The Hill: A Romance of Friendship
Mar. 21st, 2023 08:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
phantomtomatoI read The Hill: A Romance of Friendship by H. A. Vachell last week and it was not the best public school novel I’ve tackled. I might have liked John Verney, the protagonist, in a David Blaize-ish way: he has a huge crush on a slightly-older friend (Harry Desmond), he is generally good and well-intentioned, he grows and learns lessons as we watch him from his entry to Harrow School to near his finish. However, he’s got none of David’s boyish charm, and in its place, he has a fairly repugnant set of views on morality which boil down to being “the right sort.” Dear god does this book talk about “breeding.” John isn’t even really jolly, he’s mostly jealous.
I’m not a huge fan of David Blaize himself, which I reflected on when writing about those books, but at least David is a winsome protagonist. John comes across as unintentionally unpleasant, as though Vachell meant to write him as relatable but missed on on the idea that boys enjoy cricket and games and sport and pranks, or even that some boys like the details of the hero being a good, scholarly sort. The Hill, unlike other school novels I’ve read, doesn’t give us as many of those details (there’s… one or two cricket chapters, and they’re more than halfway through), so I wonder who this was intended for other than proud Harrovian Old Boys who wanted to be reminded of their precious school traditions.
Despite all of that, it was super readable. I think it was the supporting cast. There’s Harry, of course, who I wanted to be more of a Frank Maddox type and wasn’t, but at least he was fawningly described as handsome. An array of parents show up, more than I’m used to—see the proud Old Boys theory, above—and lots of other schoolmates to round the numbers. Of these side characters I liked the Caterpillar the best (he has a name, and is almost never referred to by it). He’s a stuck-up, slimy boy who earns his nickname from the way he inches through the forms—I’m not sure he’s past lower fifth by the time he leaves school, but he’s already old enough to go! He’s on the “good” side of the novel by virtue of opposing the antagonist, and that alone—he’s not good at all and he talks of “breeding” incessantly, but somehow this all makes me like him for his absurdity.
The antagonist is a boy Desmond’s age, one year older than John, named Reginald “the Demon” Scaife. He is deliciously hot. You don’t have to take my word for it, because John reiterates this fact, at length, throughout the novel. His role is interesting because he’s New Money, his grandfather was a manual laborer, and the “taint” of that is his consistent defect. He’s actually rather non-villainous otherwise. He does try things like drinking or gambling, but when he does those, he takes only one close call before he wises up and quits. He’s just so insufferable to John et al. because he’s a clever, rich, handsome boy who everyone likes—and how dare they not see his inferior birth as disqualifying! So that he makes up the third point of the love triangle, with Desmond at the center, is a fascinating choice and a really vibrant playground for thinking about the difference between social and economic class.
I was really shocked Desmond dies in the end. I did not see that coming! I mean, until a death was announced, and then it was clear that it would be Desmond. Scaife and Desmond spent years as best friends, they shared a room, Desmond adored Scaife and wouldn’t hear anything negative about him from John—I have to read a romance into that, one stronger than the purported romantic friendship between John and Desmond. It does make me wonder what Scaife might have done at the very end to lose that friendship, as the book suggests. Desmond sends a final letter to John in which he hints at moving on from Scaife, though this bit is especially hackneyed. I want to read that dissolution between Scaife and Desmond more as a lover’s quarrel than the moral revelation that Vachell implies.
But seriously, John is so horny for both Scaife and Desmond. The descriptions of their appearances are relentless.
“Scaife smiled cynically. He looked about a year older than John, but he had the air and manners of a man of the world—so John thought. Also, he was very good-looking, handsomer than Desmond”
Later:
“Scaife, Captain and epitome of the brains and muscles of the Eleven, had grown into a powerful man, with the mind, the tastes, the passions of manhood. Desmond, on the other hand, while nearly as tall (and much handsomer in John's eyes), still retained the look of youth.”
