I truly loved this book.

Admittedly, it does have a bit of a pretentious air about it. There are elements of wish fulfillment on the part of the author, which can be a bit obvious at times. However, despite these flaws, the novel itself is simply astounding.

I find myself wondering if I'm being blinded by my past as an attendee of an all-male school, or if this book really is the beautifully woven, wonderfully told exploration into the mind of an author that I perceive it to be. Perhaps the truth lies somewhere in the middle.

Nonetheless, regardless of the reasons behind my appreciation, I highly recommend this book. It has a certain charm and depth that is truly captivating. Whether you're a fan of the genre or simply looking for a thought-provoking read, this book is well worth your time.

Give it a chance, and you might just be pleasantly surprised.

“A true piece of writing is a dangerous thing. It can change your life.” This profound statement sets the tone for Tobias Wolff's Old School. The novel offers a concise yet captivating exploration of the intricacies of writing and interpretation. Wolff's prose is masterfully controlled, with his sparse yet vivid language painting a vivid picture of the rarefied world inhabited by the unnamed narrator.

The story takes place in a 60s prep school, which initially appears to be an idyllic environment. However, as the narrator points out, it is a place of intense competitiveness, especially when it comes to writing. The school's pride in being a literary place fuels the students' ambitions, and the winner of the literary contest is awarded a one-on-one meeting with famous writers.

The protagonist of the novel has mythologized this meeting, viewing it as a moment of spiritual anointment. His desire to win the competition leads to strained relationships with his roommate, friends, and even his relatives. He struggles with self-knowledge, having projected a certain image of himself that alienates him from others. His blind determination to succeed ultimately tests his integrity and leads to his undoing.

Despite the narrator's flaws, his story is told with an ambivalent quality that makes it impossible to put down. Old School is a deceptively slender book that packs a real emotional punch. It offers plenty of insights into the writing process and authorial intent, as well as a poignant portrayal of a boy's troubling self-discovery. If you're looking for a thought-provoking novel that will stay with you long after you've turned the last page, Old School is definitely worth a read.

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3.5 stars (rounded up to 4)

“A true piece of writing is a dangerous thing. It can change your life.”

Old School presents its readers with a concise exploration of the complexities of writing and interpretation. Tobias Wolff exerts exquisite control over his prose, evoking through his sparse yet vivid language the rarefied world in which his unmanned narrator moves in. Wolff brings to life the youth of the days past and their strive for artistic recognition, capturing the various undercurrents that are at play in their exclusive school.

“[T]he almost physical attraction to privilege, the resolve to be near it at any cost: sycophancy, lies, self-suppression, the masking of ambitions and desires, the slow cowardly burn of resentment toward those for whose favor you have falsified yourself. ”

What seems at first to be an idyllic environment reveals itself as a place for competitiveness since, as our narrator himself points out, “if the school had a snobbery it would confess to, this was its pride in being a literary place”. Most students, our protagonist included, guard their writing efforts with suspicion, and are wary of criticism. The winner of the literary contest held by their school is awarded with a one-on-one meeting with famous writers (Robert Frost, Ayn Rand, and Hemingway all make an appearance in Old School).

“I never thought about making connections. My aspirations were mystical. I wanted to receive the laying on of hands that had written living stories and poems, hands that had touched the hands of other writers. I wanted to be anointed.”

The protagonist of this novel has mythologised this 'audience', attributing to this meeting a sense of sublimity and viewing the writers he admires through the eyes of a disciple. Yet, his grappling with his 'voice' and is often influenced by the writing of those he reveres. His desire to win the competition leads to fraying relationships with his roommate, friends, and to a certain extent his relatives.

“For years now I had hidden my family in calculated silences and vague hints and dodges, suggesting another family in its place. The untruth of my position had given me an obscure, chronic sense of embarrassment, yet since I hadn’t outright lied I could still blind myself to its cause. Unacknowledged shame enters the world as anger; I naturally turned mine against the snobbery of others.”

