I'm a bit scared that I won't be able to describe how much I love this book and that I’ll screw up this review. Every time I have the same problem with Conroy. Every time when I finish reading ''him'' I have this properly deep ache. I get spoiled and I find myself measuring almost everything I’ve read so far. I even get angry because I know it will take a long and thorough research to find book(s), author(s) that will replace me this Pat Conroy feeling. And I never do, I never did. The major problem is I always fall in love with his characters. On the other hand, he is so intense and if I were reading only his books and books of this caliber (which is again, impossible to find), I think I would only read 4 books per year. To give myself a little break from exhaustion.But if I start writing what I love about The Lords of Discipline, I will not be able to stop. I’ve written a few times that I find Southern USA literature fascinating. But the thing that fascinates me the most about Conroy is how he makes his story true and maybe this is over the top statement, but most of the time I feel like I am inside, like I’m in the book, feeling a bit embarrassed because I'm watching what is happening with his characters. BUT, luckily I've read enough reviews to know that I'm not alone in this.To add even more spice to this essay: it's a goddamn military book! I think the main reason why so many people can relate is because it seems like you alone are experiencing all the things that are written inside. It really is that real. And scary. And you’re sad and lonely when the book ends, because you miss all of them. It’s a story about South Carolina Military Institute * aka The Citadel, in Charleston, in the fall of 1966. The main character is Will McLean, senior in that college, and he is one of the most amazing and best developed male characters I have ever come across in any novel. Will McLean hates the Institute, but he gave a promise to his father that he will graduate. During the four extremely brutal and agonizing years he was psychologically, physically, emotionally and morally humiliated, degraded in every possible way a human can tolerate, or not tolerate, because plebe system during the first year makes you swallow blood and expect nervous breakdown. Final result if you survive is a satisfaction of becoming a Complete Man. Will is an Irish descendant, an athlete, majoring English (only pussies major languages), with brilliant dry sarcastic humor that is his shield against those that torture him. He is introspective and opinionated, has unimaginable sense for justice and fairness and he is wise beyond his years. He is afraid of his demons and is not afraid to admit them in a place where you have to hide everything. But, his major qualities are his morality and loyalty. He’s not the strongest, nor the toughest, and intellectually he could give a lot more if he only cared, but those vulnerable soft spots that he has as a character make him irresistible. He cares too much about people, and he thinks too much, and goes into such deep and complicated monologues where he tears himself apart that you as a reader push your limits as well, and this is what kills him. In a way he's a full circle person. This character is growing with each page and you grow with him. I had a serious crush on him. Obviously. Institute is the nest of hate, racism and cruelty and they have to accomplish their mission of developing the Complete Man without flaws, so it's vitally important to have somebody who will represent comfort, loyalty and security. Will has three best friends: Tadd, comes from the wealthiest and oldest Charleston family, Pig, the strongest of all the seniors and Mark, Italian descendant. They are roommates and blood brothers. Off campus Will is less sure of himself, in his romance with peculiar and snobbish Annie Kate Gervais, a native of the beautiful city Charleston. Many relationships in this book are eye-opening. Conroy just knows how to write about people. He wrote 500 pages long poem to this Ashley river based city and those parts where he talks about Charleston are probably, if that is possible, the best parts of the book. It’s his love letter to Charleston and I often read passages out loud. I felt like I had actually been there after reading it. But he is not a drunk writer, he doesn’t just praise and splendor it without giving it any flaws: he examines the beauty of the old South while he along the way harshly addresses racism and classes. From the beginning this book was intense but Will is just so powerful and attractive character that you live with him during the reading. He doesn’t trust himself at all and interrogates himself even more brutally than the plebe system does, but he has you on his side constantly, because you trust him from the start. And that’s f*cking rare. To find in real life, let alone to get yourself mesmerised by somebody 'who' is called - a fictional character. There is so much more to this book than my words could describe. It’s a masterpiece. Painful, insightful, heartbreaking, inspiring and stunning. It’s an ode to humanity, friendship and love. True masterpiece.
