“All he saw was a mass of timepieces, all telling him that it lacked only half an hour ‘til midnight. And then? He set himself not to think about it.”

— John Goddard

Conversations, with Clocks

by John Goddard

As much as I enjoy books that challenge me, it is sometimes nice to sit down with a comfortable read and enjoy it over a cup of tea and a biscuit. “Conversations, with Clocks” by John Goddard is one such read.

Why this book?

To be as upfront and transparent as possible, the only reason this book ever entered my radar, in fact, the only reason I chose to read it, was the author. John Goddard, or Dr. Goddard as I know him better, was my English teacher the last three years of my high school career. He proceeded to take my middle sister though her last two years of English, and then retired. Much to the irritation of my youngest sister who had been hoping to have him for her final years as well.

As a teacher, Dr. Goddard’s love of literature and energy in teaching it made his classes tolerable for those who hated the subject, and truly magical for students such as myself.

About three, maybe four, years ago, he told me he had decided to try his hand at writing a novel. He had spent so many years teaching them, he wondered if he’d be any good at writing them.

Then, when had the fortune to see him in January of this year, he told me he had finished the book and seen it published. Naturally, I ordered myself a copy and began reading as soon as it arrived a week and a half later.

What is this book about?

In the words of Dr. Goddard, “it is about the only thing I know anything about: schools”. Whilst I’m not entirely convinced that he doesn’t know anything about things besides schools, it is certainly true that, after 40 years as a teacher and administrator, he does know schools.

“Conversations, with Clocks” differentiates itself from other books about schools by focusing not on the students, but on the staff. In fact, unless something happens to force the students into the attention of the staff, they may as well not be there. A role which the staff usually seem to fill in such novels.

This focus on the staff, however, results in a novel that examines the realities of what it takes to keep a school running. From the potted roads of syllabus planning and class allocation, to the interpersonal politics of daily interactions between differing personalities and visions.

Beyond this, the book is about the passage of time and the inevitability of change that comes with it. Perhaps unsurprisingly, clocks are a recurring motif, with the title itself referring to a painting gifted to one of the teachers by his students. A gift that touches and saddens him as he prepares to make a life changing announcement of his own.

The themes of time and change can also be seen in the references to the school term and week, a pregnancy and in constant meeting between headmaster and school board regarding the future of the school.

My thoughts on this book

The two words that immediately and consistently spring to mind when describing this book are “charming” and “delightful”. It is neither a hard read, nor particularly challenging. Instead, my old English teacher’s wit and humour is clearly present, as is his grasp of human nature. When I was asked by my sister if I could “hear Dr. Goddard”, my answer was a definite yes.

And that was exactly what I wanted.

“Conversations, with Clocks” is not a perfect book. I doubt very much that such a thing exists. Most of it’s shortfalls lie with the size of the cast. A great many characters come and go, with most of them introduced in the first half of the first chapter. This resulted in some difficulty in remembering who was who and what role they played. It did settle down, and by the end I was able to keep the necessary characters straight. I realise, of course, that this mirrors the challenge of entering a new environment. However, in reality, the overwhelming rush of people is a necessary evil. In my fiction, I prefer it to be tamed to a slow trickle.

The other comment I have would be with regards to which characters took centre stage. It is not necessarily negative, but from the blurb provided, I had expected Doug Anderson and Allan Parslow to be the central figures. Instead, a third character, Sam Baker, seemed to push Anderson to the side. Fortunately, Baker’s story was interesting, so the narrative did not suffer for it, but I would have liked to see more of Anderson.

Overall, “Conversations, with Clocks” is an enjoyable and insightful read. I would definitely recommend it to teachers, and to students of human nature. Or if you just enjoy a light read over a cup of tea.

How this book affected me

Unlike many other books I read, this did not require me to confront anything uncomfortable or to examine some aspect of my life. A relief, really. A person can only handle so much introspection.

It did, however, make me think it was just as well I hadn’t gone into teaching. The students and the teaching I would probably have enjoyed. The politics, not so much.

Did you know…

I’m going to do something a little different this month. Instead of sharing some fact or bit of information, I have decided to share a favourite memory of Dr. Goddard. I hope this gives you a little insight into the character and personality of this wonderful man.

Due to circumstances I won’t go into here, I did year 11 English twice, first as an HSC student, then as an IB student. I was fortunate enough to have Dr. Goddard for both those years. As a result, there were a number of texts I studied with him that my IB classmates did not. Most notably, and pertinently, was Oscar Wilde’s “The Importance of Being Earnest”.

My IB class was a group of 14 or 15, all of us about 16 years of age. On this particular day, we had arrived to class a few minutes ahead of Dr. Goddard. We let ourselves in and set about getting ready for class and continuing our conversations. One of the boys, tired from the day, lay on his desk, resting his legs along the wall beside.

Enter John Goddard.

He glanced around the room, mischief lighting up his eyes. He turned to me, excitement evident in the slight skip of his step, the bounce of his shoulders and the smile on his face.

“I have always wanted to do this!”

He moved over to the desk my classmate lay on, folded his arms, drew himself up and exclaimed, as only a fan of Wilde can, “Mr. Byrne! Rise from that semi-recumbent posture!”

The effect was immediate.

Mr. Byrne was shocked right off his desk. Our classmates stared in confusion. Dr. Goddard and I could only laugh, before endeavouring to explain the joke.

And such was English class with Dr. John Goddard.