By Pat Conroy
E-edition by Open Road Media
You were forewarned in the very beginning. This is Pat Conroy's first book.
If you have any connection with a Citadel, in SC. You may feel a connection to the book. The only connection I have is, I live in SC, and my son did go into the military, specifically the navy for a short time till he was medically discharged.
This is my first book that I read by Pat Conroy. I wanted to like this book especially since living in SC. What native from SC doesn't like Pat Conroy.
I liked the snippets of the "Boo"( stories). At other times I did not enjoy it. Pat Conroy warns us this is his first attempt. It is self published. It was written because of his friendship of the Boo. He wanted to tell the story of the Boo's, care of his cadets, looking out for them.
Mr. Conroy tells the story of Boo from 1961-1969. Pat Conroy wanted to tell the story of this gruff man with a golden heart( he always had a cigar in his mouth). He gave demerits to his cadets, but gave them with love and concern for each of them. He pushed them to the limit to graduate and become successful men.
Most of the cadets came from broken and abusive homes. There was one father he told him to be a father, and love your son.
Mr. Conroy wrote this to stop Boo from being demoted from a higher ranking officer to a menial job. He did get demoted but he took it with grace,because he loved the Citadel and the young men. During the controversy, The book, The Boo was banned at the Citadel.
My Review: I wish I had read other books by Pat Conroy before reading The Boo. To compare his other work. I heard he has written some good novels. The story, and characters I did not care for. But, I did like he's writing style, and the rhythm of the book flowed.
Pat Conroy wrote "Boo", after he graduated from the Citadel. The Citadel is a christian military college. The Citadel is close to Charleston, SC. It is written from the early to late 60's. Each chapter is one of the cadet's experiences with Boo.
Each cadet tells us about the lectures,discipline(hard displinarian) and the demerits the cadets received and overcame. Colonel Courvoisie, known as The Boo, was a gruff man, with a cigar always in his mouth. His n But a heart of gold helping each cadet get through school. Some do and some don't.
I can picture, those old army movies. The commander telling you off, and all you could say is, yes sir, and no sir.
Most of the e-books I receive from Barnes and Noble for my NOOK. This is the first time I am reading a e-book from a publicist. My criticism of the book stucture itself are a few.
1) Many of the pages had a few words, and a few sentences and then the rest of the page was blank. It was not the end of the chapter. Why not format the book so it is a continuation rather than breaks in parts of the chapter. I was trying to figure their reasoning.
2) Did not know there was a glossary in the back of the book. Even so, as a e-book I would not like going back and forth. I perfer a regular book, not a ebook It is quicker to visualize things in this format. It just doesn't work for me.