Ally

This book was an enjoyable read for me - a coming-of-age, forging your own path away at college story + family drama.

The main character, Pen, decides to leave Canada for Scotland for college, not in a small part because she thinks it'll help her understand her parents unhappiness and failed marriage. She navigates her first year with a few good friends, meets her father's own college best friend and his family, and eventually figures out the family secrets.

Though the title of the book did reveal its relevance towards the end, I ended up wishing that analogy was woven through the story a little more aggressively 🐙

I love Pat Conroy and have read most of his work. His descriptions of setting, namely the low country of South Carolina (and Charleston in particular, in this book), are so vivid and evocative that the location almost becomes another character. He also writes dialogue, particularly sharp and sarcastic banter, in such an accurate way that I feel like I'm eavesdropping on a real conversation. He handles the complexities of emotions within and between the characters deftly. It all just feels very real, and I feel like my descriptions come nowhere close to doing his work justice. 

Lords of Discipline isn't a super easy book to read. It tells the story of a cadet at 'Carolina Military Institute,' a fictionalized account based on Conroy's own experience at the Citadel. It details the main character's own terribly brutal plebe year, as well as his efforts to moderate the system for those who came behind him during his senior year. Along the way, he learns the good, the bad, and the ugly about himself, his friends, military culture, Charlestonians, and society as a whole. 

Fun fact, after the publication of this book, Conroy became persona non grata with his alma mater for a few decades, but was later welcomed back, awarded an honorary degree, was the 2001 graduation speaker, and inducted into the Citadel's athletic Hall of Fame.