Old School by Tobias Wolff
››› Download audio book. ‹‹‹ Original Title: Old School ISBN: 0747574650 ISBN13: 9780747574651 Autor: Tobias Wolff Rating: 4.4 of 5 stars (4961) counts Original Format: Paperback, 195 pages Download Format: PDF, RTF, ePub, CHM, MP3. Published: February 7th 2005 / by Bloomsbury Paperbacks / (first published 2003) Language: English Genre(s): Fiction- 336 users Historical Fiction- 54 users Novels- 45 users
Description: At one prestigious American public school, the boys like to emphasise their democratic ideals - the only acknowledged snobbery is literary snobbery. Once a term, a big name from the literary world visits and a contest takes place. The boys have to submit a piece of writing and the winner receives a private audience with the visitor. But then it is announced that Hemingway, the boys' hero, is coming to the school. The competition intensifies, and the morals the school and the boys pride themselves on - honour, loyalty and friendship - are crumbling under the strain. Only time will tell who will win and what it will cost them.
About Author:
Tobias Jonathan Ansell Wolff is a writer of fiction and nonfiction. He is best known for his short stories and his memoirs, although he has written two novels. Wolff is the Ward W. and Priscilla B. Woods Professor in the School of Humanities and Sciences at Stanford University, where he has taught classes in English and creative writing since 1997. He also served as the director of the Creative Writing Program at Stanford from 2000 to 2002.
Other Editions:
- Old School (Paperback)
- Old School (Hardcover)
- Old School (Kindle Edition)
- Old School (Paperback)
- Old School (Paperback)
Books By Author:
- This Boy's Life
- The Night in Question
- In Pharaoh's Army: Memories of the Lost War
- In the Garden of the North American Martyrs
- Our Story Begins: New and Selected Stories
Books In The Series: Related Books On Our Site:
- A Quiet Storm
- The Meaning of Consuelo
- Quattrocento
- Extravagance
- The Song of Names
- Rescuing Patty Hearst: Growing Up Sane in a Decade Gone Mad
- A Month of Sundays: Searching for the Spirit and My Sister
- Sacred Time
- Song of the Simple Truth: The Complete Poems of Julia de Burgos
- Nervous System: Or, Losing My Mind in Literature
- Novels, 1930-1942: Dance Night / Come Back to Sorrento / Turn, Magic Wheel / Angels on Toast / A Time to Be Born
- Just a Couple of Days
- The Vanishing Newspaper: Saving Journalism in the Information Age
- My Life in Orange
- The Peace of Nicias and the Sicilian Expedition (Peloponnesian War)
- Swimming with Giants: My Encounters with Whales, Dolphins and Seals
- My Lai 4: A Report on the Massacre and Its Aftermath
- The Song Reader
Rewiews:
Jul 19, 2016 Rohisa Rated it: really liked it Shelves: writing-oh-so-scintillating, orgasmic-prose, this-is-why-i-read, life-changing, authors-ilove, shimmeringly-soulful, can-i-adopt-the-main-lead, food-for-thought, teenage-dramarama, happiness-is-a-book, yay-to-nerds, road-to-self-discovery, growingup-is-a-bitch I spend so many weekends in the summer sitting by my living room window, listening to conversations between the neighborhood boys, my nephew included. Most of them are bigger and older (in some cases up to six years older) than my nephew, who is the youngest in the pack. He’s
5 years old. That’s a pretty big jump. I can’t imagine being 8, 9, 11 years old and willingly playing with a kid who’s more than two year younger than them, and yet I hear tiny knocks at my uncle’s front door from morning to I spend so many weekends in the summer sitting by my living room window, listening to conversations between the neighborhood boys, my nephew included. Most of them are bigger and older (in some cases up to six years older) than my nephew, who is the youngest in the pack. He’s 5 years old. That’s a pretty big jump. I can’t imagine being 8, 9, 11 years old and willingly playing with a kid who’s more than two year younger than them, and yet I hear tiny knocks at my uncle’s front door from morning to sunset. “Can Shahbaaz come out and play?” I have my eye on one or two, but most of the boys are surprisingly gentle and genuine in their friendship. There’s no eye-rolling behind his back. No sarcasm. No put-downs or exclusions. It would be very easy for them to avoid my nephew all together, and yet they’ve completely absorbed him into the Boy Club. They treat him as an equal — as if his speech doesn’t