The events that took place in the Lords of Discipline are forever engraved into my brain. The scenes were so vivid and dramatic that it felt like I was there. From the minute I started reading, I knew this book was going to change me. Surely enough, it did. I am now more aware of things going on around me, because you never know when something can go terribly wrong. I know not to trust others unless I have a reason too. I know that I should stand up for those who are being treated unfairly. This book has inspired me to do the heroic acts that the main character, Will McLean, has done.The Lords of Discipline by Pat Conroy, an inspiring, powerful, and vivid tale that shows how "The Institute", a military institute where cadets would go through tough endurance and hardship, makes these young cadets into the men they so desire to be. This book can be very, very graphic at times, but does that mean that public schools all around America should ban this book?There are many accounts of extreme and vulgar language in this book. Although hazing is the norm for the higher ranked cadets in the institute, it can sometimes be a little out of hand. Snipes, who is a junior at The Institute, told a freshman, who often get bullied, “What did you come here for, pussy? A fat little vagina like you ain’t never going to make it in the Corps. Jesus, it’s got snot running out of its nose. Spit running out of its mouth. Tears running out of its eyes. You make me sick, maggot-load. Why did you come here, wad-waste?” (91). The vulgar language, as well as the intensity of the words coming out of Snipes's mouth show that the Upper-class men at The Institute have no feelings for any freshman that has been newly enrolled in The Institute. Later, once the freshmen become Sophomores and Juniors, they aren't bullied as much.Not only were there many uses of vulgar and extreme language, there were also multiple cases of hazing and bullying. Pearce, a black freshman who Will carefully watches over, was often bullied for the color of his skin. The Ten, a mysterious, mythical group, who kidnap freshman and haze them to an extreme, had tied up Pearce to an electric circuit and was shocking him with high voltage. "Four of them held Pearce as a fifth applied a small clamp to the head of Pearce's penis. Then he flicked a switch and an electric current flowed brutally into Pearce's body, and he convulsed as he screamed. The screams carried over the entire island" (338). The hazings of Pearce were often very brutal, especially this one. The reason why it was always Pearce? It's because he is black. There is a lot of racism in this book, and this is just one example. Colonel "Bear" Berrineau, who assigns work for the soldiers to do, assigned Will to watch over. Pearce gets a lot of hate, particularly from this mysterious "Ten" group. He got letters saying that "niggers were living proof that Indians did f--- buffalo” (42). Pearce would have to get through a lot if he wanted to make it to his second year at The Institute.Should The Lords of Discipline be banned across the country for its graphic usage of vulgar language, violence,and racism? The answer is an obvious no. This book clearly shows how one person can change everything. It can be YOU who makes the difference. It can be YOU who changes the world, or The Institute in this matter. Will McLean is a hero who shot down racism, hate, and ruthless hazing in a harsh military setting.I recommend this book to older high school students that are mature and above the age of 16, as well as any young person considering going into the military. The book is right at the lexile level for this age group, and should entail to an experience of a life time. Since this book contains the vulgar language, hazing, and racism discussed above, younger children should not be reading this book.In the end, The Lords of Discipline is an inspiring, and truly moving book that describes a hero's journey through his senior year at The Institute. This book is an amazing learning experience, and has the power to suck every reader into the life of a student at The Institute. Pat Conroy is a talented and special author who wrote this book for the world to see for a reason. All you gotta do now is just read it!
What do You think about The Lords Of Discipline (1997)?
I read this book at the recommendation of my younger brother, an active duty Marine.John, my brother, told me this was by far the best book he has ever read, so I felt I owed it to him to read one of the books that possibly inspired him to enlist.This is my first review of a book so it will appear scattered, disjointed, and likely ludicrous, but Conroy's The Lords of Discipline is anything but.Following the young Will McLean and his journey through the Carolina Military Institute (CMI), a fictitious, harrowing university in Charleston, Conroy expertly weaves a complicated narrative involving an increasingly complicated web of duty, honor, and betrayal. McLean, the melancholy protagonist and narrator of our story, finds himself charged by a colonel, affectionately referred to as "The Bear", to ensure that the first African-American cadet at CMI make it through the incredibly trying first year at the institute. The first year, one's "plebe year", is overshadowed by months of intense and violent hazing. Through recounting his own encounter with the brutality of the upperclassmen during plebe year, grappling with an ever dissolving moral compass, and uncovering and ultimately confronting a sinister organization named "The Ten" with the help of his few loyal friends, McLean evolves from a scared plebe, to an admirable justicar.Although I loved Conroy's ability to paint vivid imagery of Charleston and delve so deeply into the soul of a forlorn young man who felt alien among those closest to him, some plot elements were predictable. That's not to say they were out of place or any less impactful, Conroy, I believe, wanted his readers to follow the same trail of crumbs McLean himself pursued. This is a story about coming of age, so, it makes sense that Conroy wanted us, alongside McLean, to piece together this intricate portrait.My only complaint about the book is its length. At over 550 pages, I expected some plot elements, especially those regarding Will's love interest throughout the novel, to be further developed and central. But again, I didn't write this amazing piece of literature, am in no place to criticize it, and truly loved young Will McLean's journey to manhood.
