I remember starting Harry Potter when I was around 13 or 14, just after finishing The Lord of the Rings, while on holiday in Ireland visiting my grandparents. I recall feeling this deep sense of yearning—for a school and a culture that embodied continuity, that was confident in itself, that was refreshingly hierarchical, and that seamlessly wove our cultural identity into the rhythm of daily life.
You’ve managed to articulate what I couldn’t at the time, and you’ve also done something else much needed lately—you’ve cast the Anglo in a positive light again. That alone feels like an achievement worth celebrating.
This is a wonderfully illuminating essay but, having been at boarding school from the age of 8, although acknowledging the value of the necessary development of the individual the separation from and lack of parental nurture leaves a permanent gap in the makeup.
I remember starting Harry Potter when I was around 13 or 14, just after finishing The Lord of the Rings, while on holiday in Ireland visiting my grandparents. I recall feeling this deep sense of yearning—for a school and a culture that embodied continuity, that was confident in itself, that was refreshingly hierarchical, and that seamlessly wove our cultural identity into the rhythm of daily life.
You’ve managed to articulate what I couldn’t at the time, and you’ve also done something else much needed lately—you’ve cast the Anglo in a positive light again. That alone feels like an achievement worth celebrating.
May the Anglo, on either side of the Pond, one day soon find himself.
Amen
Thanks James. Really appreciate these reflective comments
This is a wonderfully illuminating essay but, having been at boarding school from the age of 8, although acknowledging the value of the necessary development of the individual the separation from and lack of parental nurture leaves a permanent gap in the makeup.
Definitely. 8 is very young! If I was to send my boys - we'll see - it would be as they're entering their teens
I could not love this essay more.
Very glad to hear it, thanks Betsy. Also: you’re a hero for supporting so many publications