I think the biggest thing Mr. Chips going against him is the hyperbolic praise heaped upon him by the various publishers who have sought to capitalize on his completely fabricated impact on readers across the globe. Its not as though I can think of any examples, but I'm fairly certain that Chips is not the most beloved teacher to ever occupy the halls of literature, as the cover of my edition of this book would have you believe. If you go into this book with that inflated expectation, you'll probably find yourself confused when you get to its schmatzy, yet still touching conclusion.

You see, "Good-Bye, Mr. Chips" is not the earth-shattering glimpse into the inspirational life of teachers, so much as it is the quaint look into the waning years of an unassuming man who set out, once upon a time, to do his best in his chosen profession (which just happens to be teaching), and at the end of the day, looks back and realizes that it was all rather satifying. The end.

As a teacher myself, I can say there are a few feel-good moments to which I can relate, and even felt a little glow of pride that maybe one day I could be a Chips-like figure roaming the halls of my campus with my eccentric ways that students might make fun of, but only in a good-natured sort of way, because hey, its Chips! We have no idea what he does, and his classes may not be our favorite, but gee, he sure is an intersting and nice enough guy.

The fact that nearly three quarters a century of his life is covered in less than 150 pages should tell you that there is no heavy reading here. Those who praise this book for its illuminating take on how teachers affect the lives of their students must surely have read a different book, as most of the teacher/student relations are breezed over in lieu of summarizing the key events of Chips' life, including being hired by a long-since deceased headmaster, the marriage that most of his school hardly knows about since it happened so long ago, a few anecdotes about teaching (including his stubbornly continuing a lesson even while the campus was being bombed during the Great World War), and many ruminations on how long he's been around and the many things he's seen and experienced that no other teacher or student at his school could even guess at.

In this manner, its almost a sad account of the way we all pass on, and in spite of our contributions to society, chances are no one will remember or care once you're gone. Viewed in this light, "Good-Bye, Mr. Chips" is surprisingly more thought-provoking than it has any right to be. James Hilton (who also wrote the far more densly written action yarn, "Lost Horizon") shows an impressively light touch, barely coming down out of the clouds long enough to paint any kind of thorough picture of Chips, and yet leaving you with, for me anyway, a solid characterization that carries more weight than the deft prose would seem to suggest. A skyscraper built out of feathers.

So, "Mr. Chips" is not the ground-breaking ode to teachers that some of the hype would suggest, but it is a brief read that leaves you with a sense of melancholy and a good sense of a good man who does a good job at his calling.

Goodbye, Mr. Chips is a charming tale of an English schoolmaster whose life, at first glance, seems to be rather mundane and lackluster. Mr. Chipping appears to be going through life as an average teacher, never to achieve any greater standing. He realizes that he will never be a headmaster or win the admiration of his fellow teachers or of his students. He thinks that he is hardly noticed and that he certainly will not be remembered. But sometimes, fate steps in, and often, a person is not able to judge his own worth. This short novel is filled with humor, wise anecdotes, and pathos. A timeless classic, this is a story to be read and enjoyed time and again.

Creo que no he podido tener mejor comienzo con la editorial Trotalibros que empezar leyendo esta novela feelgood donde se nos presenta a un personaje único, divertido y entrañable, entre otras muchas cualidades que se podrían destacar. En la novela se nos presenta a un viejo profesor que rememora su vida académica y personal en el ocaso de su vida. Y que te transporta a través de la pocas páginas a una multitud de situaciones no todas cómicas aunque si siempre te va a dejar la parte más dulce, o por lo menos es con lo que me quedo yo.

One of those books you feel you’ve already read without ever reading it. Its popularity speaks for itself: over 2 million copies sold, adapted repeatedly for radio, stage, TV, and cinema. The titular character is the original Beloved Teacher. Before Jean Brodie, John Keating, Mr Holland or Mr Hundert, there was Mr Chips.

It’s helpful to come to Chips after his many fictional successors. I was expecting something more sentimental, archaic. On inspection, Chips isn't the book readers popularly imagine. It has few actual scenes and not many specifics. Most of the secondary characters are so interchangeable one surname serves for generations of pupils. The whole has a hazy feel, which perhaps ring true for many ex-teachers. But I can’t help wondering if everyone’s life seems that way ‘when you are getting on in years (but not ill, of course)’.

Chips is not, in the strictest sense of the word, an inspirational man. He gets the job because the school is second rate and desperately short of staff. His degree, like his skill at disciplining the children, is mediocre. He stays at the school simply because, a ‘dry and neutral person’, he is a passive man who lacks the courage to make a change.

Chips’ refusal to change is a kind of heroism. When the hateful new headmaster Ralston berates him for teaching the exact same lessons year in, year out, refusing to follow the updated curriculum, we are meant to boo him (he is ‘not popular’ and, worse, has been reaching out to parents who actually earntheir living). Chips himself imagines a grand speech in response, yet never says anything. But by the following month the teachers, pupils and parents have sided with Chips and joined forces to send the wicked moderniser packing. Chips, the unexceptional but loveable bungler, is now as much a part of the school as the stonework.

