Rating: 
Summary: Just an outstanding read! One of my all time favorites.
Review: I love to read. I've always loved to read. And as I've grown older I've discovered that fiction can rarely satisfy my reading needs. It's either sophomoric, predictable, too far-fetched, uninteresting, or simply not worth the effort. Lords of Discipline, however, stands heads and shoulders above the mediocre fare. I cannot possibly recommend this book highly enough. It is simply a phenomenal read. A riviting story that cannot help but move you whoever you are. My only complaint (and it is a serious one) about this book specifically (and Pat Conroy in general) is that it has spoiled me. I find myself measuring almost everything I read against the pleasure that this book has brought me. Unfortunately, I have never read another work of fiction that has managed to move me so. So, be forewarned: You read this book at your own risk, for everything you are likely to read afterewards will pale by comparison.
Rating:
Summary: The Novel as an Art Form
Review: A truly amazing story and arguably Conroy's best. "The Lords of Discipline," of course, is based on Conroy's four years at The Citadel, and the furor which accompanied its released resulted in his banishment by the school for well over a decade. Main character Will McLean is an iconoclast and makes friends with three fellow iconoclasts: Mark Santoro, an Italian cadet from Philadelphia, Dante "Pig" Pignetti, another cadet from the northeast, and Tradd St. Croix, a shy, effiminate cadet from old money Charleston, South Carolina. This novel not only makes clear the brutal aspects of Plebe Year at The Citadel, but it spotlights the brotherhood and closeness among the young men who take the plunge and gut their way through a devastating tradition of year-long hazing by upperclassmen. McLean discovers love for the first time during his senior year. He falls for Annie Kate Gervais, a would-be debutante from an old money Charleston family. Annie Kate normally wouldn't have given McLean the time of day, but she needs a friend after being dumped by a boyfriend who got her pregnant. Later his senior year, McLean, who already serves on the University's Honor Court, takes on an even bigger challenge when asked to keep an eye out for Tom Pearce, the first black cadet ever admitted to the school. And McLean runs afoul of the school when clues point toward The Ten, a secret hazing society whose reach encompasses the very highest members of campus administration. His graduation in jeopardy, the confrontation with General Durrell at the end of the book is a true high point in modern fiction. Strongly recommended for all Conroy fans, and for anyone with a military school background. Themes of loneliness, loyalty, brotherhood and honor abound throughout this book, and as always, it's written absolutely beautifully, with fully-realized, riveting characters that will stay with you long after you've finished reading this book. All seven of his books are well worth your time.
Rating:
Summary: Conroy's Homage to the Citadel
Review: Author Pat Conroy borrowed heavily from his experiences as a cadet at the Citadel to pen this 1980 novel, "The Lords of Discipline." Later made into a film version of the same name that played up the subplot of racism at the expense of the greater themes of friendship, loyalty, discipline, and southern atmosphere, this book is a penetrating insight into the rigors of life in a military college. Most readers are probably more familiar with Pat Conroy's novels "The Great Santini" and "The Prince of Tides," and the two movies they spawned, but fans of those books shouldn't overlook this phenomenal effort. Conroy's protagonist in "The Lords of Discipline" is one Will McLean, a cadet in the senior class at the Carolina Military Institute (referred to by everyone associated with it as "The Institute") in the late 1960s. It is easy to imagine that McLean is a symbolic Conroy, with his love of English and writing, his liberal ideas, and his sense of individuality within an institution that subscribes to total conformity. Born in Georgia, Will agreed to attend CMI when his father asked him to do so on his deathbed. It is only because of this promise that Will sticks it out through what ranks as one of the most degrading, brutal experiences a person will ever face. It is the freshman year at the Institute that really separates the wheat from the chaff, so to speak, as all incoming plebes (called knobs by upperclassmen) undergo hazing of astonishing, and illegal, levels. McLean survives the ordeal by making friends with Tradd St. Croix, a rich scion of one of Charleston's most prominent families; Dante Pignetti, a tough as nails northerner who lifts weights and possesses a most unusual affection for his girlfriend Theresa; and Mark Santoro, another northerner who matches Pignetti in physical prowess. The four friends latch on to one another during freshman year and then share the rest of their school days as roommates. The Institute's rigorous requirements create emotional bonds that go beyond mere friendship: these guys are like brothers, and they openly profess