Review: Those Who Can't...Teach
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 03 15, 2013
"To be or like not to be."There are plenty of stories about great fictional teachers, from Mr. Chips to Albus Dumbledore; inspiring tales of educators who work tirelessly to pass their knowledge on to their bright, young, eager students.This is not one of those stories.Here's a tale about a bored and burned-out teacher who does little to inspire his apathetic students.  True, he derives little inspiration from the students themselves.  They'd rather be listening to music, texting and eating sweets than listening to Victorian poetry and learning about Shakespeare."If Shakespeare is so great, why is he dead?" asks one girl.And the school administration provides no support.  They're only interested in looking good in the newspaper and in front of visiting inspectors.  In fact, the Headmaster firmly believes that Hamlet is a comedy.The best strategy seems to be lie low, don't attract attention to yourself and do as little work as possible.The teacher in this book tries to do exactly that, yet somehow, he has been pegged to direct this year's school play.  He wastes no time putting a student in charge of the production, then skips off to the pub, returning to rehearsals as little as humanly possible.  It may be time to pay the piper, however, as the night of the play draws near, and he discovers that the students are planning a performance that's "a lot like Hamlet", only it's an "all-action, musical extravaganza."In addition to the "coming dramatic fiasco" plot, there are more delights to enjoy, as the teacher (if he had a name, I somehow missed it...) and his flatmate, Malcolm, attempt a variety of money-making schemes.  Their stint as a crime-solving duo is particularly memorable, as is the plan to photograph a mythical panther that has been "haunting" the neighborhood.This book probably isn't for everyone.  The humor is dry, black and droll.I loved it!If you're a fan of British humor and have a fondness for slackers who want to get ahead with as little work as possible, this title might be right up your alley.Just...look out for the panther.