia los individuos diferentes es tan fuerte, que es mejor que hagas lo que sea por formar parte del grupo, a costa de tu propia esencia individual; que el conocimiento que se valora no es el innovador o el creativo, sino el que repite lo ya establecido...
Todo un proceso de aprendizaje para encorsetar y encerrar a una niña -Laura, que era imaginativa, amable, divertida, protectora de sus hermanos, admiraba a su madre; en suma, feliz- en una visión de la vida que la convierte en una pequeña amargada, resabiada, infeliz, crítica e insolente.
El libro lo he leido porque lo eligió una de mis alumnas como trabajo de clase (ver cómo se reflejan los procesos educativos en la novela) y me parece demoledora la visión que se da sobre la educación en la obra; porque no creo que nuestras escuelas actuales hayan cambiado demasiado respecto a lo que se nos cuenta de este internado de señoritas de Australia. Acoso, presión de grupo, métodos didácticos obsoletos, profesores desmotivados... y constante y permanente sanción de la creatividad individual, de lo diferente, de lo que no está establecido... Y así nos va...
La recomiendo. Quizá influye mi interés por la educación (seguro que sí), pero creo que es una buena novela para analizar cómo las instituciones nos cohartan con sutiles (o no) formas de violencia para encaminarnos a lo es es "socialmente deseable" (por no voy a hablar de los procesos de socialización, que no es el lugar...)
Sólo el final nos da alguna esperanza de que Laura, quizá, una vez liberada de las normas del colegio, pueda recuperar parte de su esencia libre e imaginativa
Todo un proceso de aprendizaje para encorsetar y encerrar a una niña -Laura, que era imaginativa, amable, divertida, protectora de sus hermanos, admiraba a su madre; en suma, feliz- en una visión de la vida que la convierte en una pequeña amargada, resabiada, infeliz, crítica e insolente.
El libro lo he leido porque lo eligió una de mis alumnas como trabajo de clase (ver cómo se reflejan los procesos educativos en la novela) y me parece demoledora la visión que se da sobre la educación en la obra; porque no creo que nuestras escuelas actuales hayan cambiado demasiado respecto a lo que se nos cuenta de este internado de señoritas de Australia. Acoso, presión de grupo, métodos didácticos obsoletos, profesores desmotivados... y constante y permanente sanción de la creatividad individual, de lo diferente, de lo que no está establecido... Y así nos va...
La recomiendo. Quizá influye mi interés por la educación (seguro que sí), pero creo que es una buena novela para analizar cómo las instituciones nos cohartan con sutiles (o no) formas de violencia para encaminarnos a lo es es "socialmente deseable" (por no voy a hablar de los procesos de socialización, que no es el lugar...)
Sólo el final nos da alguna esperanza de que Laura, quizá, una vez liberada de las normas del colegio, pueda recuperar parte de su esencia libre e imaginativa
March 30, 2015
blurb:
The subject of this book is a young woman: an awkward, insecure, restless and 'knowing' child who learns that self-realisation depends on rebellion and escape, but that the latter will first demand at least the semblance of conformity. In telling lies, Laura learns both the astonishing allure of fiction and the social costs of stepping beyond the bounds of propriety, gender, class, and family ties.
The novel is only in part a fictionalised account of Richardson's school years at the Presbyterian Ladies College, Melbourne, where (unlike her fictional counterpart) she was not only academically successful but also an outstanding student of music. Unusual for stories of school-life, The Getting of Wisdom was clearly aimed at a mature readership able to understand irony and a critique of the colonial educational provision of its day, including a determination to preserve sexual ignorance in young women.
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A story about a girl-child who went to school & learned a few life lessons along the way. Laura remains a child to the end, & not a particularly pleasant child either - telling ridiculous lies, having outrageous crushes. There is irony in learning how to getting along in the adult world after all the dictums of childhood. The brutalities of childhood & school life remain the same also. I wish I could have liked Laura. I could empathise with her confusion & uncertainty, but I couldn't like her. I could sympathise with that big run at the end - shaking the lingering remnants of school from her feet, and hopefully towards the future.
Rated 6/10 at http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/4....
The subject of this book is a young woman: an awkward, insecure, restless and 'knowing' child who learns that self-realisation depends on rebellion and escape, but that the latter will first demand at least the semblance of conformity. In telling lies, Laura learns both the astonishing allure of fiction and the social costs of stepping beyond the bounds of propriety, gender, class, and family ties.
The novel is only in part a fictionalised account of Richardson's school years at the Presbyterian Ladies College, Melbourne, where (unlike her fictional counterpart) she was not only academically successful but also an outstanding student of music. Unusual for stories of school-life, The Getting of Wisdom was clearly aimed at a mature readership able to understand irony and a critique of the colonial educational provision of its day, including a determination to preserve sexual ignorance in young women.
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A story about a girl-child who went to school & learned a few life lessons along the way. Laura remains a child to the end, & not a particularly pleasant child either - telling ridiculous lies, having outrageous crushes. There is irony in learning how to getting along in the adult world after all the dictums of childhood. The brutalities of childhood & school life remain the same also. I wish I could have liked Laura. I could empathise with her confusion & uncertainty, but I couldn't like her. I could sympathise with that big run at the end - shaking the lingering remnants of school from her feet, and hopefully towards the future.
Rated 6/10 at http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/4....
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