their love for one another without any sense of indecency. Will might have cleared the final hurdles of his senior year and graduated in relative anonymity if several incidents didn't rise up to confront him. The first problem occurs when Colonel Berrineau, known as "Bear," the gruff overseer and protector of the cadets, asks Will to protect the first black plebe in the school's history. Another crisis arises when Will meets a local girl, a well to do lass suffering from an unwanted pregnancy. These two incidents, along with Will's increasing sense of alienation from the Institute's mindless conformity, place McLean's standing at school in deep jeopardy. When a secret organization within the school called "The Ten" decides that the black cadet must go, Will finds himself in a moral dilemma that forces him to decide where his loyalties lie. McLean's ultimate choices cast doubts on the certitude of honor and the dangers of conformity. Even this lengthy summary doesn't properly convey the numerous themes and memorable scenes spread throughout this story. Conroy is a fantastic writer, creating situation after situation of penetrating insights, moral and emotional predicaments, and youthful vigor. Not many writers can pull off a story like the one about Will's last basketball game at the Institute. Conroy perfectly captures the triumph and tragedy of a young man playing the last game of a sport he loves. Moreover, the author uses the game as a way to expose McLean's agonizing dilemma about the Institute. In many ways, Will despises what the Institute stands for, how it demeans and crushes the human spirit, but during the game he realizes how great it is to have the entire body of cadets pulling for him with all of their heart. It's this love/hate relationship with the CMI that makes Will's final decisions so achingly difficult. Arguably the best part of "The Lords of Discipline" involves Will's flashback concerning his freshman year experiences as a knob. I know nothing about life in a military institution, but the situations Will and his friends found themselves in are shocking and brutal. It all starts with "Hell Night," where the cadets march the knobs to the parade ground and proceed to scream and bully until every new man is reduced to a quivering wreck. This night of torture is only the beginning of a long year of endless brutality and sadism. All suffer endlessly under the system, but cadets pay special attention to certain individuals who show any signs of weakness. In a process described as "taming," a knob with an allergy to tomatoes resigns after cadets force him to drink glass after glass of tomato juice. I don't know if this type of behavior continues today, but it must have been the case when Conroy attended the Citadel. Personally, I do think this sort of weeding out process is a good idea, as discipline and toughness tend to be in short supply today. At the same time, some of the stuff Conroy describes in his novel is definitely in the region of pure illegality. It's just another example of the split personality of an institute that touts honor above all else while engaging in decidedly dishonorable activities. Everything you can think of is in this book: romance, action, and drama all make appearances here. Conroy leaves little to the imagination as he sweeps his readers away through page after page of pure genius. I'll bet the Citadel never knew they had a brilliant artist strolling through their hallowed halls, but readers are better off that Conroy suffered the slings and arrows of a military institute. "The Lords of Discipline" is must read material.
Rating:
Summary: There should be more stars for this novel...
Review: I LOVE "The Lords of Discipline." In fact, I wish I could give this book as a birthday gift to every person I know. I want to tap strangers on the shoulder and recommend them this book. I want to yell from the rooftops that EVERYONE should read this work of art. When I started reading "Lords of Discipline," Pat Conroy's language and imagery sucked me in...and didn't spit me out until I finished the last word. I couldn't put the book down..in fact, I kept it right next to my bedside...carried it with me to read whenever I was standing in line. There are so many ingredients that worked together to make this magic. Conroy has an uncanny ability to create characters so real and so tangible that by the end of the novel, I almost felt cheated that the novel had to end. He also paints Charleston so beautifully that now, I will absolutely have to make my way over to see that Southern city for myself. "The Lords of Discipline" may seem just like a basic story about boys growing up to be men in a military school--it isn't. It's so much more. The novel touches on the Vietnam War, love, loyalty, racism, friendship, southern traditions, ideals, the military, and so much more. The hero, Will Mclean, is unlike any other protagonist; the reader grows with him and sees how he transforms in his ideas and perceptions. There simply aren't enough superlative statements to pay justice to Conroy's "Lords of Discipline." The bottomline: please go buy yourself a copy of this book.
