Humour
Originally posted on Amazon HERE on 29 August 2012
Mostly, I really liked this. I did actually laugh out loud at a couple of bits - unusual for me when reading a book. At first I thought it was like a sort of modern day Lucky Jim, but then I realised it was more like reading several episodes of Peep Show (hence the Mitchell & Webb reference). I thought it lost its way a little bit in the middle (ie, got a bit TOO outlandish) but that was only a brief falter. I loved the mockery of such daft phrases as 'independent learning' (for letting the pupils just get on with it, unsupervised) and the use of the word 'journey' for anything other than a physical removal from place A to place B (a personal loathe!). I know nothing of current teaching practices or the problems teachers face these days, but I am sure it's a magnificent send-up of both.
If your taste in humour is observational rather than slapstick you'll like this, though there is a bit of the latter, too. Most of it is very well written and reads smoothly, which is of prime importance, of course. Oh, and I very much liked the abrupt ending. Nice one, Mr Church!
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