I've had this novel on my list for years and since I am having problems figuring out what I'm actually in the mood to read, I thought I'd finally dive in.

For those not familiar with the story, Miss Jean Brodie is what would have been considered a teacher with progressive ideas during the 1930s. She mentors a small group of elite students, taking them on field trips, inviting them to her house and confiding all types of details about her personal life. (I think presently, Miss Brodie's actions would be construed as a severe breach of personal/professional
boundaries.) As events unfold, Miss Brodie insists that she is in her prime and has chosen to dedicate her life to her students. In exchange, there is an unsaid expectation of loyalty from her curated "Brodie Group." Of course Miss Brodie's teaching tactics do not sit well with the other more conventional teachers and the headmistress.

The thing that struck me about Miss Brodie was she often employed the same tactics some of the other teachers used, which was telling students what to think, instead of teaching students critical thinking skills. At one point Miss Brodie states, "Who is the greatest Italian painter?" "Leonardo da Vinci, Miss Brodie." "That is incorrect. The answer is Giotto, he is my favourite." What a load of baloney thought I, as this is a completely subjective opinion not based on any fact or scientific methodology of assessment. Yes, Miss Brodie often introduced the students to unconventional subjects but she either filled in the blanks with her opinions (presented as facts) or she really didn't provide any deeper understanding of a subject, leaving the students to fill in the missing details with all sorts of conjecture. By the end of the book, I didn't really have much respect for Miss Brodie and I thought most of the students were a bunch of spoiled brats.

Mural Spark did present a thought provoking and well crafted story wrapped up in a short book. She lost me a few times with the random flash-forward scenes, until I figured out what was going on. Not a masterpiece in my opinion, but a classic worthy of reading. It does make one think, especially given how schools in certain states are currently trying to prevent teachers from addressing a whole host of subjects and are continuing to ban books that don't mesh with their warped myopic views based on some alternative reality.
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Sharp and pitiless, a jewel with a razor's edge. Constant shifting perspectives under the deceptive appearance of an omniscient narrator make it impossible to fall into comfortable assumptions about the characters' motivations and their ethical stance. The story that takes shape is more the story of two jungle beasts devouring each other in turns, than anything else.
Weeks after reading, the perfect economy of the style still stays with me - not one word too many, nothing left unsaid but what needed to be left unsaid. ( )

Thoroughly recommend Miriam Margolyes' narration of this classic novel, don't think I would have got through it otherwise. Margolyes made the humour really stand out and added depth that I wouldn't have got from the page as I think the novel has dated since 1961. ( )

"Give me a girl at an impressionable age, and she is mine for life." The unconventional Miss Brodie teaches "her girls" things not in the standard curriculum of the Marcia Blaine School, with far-reaching, unforeseen consequences. Set in Edinburgh in the 1930's. Insightful, disturbing, very well done. Brilliantly dramatized by Maggie Smith and Gordon Jackson, among others, in 1969. ( )

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie is a well-known tale about a memorable boarding school instructress and her six young favorites, the "Brodie set." Miss Brodie, as she is almost always called, is devoted to her girls (her "crème de la crème"), but, as they must, they all grow up and leave her to embrace their own disparate fates.

Author Muriel Spark's technique of flashing forward in time could have made this an especially intriguing short novel. However, as other readers have commented, I found this work more tedious than expected. The writing is clever, but the events and characterizations are perplexing. Perhaps this novel should be read as a fable concerning Scottish Calvinism’s fixations on election and predestination.

I have long wanted to read this short novel, and, on balance, I am glad that I did. I'm not sure that I could recommend it to others, however. ( )