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Books like The Rector of Justin

The Rector of Justin

The author of The Rector of Justin, Louis Auchincloss, is the last novelist of “Old Money” in America, and may be considered as the inheritor of the tradition of Henry James and Edith Wharton. He possesses neither the genius of James nor the subtlety of Wharton, but he writes with clarity, builds an exemplary novel, and—being a product of Old Money himself (of the New York variety)—explores a world he knows well with an affection tempered by understanding.The Rector of Justin presents us with the life of the founder of St. Justin Martyr, a prestigious East Coast Episcopal school, a man who presides as headmaster (“rector”) for more than half a century. Because Auchincloss attended Groton School--alma mater of Dean Acheson, Averell Harriman, Teddy Roosevelt's four sons, their cousin Franklin, and others—it is assumed the model for Rector Francis Prescott is Endicott Peabody, founder and rector of Groton for fifty-six years. (Auchincloss, however, has said that many of the biographical details—particularly Prescott's family of three daughters--were inspired by the life of Justice Learned Hand.)Whatever the origins, Francis Prescott is a compelling portrait of a Christian Humanist in the mold of Dr. Thomas Arnold, a man who believes that great literature illuminated by firm faith--and with a little football thrown in--offers a sound basis for education. His character is presented warts and all: he is prideful, stubborn, occasionally persisting in rash decisions motivated more by personal dislike than principle. All in all, though, he is a man who strives to be good and genuinely loves his students and his school. Indeed, he loves them so blindly he comes to believe that his worldly graduates--the businessmen and lawyers who sit on Justin's board--esteem faith and literature as much as he does. At the end of the book, Prescott becomes wiser . . . and sadder.One of the best things about this book is glimpses it offers into a world now so far removed from us that it seems almost as fantastic as Tolkien: a world where oldsters mourn the passing of the art of “cutting someone dead” in the street, and friendships can be fashioned from a mutual love for Attic Greek and a loathing for the verses of Tennyson. Although the naivete of the principal narrator--an earnest young teacher preparing a Prescott biography—becomes a bit wearisome at times, Auchincloss excites his reader's interest by his sharp portrayal of outsiders, many of whom tell their own stories: the fey, expatriate old schoolmate of the rector, the scholarship student who takes the rap for his affluent friend, certain it will make his career, and the board member's son who sincerely loves literature and art and who sees how full of posture and pretense a muscular Christian Humanism can be.

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