—Andrew Walker
No matter how many times people tell us not to, I judged this book by its cover. An act of shame in the literary world, but I'm so glad that a teacher introduced me to this literary masterpiece known as The Lords of Discipline.On a normal basis, I wouldn't pick up this novel for light leisure reading. Which, I think, is not something most people would do anyway if you're unused to the author's writing style. If words were music, Pat Conroy would be the composer that strung notes together, fitting them into sequences in just the right ways and places. Even though you may have never visited Charleston, South Carolina where the book takes place, Pat Conroy's writing about it is a love potion for you to make you adore the city as much as he does: "You can be moved profoundly by other vistas, by other oceans, by soaring mountain ranges, but you can never be seduced. You can even forsake the lowcountry, renounce it for other climates, but you can never completely escape the sensuous, semitropical pull of Charleston and her marshes."Now, onto the book's lowdown.Pat Conroy isn't a stranger to scandal, and neither are his works. For good reason, as well: the book is essentially a coming of age story, but of a rougher nature told from the perspective of former cadet Will McLean. The book about his experiences in military school is told in cruel detail and non consecutive order, and frequently jumps between the present and the past. That being said, common elements of modern literature that may raise parents' red flags include very, very strong language and brief sexual content. Obviously, they don't want their children speaking in the same crude dialect as the young cadets do, nor do parents want their children to learn about the birds and the bees from fictional young men, who they themselves are still trying to figure that out. Racism is another issue that appears in the book, and again, those who dictate what can and cannot be read will find it uncomfortable to read about.I am also inclined to alert potential readers that the book is a trigger warning for intense hazing and bullying; in a world where we're constantly surrounded by violence, the inhumanity with which the characters is still quite brutal to read about, and might cause intense emotional reactions from some readers. The final objection that those who dictate reading material would make would be how negatively it portrays American military academies and the American military itself. Most people love America and what it stands for, but the way Pat Conroy paints the Citadel might disturb readers and make them believe that military academies are breeding grounds for racism and bullying.Despite all of these obstacles that may bar readers from even picking up this book, I highly recommend that everyone who is not easily offended do so. They actually enhance the quality and character of the book because they deal with real issues that we all may face in life. Pat Conroy doesn’t shy away from reality: he will tell you about the way the world is, not as it should be. It’s important to read this book because of these things that may make you feel uncomfortable; the world isn’t a perfect place, and we as readers need to educate ourselves with issues in order to make the world a little bit better. I was not raised in the American South, so this novel did not offend me as much as someone who was would be. People who are old enough to understand and have the ability to analyze underlying themes should read The Lords of Discipline; it’s an educational experience for everyone. However, while I don’t believe that this book should be kept from those who are able to understand it, the youngest that a reader of this book can be is about high school freshman age, 14 or 15. I would assume both young women and young men would have reached a level of mental and emotional maturity at that stage. Those who are less versed in social issues, depending on maturity level, should or should not read it. On one hand, it’s a learning opportunity; on the other, it may scare readers.As I’ve stated beforehand, this book is not for light leisure reading. Even as a person who prides herself on reading anything quickly, it was difficult to get through. Nothing was particularly hard to digest, per se, but Pat Conroy’s writing requires that you slow down to enjoy them. I read this silently. I do suggest, though, that you read this out loud to facilitate understanding. The Lords of Discipline takes awhile getting used to; in fact, I don’t think I had begun to like this book until halfway through. I couldn’t let go of it after that, though, which speaks volumes about how well written it was. It’s one of the most important books I’ve ever read, and now one of my favorites.I judged this book by its cover, but I gave it a chance; I think you as reader should too.
—Isabel Quililan
One of the best books I've read this year. Could not put it down.I write this one week before I head to The Citadel to witness my brother receive his Citadel ring, so have some decent perspective, though nothing like actually going through 4 years at The Citadel. The Citadel is an incredibly unique experience, unparalleled with any other college experience. I can't ever know what exactly it is like to be a cadet there, but this book hits on all the emotions I would imagine in such a beautiful way. Courage, pain, fear, pride, dignity and triumph for anyone who wears the ring.If you know anyone associated with The Citadel or ever visit Charleston, this is a must read. Absolutely loved this book.
—Keenan Johnston