Chips’ character - modest, unpretentious, decent - drives him more than politics. Or, rather, his decency is his politics. During the First World War a beloved German teacher is sacked (purely for the greater good, of course), and Chips is outraged at the blatant injustice. When the teacher is later killed during the war and Chips is cautioned about mentioning him again by name. Chips’ thoughts, never articulated, are decency in its purest form.

‘those ideas of dignity and generosity that were becoming increasingly rare in a frantic world. And he thought: Brookfield [the school] will take them, too, from me; but it wouldn’t from anyone else.’

When the army brass takes over part of the school for training, Chips is asked his opinion of bayonet practice. He answers that it seems a very vulgar way of killing people - and it’s clear he says this the way a lesser man says ‘Go screw yourself, my good man.’

In another book, the deathbed scene would seem triumphant. When told that it’s a pity he never fathered children, Chips responds he has had thousands of children - his pupils. He hears their names in his ears like the chorus to a hymn (in alphabetical order - a teacher to the last). Chips, of course, dies in his sleep, and we are told ‘Brookefield will never forget his lovableness.’ Only, the author reminds us, that is absurd. All things are forgotten in the end, including our hero, along with every life he touched. How much that thought withers the preceding paragraph, and the entire novel you have just read, depends on your capacity for cynicism. Or hope.

Another re-read. I read this 15-20 years ago so I figured I would not remember anything about it – hell, I wouldn’t remember anything about it if I read it 15-20 days ago...

Muy bueno, una historia sencilla que cuenta cosas importantes y trascendentes.

Una de aquellas historias sin una trama al uso, donde aparentemente no sucede nada, pero en realidad se nos cuenta mucho. En estas poco más de cien páginas, la melancolía nos acompañará en todo momento, encontraremos mucha belleza y también algunas dosis de tristeza. Lo que aquí se narra son las vivencias del señor Chipping (Chips para todos), un viejo y discreto profesor de la escuela de Brookfield, y es de esos personajes entrañables que desprenden ternura y generan emociones, de los que te sacan fácil una sonrisa a la vez que sufres con ellos; alguien cargado de recuerdos y anécdotas que ama tanto a su profesión hasta haberla convertido en un modo de vida.

Una delicia de lectura, placentera y entrañable, aunque no por ese motivo debería ser considerada como sencilla, interpretando esa definición como algo negativo. En algunos momentos y salvando las distancias, me recordó a Stoner, lo cual ya son palabras mayores. Bravo Trotalibros por recuperarla.

آقای چیپس یک جهان‌بینی خاص بود. یک سفر زیبا در تاریخ و مردی که سنت را در صنعت بیدار کرد و در کشاکش جنگ خود به ریش و ریشه‌ی جنگ خندید و دیگران را هم به خندیدن دعوت کرد. لطایفش حتی روح زمخت زمانه را هم لطیف کرد. چیپس خودش روح زمانه بود.

No puedo darle menos puntuación a esta historia y a este personaje, porque ha llegado en el momento oportuno y lo he disfrutado inmensamente.

Después de una racha mala en la que no me apetecía leer, he retomado las ganas y se lo debo todo al Señor Chips, que con su forma de ser me ha robado el corazón.

A lo largo de esta breve historia conocemos la vida de este personaje tan entrañable que se dedica a la enseñanza. Vemos su evolución, tanto en lo laboral como en su vida privada, lo dura que puede ser en algunos momentos la vida, y cómo algunas personas pueden hacernos salir de nuestra zona de confort y cambiarnos para siempre y a mejor.

Las descripciones tanto ambientales, como de sentimientos y de personajes me han encantado. Consiguen que puedas recrear a la perfección cada escenario, cada momento importante y especial en la vida del señor Chips.

No puedo decir más de esta maravilla, salvo que lo leáis, que os animéis a conocer al señor Chips, porque seguro que una vez que lo hagáis no lo olvidaréis jamás.

This heartwarming story of a man who devoted his life to teaching deserves being called a classic. It is a very Good Read.

El editor en la nota con la que cierra los libros que publica ( que por cierto me parecen uno de los aciertos de sus ediciones porque le dan un punto diferenciador al resto de editoriales) dice que lo publicó en verano porque quería un libro ameno pero que a la vez no dejara indiferente y la verdad es que este libro lo cumple aunque yo he preferido leerlo en estas fechas navideñas y invernales porque me parecía un momento mas adecuado para pasar un par de días con este entrañable maestro en su sala de estar con la chimenea encendida recordando lo que fue su vida. Desde luego una lectura muy recomendable.

the worst book ever!!! its in our English syllabus and we had no choice but to read it...i mean from the world full of books they had to make us read this one !! but this book is not just unbearable but it has no point whatsoever.mr chips himself is the weirdest guy ever to walk the planet, i mean he says that he cant stand women and then goes and marries a girl young enough to be his daughter, if that isnt creepy i dont know what is. apart from that, that dude thought he was so witty but the jokes mentioned in the book are the most non-funny ones ive ever had the misfortune to hear !!! mr chips speaking style of saying humph more then words is really annoying.
Apart from all these little annoyances, the book has no point, imean who wants to hear the whole boring story of a guy whos would have won the boring emmy if there was one!!! i mean its even more pointless then Anne of green gables!!!