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Click to see a larger image of the dustwrapper. On the right is a paperback edition.

The Chalet School Goes to it / The Chalet School at War - Harback versus Paperback

This article first appeared in FOCS 34, published in November 1996.

I began this with some trepidation, as I never thought that I would be brave enough to write an article. So my apologies in advance for any inadequacy in this comparison.

I decided on Goes to It as I only have about eight of the more common hardbacks and most of them have already been done. After I had decided on this book I discovered that it was one of those that had not really been abridged and there was very little alteration in the text. However, I decided to persevere as I thought that there may be people like me who are interested in small details and would like to know what had been changed anyway. I used a 1956 reprint of Goes to It and the 1988 pb of CS at War.

The first and most obvious alteration is, of course, the title. I don't know why Armada found it necessary to changes the title, though in this case they might have thought that "goes to it" is a rather old fashioned phrase. I don't think that The CS at War is any more attractive. As I have already stated, there are very few alterations between the hb and the pb versions and so anyone reading the pb has not really lost out. There are no chapters missing and very little has actually been cut out. It is mostly changes of words. There are, however, 247 pages in the hb and only 174 pages in the pb so it appears that you are reading a much shorter book! I have laid it out chapter by chapter explaining the changes under each heading. Throughout the book the word "Tirol" has been substituted for "the Tyrol" in the pb so I have not detailed this in each chapter summary. I presume this is for political correctness, though personally I prefer it the other way. All the page references are from the hb.

Chapter 1 - Fresh Plans

Unaltered.

Chapter 2 - Joey Departs

p33 - "There's a Fritz about!" is replaced by "There's a German about!"

Chapter 3 - War at First Hand

p43 - "couching" is replaced by "removal" in reference to Nigel Willoughby's cataract, and on the same page Joey is instructed that "she must cast her babies at once", which in the pb becomes "she must stop feeding her babies herself at once".

Chapter 4 - At the School

Unaltered.

Chapter 5 - Gwensi!

Unaltered.

Chapter 6 - Where is Gwensi?

p72 - "In the early 'sixties" is changed for obvious reasons to "In the 1860's" when describing the period of decoration at Plas Howell.

Chapter 7 - Gwensi Meets Some New Friends

Unaltered.

Chapter 8 - The School Returns

Unaltered.

Chapter 9 - Gardens and Gardening

p111 - "trig" is omitted from the description of Miss Everett. In the pb she is just "neat in her stout, corduroy breeches and leather leggings." p113 - "scab" is changed to "disease". pps 114,115 & 116 - "trugs" is changed to "baskets". I admit that I did not know what "trugs" were, but I much prefer it to "baskets".

Chapter 10 - The Prefects in Council

p122 - Cornelia no longer says "were the little goops touched?" but "were the little ninnies mad?" referring to the Juniors bicycle race through the hoops. Personally, I think that this is just as old fashioned a phrase as the other and rather more tame. p124 - "Outsize in rows" in the pb is condensed to "Outsize row". p125 - "Outside edge is changed to "Limit". p126 - Violet's "I wish Joey weren't so full up these days" becomes "I wish Joey weren't so busy these days" and Robin's following comment is altered in the same way. That one does make her sound as if she was eating rather a lot!

Chapter 11 - Joey Takes a Hand

p131 - "footing" is omitted so Joey just says "it's such nonsense". p135 - "Betty" has been correctly altered to "Beth", though earlier in the chapter Joey calls her "Bethy", so perhaps that is what it was meant to be.

Chapter 12 - Who is Responsible?

p157 - "nightmare" is changed to "nightmares" to make grammatical sense.

Chapter 13 - The Fourth Decides to Take a Hand

p162 - Mary is no longer "adjured" but is now "encouraged". p163 - "safe" is changed to "sure" referring to Megan knowing about secret passages. p166 - "all by my lones" is changed to "all by myself".

Chapter 14 - Intrepid Explorers

p183 - "whatefer" is changed to "whatever". This looks like a grammatical change, but I think the original was meant to represent the Welsh accent speaking English.

Chapter 15 - The Death Wail

p200 - In the pb Betty calls Elizabeth a "fool" and no loner a goop.

Chapter 16 - Next Day

p214 - "budget" is changed to "news", where Miss Annersley asks Joey if she has finished.

Chapter 17 - Growing Pains

Unaltered.

Chapter 18 - Simone is Married

p235 - Cornelia describes Simone as "mean" in the pb, instead of "a mean". p236 - Cornelia's "thank the pigs" is changed to "thank goodness". p240 - "All our children were brought up to be open-airy little people" is omitted when Joey shows Simone the babies.

There are really very few changes and it makes you wonder if it were really worth it, apart from the three or four changes to correct things. Most of the changes appear to be updating phrases, especially slang. It is obvious, however, that it is adults putting in what they think children would say and not what the children would actually say. I think that some of the changes are just as outdated in the 1980s as the original text. So why did they bother? You are also made to wonder why, if they can produce this pb with so few alterations, they had to cut so many of the others. While I was writing this, I was explaining to my father why, and he was horrified to discover that the pbs did not tell you that they were abridged, with which I wholeheartedly agree.

Aileen McGoogan

Publishing history