The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark

This month we decided to go back to the classics. "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie" is precisely the sort of classic that all members had heard of, but none had actually read. It also had the advantage of being quite a short book, important in the busy pre-Christmas time (as it turned out, most agreed after having read it, that while the book was short, it was by no means a "quick read").

The discussion of the book with its focus on a teacher very quickly took us on to a discussion of education and whether we'd like our children to have a teacher like Miss Brodie. the general consensus was: "No way!" Most of us felt that she played favourites, discouraged a team spirit even amongst the "chosen" girls, and neither her methods nor the content of her teachings inspired us much.

Another big topic of discussion was what makes this book such a highly-regarded classic. Most felt that whilst this was a very well-written book, it perhaps fell a bit short of greatness. We wondered if perhaps, since Edinburgh features so prominently in the book, it could have been better appreciated by those with a more intimate knowledge of that city.

The average score for the book was 7.3. The scores given showed a remarkable consistency, being either 7.0 or 7.5.

All in all, everyone agreed that it good to have read the book.