John can’t stop noticing how handsome Scaife is even after he’s decided Scaife is a literal demon lol.
As much as I love a schoolboy romance, I think I came out of this book shipping John/Scaife in the far future when Scaife holds some decorated military position and John is a politician and John is miserably self-hating about how much he enjoys it. It’s really John’s sexuality that drives the story, as uptight and annoying as he can be. I want to like Desmond more than I do, but I don’t think Vachell achieves much depth with his characterization; Desmond is just a boy torn between two friends. John, our protagonist, certainly has the potential of depth in the conflict between the moral values of the authority figures he respects and his throbbing horniness for Scaife. Scaife beautifully encapsulates class conflict. There’s something I could do here, if I put some thought towards it.
I’m not a huge fan of David Blaize himself, which I reflected on when writing about those books, but at least David is a winsome protagonist. John comes across as unintentionally unpleasant, as though Vachell meant to write him as relatable but missed on on the idea that boys enjoy cricket and games and sport and pranks, or even that some boys like the details of the hero being a good, scholarly sort. The Hill, unlike other school novels I’ve read, doesn’t give us as many of those details (there’s… one or two cricket chapters, and they’re more than halfway through), so I wonder who this was intended for other than proud Harrovian Old Boys who wanted to be reminded of their precious school traditions.
Despite all of that, it was super readable. I think it was the supporting cast. There’s Harry, of course, who I wanted to be more of a Frank Maddox type and wasn’t, but at least he was fawningly described as handsome. An array of parents show up, more than I’m used to—see the proud Old Boys theory, above—and lots of other schoolmates to round the numbers. Of these side characters I liked the Caterpillar the best (he has a name, and is almost never referred to by it). He’s a stuck-up, slimy boy who earns his nickname from the way he inches through the forms—I’m not sure he’s past lower fifth by the time he leaves school, but he’s already old enough to go! He’s on the “good” side of the novel by virtue of opposing the antagonist, and that alone—he’s not good at all and he talks of “breeding” incessantly, but somehow this all makes me like him for his absurdity.
The antagonist is a boy Desmond’s age, one year older than John, named Reginald “the Demon” Scaife. He is deliciously hot. You don’t have to take my word for it, because John reiterates this fact, at length, throughout the novel. His role is interesting because he’s New Money, his grandfather was a manual laborer, and the “taint” of that is his consistent defect. He’s actually rather non-villainous otherwise. He does try things like drinking or gambling, but when he does those, he takes only one close call before he wises up and quits. He’s just so insufferable to John et al. because he’s a clever, rich, handsome boy who everyone likes—and how dare they not see his inferior birth as disqualifying! So that he makes up the third point of the love triangle, with Desmond at the center, is a fascinating choice and a really vibrant playground for thinking about the difference between social and economic class.
spoilers for 118 year old book
I was really shocked Desmond dies in the end. I did not see that coming! I mean, until a death was announced, and then it was clear that it would be Desmond. Scaife and Desmond spent years as best friends, they shared a room, Desmond adored Scaife and wouldn’t hear anything negative about him from John—I have to read a romance into that, one stronger than the purported romantic friendship between John and Desmond. It does make me wonder what Scaife might have done at the very end to lose that friendship, as the book suggests. Desmond sends a final letter to John in which he hints at moving on from Scaife, though this bit is especially hackneyed. I want to read that dissolution between Scaife and Desmond more as a lover’s quarrel than the moral revelation that Vachell implies.
But seriously, John is so horny for both Scaife and Desmond. The descriptions of their appearances are relentless.
“Scaife smiled cynically. He looked about a year older than John, but he had the air and manners of a man of the world—so John thought. Also, he was very good-looking, handsomer than Desmond”
Later:
“Scaife, Captain and epitome of the brains and muscles of the Eleven, had grown into a powerful man, with the mind, the tastes, the passions of manhood. Desmond, on the other hand, while nearly as tall (and much handsomer in John's eyes), still retained the look of youth.”