Rating: 
Summary: A well-crafted caricature of the American military academy
Review: There are times when I consider Pat Conroy to be the Faulkner of today--he brings a similar southern accent to the niche of 20th century American literature which has "Papa" Hemingway as its patriarch. And there's always a bit of Conroy's ongoing crusade for social justice in every book. The autobiographical "The Water Is Wide" stands as his credentials that he puts his money where his mouth is--buy a Conroy book and you get his alter ego "Conrack" as a bonus contributor. But I have no choice but to conclude that polemic somewhat overwhelms storytelling in this book. What you have here is a first-person "memoir" of cadet Will McLean's experiences at the ficticious Carolina Military Institute. Despite the military character of the school, Will's only real talents are those of basketball player and social commentator. He is by his own admission a do-gooder, to the extent that the school's fatherly dean of students appoints him as an unofficial student guidance counselor/ guardian angel for the school's first African-American cadet. Even when Will falls in love, it's with a girl who's alternately in need of a shoulder to cry on and a convenient target to take her rage out on. He doesn't quite come out and say that's what he's there for, but you can tell he feels that way. His three best friends are his roommates; a scion of Charleston aristocracy targeted by excessive hazing because of his effeteness and two streetwise New York Little Italy types who their more bourgeois fellow cadets consider riffraff but are too tough for them to kick around. The proper "Three Musketeer" sidekicks to a kid who acquantances call sanctimonious and actually understands why they say that about him. This book has a lot of self-analytical soliloquies like that, almost to the detriment of narrative. It's easy to see what bothers Pat Conroy the most--prejudice and elitism. So he creates a like-minded protagonist who--would yew buh-lieve?-- goes and joins a military school! And that bit about the sinister, mysterious "Ten", an elite corps who goes about cleansing the school of nerds, wimps and minorities! My own alma mater had an adminstration ban when I attended on any Greek system on the grounds that it "encouraged elitism". There's no such rule at my old school today, though. I guess you have to understand the times in which this story is both written and set. The late 1960s/ early 1970s were a titanic near-civil-war in which the whole country was caught up in left versus right, when one side called anyone who dared to disagree a "commie" and the other side used "fascist" as its generic negative. Small wonder that, a generation later, American politics are so partisan that whichever side is elected, the other side starts quoting Jefferson--you know, the part about "overthrowing"? The generation who attends the "Institute" in this story are today's Pat Buchanans and Al Gores--you can't say there isn't diversity among my fellow 'Boomers! The thing that stands out in this story--and almost obscures it as a Pat Conroy story--is a glorification of liberalism. There's just one problem I have with it. Back in the time of this story, I was a liberal myself. Then I started to become less and less capable over the years of answering this question even to my own satisfaction--just how much of liberalism involves bona fide goodness and how much is mere sanctimony? I think most of us have learned over the years that there's a lot of diversity of opinion out there of how much of a menace to mankind "mean people" are. And I hope most of us have come to realize that the universe underwrites no insurance against hurt feelings. That's why this book only gets a 4 from me--its philosophical naiivete. I mean, could Will McLean have ever envisioned 9-11-01?
Rating:
Summary: Sheer genius.
Review: A masterpiece in every respect. IMHO, "Lords of Discipline" is Pat Conroy's finest work. Incredible flow and character development. His seamless combination of precise military cadence and southern gothic prose is mind-boggling. This one's a seriously haunting classic.
Rating:
Summary: A Classic Story of Survival of the Human Spirit
Review: In Lords of Discipline, Conroy magnificently details the triumph of the human spirit through its lead character Will McLean. McLean is the victim/victor of/over extreme physical, mental and emotional abuse. There are four elements at work in this novel: the ever-real hazing and brutality tolerated at The Citidel, the social and psychological impact of Vietnam in the late 1960's, the beauty and splendor of Charelston and the joy and heartbreak of a first love. Each element is interwoven into this story beautifully. Like all of Conroy's novels, it is autobiographical and completely harrowing in its depiction of human life and suffering. This is not a 'feel-good' read, but it offers so much between its covers that it is worth the painful interludes. Conroy is an absolute master of prose, painstaking in his detail and honest to a fault. Perhaps that is why he only publishes about once every five years. Lords of Discipline chronicles the first and last years at the Carolina Military Institute (aka The Citidel) through the life of an apologetic, average cadet (Will McLean). We are taken to a place that few have been, and fewer actually survive. As narrated by Will, we see the human soul downgraded to a name, number and rank. But the story goes well beyond the walls of the institute. There is humor, love and returning tours to Conroy's favorite city (Charleston). The book is an inspiration to anyone facing life's challenges and adversity. It's one of his best to be sure.
Rating:
Summary: Great Art
Review: This book is great art because it is an experience. There are lots of themes, some which are conflicting, many that raise questions. You get the feeling that Conroy wrote this book not thinking "I have these themes I have to state." But instead, thought, "I have this experience I have to share." And he did it, wonderfully.
Rating:
Summary: My personal favorite of Pat Conroy's novels
Review: Beautiful descriptions of Charleston and the four-year friendship of four roommates at the Citadel. A very chilling and effective description of the psychological rape of a young man; the betrayal by one of those roommates; the betrayal of a first love, and the betrayal of boys by a system designed to break them and make them into men via sadism.
Rating:
Summary: THE ONLY BOOK I WILL EVER READ!
Review: im a high school junior at hunterdon central and ive NEVER touched a book cuz i hate reading but this book i read .... and read .... i read 50 - 100 pages in a day! i just finished it yesterday and im soooo upset that im not going to read it ever again ... the characters all develop a relationship with u and it made me cry when a certain event happend ... it really truly has inspired me and i would recomend this book in a HEARTBEAT to ANYONE! THE BEST BOOK EVER! its worth 100 stars
|
