Again, Truepenny asks for book recommendations

[truepenny]

A conversation on someone else's LJ reminded me of a long-standing curiosity. And now that, hey, I have people around who are extraordinarily well-read, I thought I'd pose the question.

Books about boarding schools that get it right.

There's a long post I made back in December about a number of reasons why Diana Wynne Jones's Witch Week is a better res (Latin for "thing"--I can't think of a word for what I want) than the Harry Potter books. One of those reasons is that Rowling's vision of what boarding school is like doesn't ring true, even to an American reader such as myself. But, when I grumble, Someone ought to write a book that does this properly, I can't put my money where my mouth is, because I don't actually know what I'm talking about. I can just tell a dreamy delusion when I see one. So I'm interested in finding books that achieve a more accurate representation.

Obviously, if the book is sf/f/h, that's a big bonus, but for the purposes of this book-quest, it's the boarding-school-ness I'm looking for. All suggestions welcome and appreciated!

Comments

[truepenny.livejournal.com]

I've read A Separate Peace and am inclined to agree, based on my complete lack of any experience whatsoever. It felt realistic.

But as far as I know, American boarding school stories are pretty thin on the ground. (Are there any others? Is the school in Peter Straub's Shadowland a boarding school or just an extremely swank prep school?) Whereas English boarding school stories seem to constitute their own little genre, and I suppose it's that as much as anything else that I'm interested in.

But thank you for reminding me of A Separate Peace. Because you're right.

[trinker.livejournal.com]

I think there are more boarding school movies.

I liked the one with Robin Williams...oh yes, "Dead Poets Club".