The Lords of Discipline: A Novel by Pat Conroy
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Book Reviews of The Lords of Discipline: A Novel
Book Review: Friendship and love
Summary: 5 Stars
The Lords of Discipline is one of the best novels dealing with male love and friendship that I have ever read. Mr. Conroy has created as realistic a portrait of young adult companionship and comradely as I have found, to date, in literature. This long novel has many themes and characters, but the text is really about its narrator, Will McLean, and his years at a military college, known as "the Institute."
The strengths of the book are many, but here are a few that come quickly to mind. The voice of its protagonist, Will, is one of the novel's most enjoyable features. Will is articulate, sarcastic, and funny as hell. He is also inwardly shy, unsure of his place at the Institute, in his own circle of friends and relationships, and a man capable of great decency and gross baseness. In short, Will is a boy learning how to become a man. Like all of us, it is Will's interior life that is the most honest and interesting, and it is his moments of introspection where the novel really achieves greatness. However, Conroy has interwoven this high literature with one of the best suspense stories I have seen in recent years. I could not stop reading once I hit the last 150 pages. The novel propelled me along to its conclusion. I had to keep reading, even when at times I did not like what was happening in the text.
Another profound element in the novel is Conroy's evocation of Charleston SC. After Will, Charleston is the most developed character in the text, and it is easy to feel and see the city that plays such an important part in the lives of the characters.
Every once in a while I found Conroy's prose to be flowery to no real purpose, but it doesn't detract that much from the novel, and at times it was breathtakingly beautiful. Another weakness was that the ending lines of the book are straight out of a clichéd film. But it was what the reader wanted, and needed, as a conclusion for this intense novel.
When I left the world this novel created I missed it characters. I think about them, I find myself revisiting them. In this sense, Conroy has created a triumphant work.
Book Review: OMG
Summary: 5 Stars
I am a sophomore in high school, and this was the required honors book to read over the summer. So, I went to the book store, picked it up and it sat on my nightstand for two months. When I finally decided I couldn't procrastinate any longer, I begrudgingly picked it up and started reading it. It took me about three days to get through the entire book. It is, bar none, the best book I have ever read in my life. I really felt like I was able to relate to the characters and what they were going through. I laughed, I cried, and I loved. I loved this book, despite my original first judgments. Do not let the length, the cover, or the things written on the back of the book discourage you from picking it up. If you have not read this book, no matter what age you are, you need to go to the bookstore right now and buy it, and immediately start reading it. It is the best written book, and even if you don't usually like things about the military, you will love this book. Perfect for all ages.Book Review: There's not another one like it
Summary: 5 Stars
This is my first book review on Amazon. How should I describe this fabulous book? As far as novels go, nothing really compares to it. Conroy writes literature, not cheap Grisham or Patterson-like fodder. There are scenes in this book that are etched in my mind forever. Like another reviewer, I want to tell friends and strangers alike that they should read this book. The experience Conroy describes is brutal and yet Will McLean emerges a true Institute Man. It is the one book that I have read that had me laughing on one page, almost crying on another, and so angry at the end I wanted to kill some of the characters. I've read all of Conroy's books and Lords of Discipline is the very best. You will not regret reading this work of art.Book Review: Like a Good Steak
Summary: 5 Stars
You know how when you eat a good steak (or any other delectable meal) that you want to savor each bite due to it's wonderful flavors? How you slowly chew each bite after you've gently placed your fork on the table, savoring every scrumptious morsel? How you JUST don't want the meal to end due to the fact that it's THAT good? That's how this book was for me. Pat Conroy's sentences, descriptions, story lines, and character development were an avid reader's best friend. I did NOT want this book to end. If you like good books (and who doesn't), you'll love this. If I had to be critical of something, it's that it *might* have been a bit anti-climactic in parts, but that's a reach.
HIGHLY recommended.
Book Review: one of my all-time favorite books
Summary: 5 Stars
I got a copy of TLOD in college but never read it until about 20 years later. It was a tremendous read and one of the best books I've ever read. Some other reviewers have said that when you get to the last 50 pages or so you won't be able to stop reading, no matter what you're doing or how late at night it is. That's completely true.
I've read it twice more since my initial reading and it remains a great story and the characters of Will McLean and his roommates are indelible. The story deals with love, honor, brotherhood, courage and just about every other noble human trait you can think of. You owe it to yourself to read "The Lords of Discipline."