The Papers of A.J. Wentworth BA was first published as a humorous contemporaneous study of life in a boy’s boarding school immediately before England joined World War Two. It was serialized in Punch magazine over several years.
Poor Wentworth is an overwhelmed teacher who frequently loses his temper with his young charges. In a roomful of Bart Simpsons, Mason is the worst prankster and malcontent. Wentworth throws things at his students and seems perpetually lost.
I guess this passed for humor in between the two world wars in England. Now it is best read as a historical document of a time never to return. The Papers of A.J. Wentworth BA is not funny to a modern audience and is also filled with British’isms incomprehensible to modern American readers. It is a pass for me unless you are researching the time period for an English literature class. 2 stars.
Thanks to Farrago and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.