John can’t stop noticing how handsome Scaife is even after he’s decided Scaife is a literal demon lol.
As much as I love a schoolboy romance, I think I came out of this book shipping John/Scaife in the far future when Scaife holds some decorated military position and John is a politician and John is miserably self-hating about how much he enjoys it. It’s really John’s sexuality that drives the story, as uptight and annoying as he can be. I want to like Desmond more than I do, but I don’t think Vachell achieves much depth with his characterization; Desmond is just a boy torn between two friends. John, our protagonist, certainly has the potential of depth in the conflict between the moral values of the authority figures he respects and his throbbing horniness for Scaife. Scaife beautifully encapsulates class conflict. There’s something I could do here, if I put some thought towards it.
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Date: 2023-03-22 06:06 pm (UTC)On a semi-related note, have you heard of The Loom of Youth by Alec Waugh? I was skimming through it recently, and it seems to provide a very interesting contrast to the romantic view of public schools you find in The Hill and its ilk, in that it's actually critical about the whole system and relatively open about the fact that everyone was getting it on with each other the whole time...
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Date: 2023-03-22 06:48 pm (UTC)Oh, nice! Thank you for sharing the link to regshoe's review; yes, it seems we had very similar takeaways, except for who we ended up shipping. I think it's very telling that, no matter how much of a snob John is, you do come away wanting to pair him with someone. He's just so damned horny! Funny that regshoe's comments mention the one slashfic on AO3 for the book, which is actually a Scaife/Desmond fic, set sometime before the unfortunate ending. I have half a mind to drop this into an exchange in some ultra-rare boarding school novels slate of nominations, just to see if I can tempt out a little more action for the fandom.
And also I am in complete agreement with the both of you that setting the novel at Actual Harrow was a strange and unfortunate choice. Interesting from a historical perspective, but bad from a narrative one; Benson's version of smudging the name a bit and pretending it isn't exactly his alma mater is preferred.
I have heard of but have not yet read The Loom of Youth! I've been sort of vaguely shopping for it at second-hand stores for the past year, since it sounds like it's a bit more well-known than most of the other public school novels. No luck yet. I've gone ahead and downloaded the ebook version as my next read, if you're skimming it now! It's probably a good pairing with the saccharine praise of The Hill.
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Date: 2023-04-13 06:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-04-13 08:02 pm (UTC)Ah, yes, I saw your review of Tom Brown at Oxford! I need to get around to reading Tom Brown's School Days at some point, really round out the public school novel experience. A big part of what drew me to this entire genre was the discussion of class—somewhat embarrassingly, I fell into considering class in Britain through the Harry Potter fandom and realized I wanted more of that, not any of the magic—so I tend to have a soft spot for the books that pick at class in some way. Even if they also go hand in hand with terrible moralizing about it, as The Hill does! But The Hill's flaws, which you pointed out so well in your review three years ago, seem fairly well-suited for fix-it fic. I don't like John Verney, but I think his contrasts are interesting, and I think a physical affair with another man would challenge his worldview in a compelling way.
If you do read David Blaize, I would definitely enjoy hearing your impressions of it! That was my introductory novel, so it's my baseline for the genre; I can't imagine how it fares if you come in already familiar with the tropes and conventions.
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Date: 2023-04-14 03:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-04-14 03:56 pm (UTC)Oh! I haven't read Fathers of Men yet, though I have it in my ebook reader thanks to a rec elsewhere (that I wonder if it didn't come from you).
I will say, as moralistic as The Hill was, I enjoyed it. It's Verney's fawning attraction, I think. My favorite remains The Fifth Form at St. Dominic's, though.
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Date: 2023-04-14 05:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-04-14 07:07 pm (UTC)Ha! Well thank you again, because I’m fairly certain you recced me a few different books back then and I’m sure at least one of them has been on my recent reading list. Very much appreciated. :)
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Date: 2023-04-15 03:47 pm (UTC)