The Lords of Discipline

By: Pat Conroy

Narrated by: Roger Wayne

“The Lords of Discipline is, simply, an American classic.” -- Larry King

The Lords of Discipline is a novel about coming of age, brotherhood, betrayal, and a man’s forging of his own personal code of honor. Will McLean, a senior on the cadets’ honor court, is an outsider by nature: a basketball star at a school that prizes military prowess above athletics, a military man in training who dares to question the escalating Vietnam war. And yet his greatest struggle will be with the corrupt institution of which he is a part. Rich in humor and suspense, abounding in a rare honesty and generosity of feeling, this novel established Pat Conroy as one of the strongest fictional voices in a generation.

“A work of enormous power, passion, humor, and wisdom.” – Washington Star

“God preserve Pat Conroy.” – Boston Globe

Don't pass up

I'm not a reviewer but when a book makes you feel each character, makes you cry, laugh then its worth telling someone else to not pass on this book. What a eloquent writer Pat Conroy was.

Another win from Pat Conroy

Such an exceptional writer who I keep coming back to. Highly recommend this book, must read.

Riveting

Slow first 20 minutes but then it was fast paced and stark with its brutality and deep friendships.

Slow burn but so good

Slow in the beginning and few slow spots in the middle but such a great story. Narration was perfect! Absolutely perfect!

Exquisite, in every regard.

I've loved this novel since the first time I read it. It's a masterpiece of language, making every aspect from characters to locations to life so powerfully even a person with minimal empathy and non-existent visualization ability can share in the experience.

it isn't comfortable to read or listen to. Some might say it "doesn't age well" due to the depictions of racism and sexism, but those same people just aren't looking at the parts of our country that still haven't changed enough to leave their hatred or cowardice behind. They aren't looking where even the most effective contraception fails, where American military academies have only leaned harder into evangelism, racism, and sexism.

They aren't looking at the party of the country that have deliberately hidden themselves, groups that cultivate and steward power in the hands of a few men.

This book is an exercise in advanced readership, refusing to tidy up the boundaries to make love and hate entirely clear and separate things, to make beauty and ugliness absolutely incompatible.

The narration could not have been better. The performance perfectly conveyed all the characters somehow, from narrator as a naive plebe through his maturation as a young man -- and his performance of The Bear's words is stupendous.

This is one to own, and to return to.