Additionally our narrator is struggling with self-knowledge. Having taken pains to project a certain image of himself, his own class-consciousness alienates him from other students. Soon, his blindsided determination to win tests his already strained relationships and sees him rejecting truth in favour of self-deception.
The narrator's undoing is not easy to read. Yet, his narration retains this ambivalent quality that I found quite enthralling.
In some ways Old School does for a 60s prep school what Teddy Wayne's Apartment does for a 90s creative writing course. Both of these books are deceptively slender, and pack a real emotional punch. Both of narrators are ambition driven and their path to self-discovery is treacherous.
If you are interested in a novel with plenty of insights on writing and authorial intent or for a story that chronicles a boy's troubling self-discovery, look no further.

Some of my favourite quotes

“It had become a fashion at school to draw lines between certain writers, as if to like one meant you couldn’t like the other. ”

“Now they sounded different to me. The very heedlessness of their voices defined the distance that had opened up between us. That easy brimming gaiety already seemed impossibly remote, no longer the true life I would wake to each morning, but a paling dream.”

“Loyalty is a matter of dates, virtue itself is often a matter of seconds.”

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I don't have much to say about this one.

To be honest, I was really disappointed. I had expected it to be more entertaining.

There were some references made about Hemingway, but unfortunately, nothing was mentioned about him that I didn't already know.

This book took me a long time to read.

It was mainly because of my life's circumstances during this period.

I had to deal with various things, which made it difficult for me to focus on reading.

As a result, the reading process was rather slow.

However, despite the disappointment and the long reading time, I still managed to finish the book.

Maybe there were some aspects that I overlooked or didn't fully understand.

Overall, it wasn't a completely satisfying reading experience for me.

This is a pretty good book. It is written so well that I was able to finish it quite fast.

I felt that it was a relaxed read, not bombarding me with a plethora of surprises and plot twists. However, the plot was still interesting and very easy to follow.

In my opinion, it is more like 3.5 stars rather than just 3 stars.

I can highly recommend this book to those people who find it hard to get into a book. At least for me, it was extremely easy to start and finish this one.

It provides an engaging story that doesn't require a great deal of mental effort to understand and enjoy.

The writing style is流畅 and accessible, making it a great choice for readers of all levels.

Overall, I would say that this is a book worth reading.

The writing in this piece is truly remarkable. It is delicate, showing a great attention to detail and a sensitivity that draws the reader in. It is also sympathetic, making the characters and their situations feel real and relatable. And in some places, it is very funny, providing moments of lightheartedness and entertainment.

Snobbery, ambition, insecurity, and a love of words and narrative are all brilliantly on show here. The author has managed to capture these complex human emotions and traits in a way that is both engaging and thought-provoking.

This is my video review:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqrcZ...

Wolff's tale truly leaves one in a state of wonder, constantly pondering where the boundaries between biography and fiction lie. It is an extremely fascinating and well-crafted piece of work.

Having had the personal experience of attending a competitive boarding school, I can strongly identify with the character in the story. Especially, the way he interacts with other kids really hits home for me. When I first arrived at school, I too felt as if I had entered a completely different world. My peers had distinct ways of dressing, talking, and walking, which was quite a contrast to what I was accustomed to. The author's reaction to this new environment is truly captivating.

I also found great enjoyment in the sections that described the authors who came to the school to give lectures. It makes me wonder if Rand actually said such things to the students. Once again, the question of where reality meets imagination arises. I have often been curious about the personalities of the authors whose books I have read, and this book manages to bring some of that wonderment to life.

If you ever get the opportunity to hear Wolff speak in person, I highly recommend that you go. After reading this book, I had the pleasure of attending Wolff's presentation at Ohio State University, and I can attest to the fact that he is not only very smart but also highly entertaining. He is truly engaging and manages to hold the audience's attention throughout.

The promotional blurb on the back cover lauds this as a sharply drawn, acutely felt novel of moral inquiry. It also proclaims that it is a deceptively quiet novel that merits a second, slow reading.

I'm truly glad that this is our BookGroup book for the month. Indeed, I have a strong desire to revisit this book and reread the exquisitely wrought passages that delve into what it means to be both a reader and a writer.

There are numerous references to Hemingway and Hawthorne, Frost and Steinbeck, and a brilliant, scathing episode about Ayn Rand. All of these elements make me eager to explore their works.

Well, perhaps not Ayn Rand's work, as I'm quite certain it influenced the current fool in the Whitehouse!

