The Lords of Discipline

How long has it been since you read a book that you could not put down, that infiltrated your dreams and discussions?  The Lords of Discipline by Pat Conroy has done that for me.  After reading the first chapter I had a nightmare about Offspring #1 that was so real I was nervous all the next morning.  I dreamed that he got into a fistfight while home on leave (and he had just come home on leave) and was arrested.  He was in trouble with the Navy big time.  When a book can disturb your dreams you know it is an impressive volume of literature.  In the forward the author says that this book is based on his recollection of attending the Citadel, a military college in Charleston, South Caroline.  In the book he calls it the Carolina Institute.  He loves and hates the Citadel.  The abuse of the freshman class is positively appalling.   The author says it is based on his recollections.  He starts out the book with the sentence, "I wear the ring."  And with that sentence he feels he wrote the best sentence he has ever written.  This author is the guy who wrote The Prince of Tides and South of Broad and The Great Santini.  He is one of the top living southern authors.  His books have been made into movies.  I was moved by this book.  In fact, I am going to ask my nephew who just finished Army boot camp a few months ago, to yell at me the way a drill instructor yelled at him.  I want to experience that if only for a few minutes.  Maybe this will be asking too much of my nephew to yell at his aunt like that but I'd like to hear just a little of it.  I can't imagine.  In his forward the author states that he gets many letters from young men and women saying they want to attend the Citadel because of this book.  He asks them if they are dyslexic or learning disabled.  This is a pertinent question because no one, in their right mind, could possibly want to take the abuse he describes.  They tell him they want to attend because of the loyalty; the brotherhood or (now) the sisterhood involved.  I am the opposite.  I read this book and congratulate myself on my decision NOT to join any armed forces.  Even though this book describes a life I would not want, I still count it in my top ten list of books I ever read.