LORD DISMISS US

by Michael Campbell ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 8, 1967

Homosexuality has been incorporated as an inevitable element of the British public school system, whether in books or in films. But in this highly accomplished and sensitive novel, Michael Campbell uses it as a dominant influence at the second class school he calls Weatherhill. Through the lessons, the games, the entertainments and the daily round of dormitory life runs the threat of romance, flirtation and buggery. In the opinion of the new headmaster and his wife, Weatherhill is a seedbed of contamination and they set about ruthlessly to root out what they consider the sources of deviation. Their efforts have some humorous results--in the case of a visitation by a neighboring girls' school, but the confrontations between the ""Crabtrees"" and the masters produces also the expected disasters: the alcholism and eventual suicide of the gifted young French master who is unable to come to grips with his inclinations, who despises both the ""system"" and the brutality it provokes; and the near ruination of a student whose best instincts are manifested in an innocent. Love affair with a younger student...Campbell's treatment is rich its detail and brilliantly conveys the combined mood of savagery and sentiment in a highly stylized way of life.

Pub Date: Jan. 8, 1967

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Putnam

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1967

Categories: FICTION