have a slight baby accent, as if he isn’t looking up to talk to them. As I watch those innocent boys play blissfully oblivious to what lay ahead, I cant help but ask how long can this possibly last? My nephew doesn’t know what lies in the waters ahead. But You and I know, Don’t we? We, grown ups, have pretty good idea of the obstacles and jerky kids and embarrassing moments he’ll eventually face. Because we all face them at some point or another. We’ve all had a mean person tear us down. We’ve all had butterflies/anxiety about a public speaking class assignment. We’ve all had fights with our friends, faced the consequences of bad choices, felt frustrated with life. Because growing up is hard, whether you're 16 or 60. Sometimes you want nothing more than to be independent; sometimes all you want is to be a kid. Your body’s changing, your friends seem like strangers, it’s like you’re on a roller coaster that you didn’t want to ride. And in this transition to adulthood, coming-of-age books are an important staple; everything from Huckleberry Finn to Harry Potter has helped along the way. Witnessing someone else’s journey to adulthood gave us the chance to make some sense of the messy business of growing up. Old School is that coming-of-age tale that invites to reflect upon ourselves and upon our relationship to the world. Some might ask who wants yet another semi-autobiographical novel about a young boy's coming of age at an exclusive prep school? Who wants to read yet another novel about a teenage boy who feels awkward and out of place at a New England prep school? The answer is underneath the familiar trappings, this is a moving and authentic evocation of that time in everyone's life when we must figure out who and what we will become. A time during which, by the
way, literature assumes an awesome power to mold and shape us. Tell me what young girl of the 1900s didn't want to grow up to be independent and strong-minded like Jo in Little Women? What young boy of the 1950s didn't pick up their ideas on duty and honor from Hardy Boys books? What young person of the 1960s didn't experience the world through the eyes of Hunter S. Thompson? During the course of this novel, our protagonist finds his worldview shaped by each of the literary figures noted above, on a journey that ultimately culminates in finding his authentic voice. His path - like ours - is peppered with misjudgments and missteps, some minor, others appalling; but in the end those mistakes prove as important as successes in shaping our protagonist into the man he is to become. I was riveted by every detail of the protagonist's final year of prep school and I didnt even know his name. His anonymity allowed me to slip deep into his psyche. The result: I was more in sync with Wolff’s Narrator than I ever was with myself at his age. The strength of this empathetic bond led me to come of age all over again. What sets Old School apart from coming of age novels such as Catcher in the Rye is the way Wolff offers up his Narrator’s point of view. When Holden Caulfield speaks I’m laughing because he’s so adamant about what he believes. I also agree with him because he voices what I was never able to say. However, when the unnamed Narrator in Old School expresses his POV, he’s equally adamant about how he feels, yet he gives you room to examine the idea for yourself. Wolff's prose is gorgeous and his word portraits of the academy so evocative, I could practically smell the brick dust and leaf mold as the boys walked between classes. So go ahead - open this book and smell the September leaves as they fall on this school campus. Feel the excitement in the air - the excitement of being young, the excitement of learning, the excitement of growing up and being on the verge of adulthood. 73 likes 15 comments
Rohisa Rosemary wrote: "Very impressive that you referred Catcher in the rye and made a comparative analysis between the two. A profound review." Cand Rosemary wrote: "Very impressive that you referred Catcher in the rye and made a comparative analysis between the two. A profound review." Candy Loves Music Books wrote: "Perfect review :-*" Thanks, you guys. Much appreciate your kind words. Anuradha wrote: "Jo March. I always wanted to be her. <3" Yes, You mirror my thoughts Anu.
Jul 05, 2016 05:05PM
Ritu R Wow ! Your review blew me away Rohisa and this book goes directly in my priority reading list .
Jul 06, 2016 08:23AM
