john_chapman13522

This is not a cheerful book. The author touches on every imaginable component of adolescent life in the setting of a group of young students at a prestigious, all-male Catholic preparatory school located in contemporary Dublin. Drugs (lots), sex, alcohol, cliques, sports, video games, cell phones, depression, bullying, school yard fights, and even attempted time travel all play a part in this long (very long) narrative. Throughout all this there was a certain honesty and empathy with which the author shaped his characters and even the vilest of boys was portrayed as person you could feel sorry for. In telling this story, the author shifts between numerous points of view, including that of both students and teachers, to create a multi-dimensional view of a small school in all its disarray. The book is often weighed down by long narratives that I found exceedingly boring and I often skipped pages just to get through the book. Was happy to be done with it.

2022-11-14 14:08