I thoroughly loved reading this book and wholeheartedly recommend it, especially to anyone who enjoyed Stoner.

It offers a rich and thought-provoking exploration of literature and the human condition.

The author's writing style is engaging and the characters are well-developed.

This is a book that will stay with you long after you've turned the final page.

So, pick it up, give it a read, and let yourself be immersed in its world.

You won't be disappointed.

Hey you, read this book!

Basically, my review could stop here, because critically reviewing a weak novel is always easier than reviewing a masterpiece. And this novel by Wolff, for me, is a masterpiece.

Setting: the good school, the one with the uniform, the one for rich kids or worthy scholarship winners. The WASP school, with mandatory religious functions, team sports, the school newspaper, and professors well-connected in the literary world.

It's a school like in "A Separate Peace," with a principal who pushes the kids not only to read but to create literature. He does this through meetings with writers, including the controversial Ayn Rand and the unapproachable Hemingway. Each visiting writer reads the kids' stories and chooses the most worthy one, which wins a private session with the author himself. There is competition, but it doesn't seem to overly affect the kids. Even the mistake made by our protagonist seems more of an homage to the newly discovered beauty than an intentional attempt to break the school's honor code. But from there, when the idyll breaks and the narrator has to reemerge in the real world, the story ends quickly. If the story inside the school has something tactile, soft, with diffuse lights, the post-school world is instead noisy, angular, fast like a futuristic painting.

Years pass and everything changes, even the school. There is no judgment of merit on the past times against the present times. At most, it seemed to me more like removing the pink filter that enveloped the distant adolescence.

Half a star I dedicate entirely to the final bibliography: the novel cites many works, some not even translated in Italy. A special thanks goes to the translator, who has specified everything in an appendix that seems to be a reading plan of American literature.

Set in 1960, the action unfolds at an all-boys boarding school. Here, the elite rich mingle with students on scholarships.

As the story begins, a narrator, whose name remains unknown, tells us that the school is abuzz with the news that Robert Frost will be a guest speaker. A contest is underway to determine which boy will spend a day as the guest of Robert Frost. The contest is based on writing. Students pen a piece and submit it to the staff for review. The author himself then selects the winner from the shortlisted entries. This contest is a regular event at the school. After Robert Frost, the next guest is Ayn Rand. The scene with Ayn Rand is perhaps one of the finest chapters in any book I've ever read. It is both funny and utterly delightful.

Wolff's writing is outstanding. Through his words, we truly come to know the narrator. We can understand his feelings of not quite belonging, his struggle with being part Jewish yet not wanting to admit it publicly, and the risk he takes when he finally gets the chance to tell his own story (to win an audience with Hemingway), which ends up in an unexpected way.

Although I'm not an expert, I perceive a theme in these pages related to the pursuit of truth and honesty, both within oneself as a person and outwardly as a writer. There are surely many places on the internet where one can find a more in-depth critical analysis of this book, so I won't even attempt it. Suffice it to say that this is an extremely excellent story. It's not a feel-good tale; it's gritty and honest, and you'll find yourself easily drawn into the story and staying there until the end.

A captivating story that delves into the themes of pretending and belonging, this work also serves as a heartfelt homage to the teachers who play a crucial role in guiding us back home. Wolff's writing style is truly remarkable. At times, it is gorgeously vivid, painting a picture that leaves the reader in awe. Other times, it is subtly nuanced, allowing for a deeper exploration of the emotions and experiences at hand. But regardless of the approach, Wolff's prose is always richly detailed, providing a truly immersive reading experience. Whether it's the description of a character's inner turmoil or the beauty of a particular setting, Wolff has a way of making the reader feel as if they are right there, experiencing it all firsthand. This story is a testament to the power of great writing and the importance of those who help us find our true selves.

My favourite quote is: ‘For a writer there is no such thing as an exemplary life. It’s a fact that certain writers do good work at the bottom of a bottle. Some writers flourish like opportunistic weeds by hiding among the citizens, others by toughing it out in one sort of desert or another. The life that produces a writer can’t be written about. It’s a life carried on without the knowledge even of the writer. No true account can be given of how or why you became a writer, nor is there any moment of which you can say: This is when I became a writer.’

By accident, a lot of the books I’ve been reading have a would-be writer as the center character. It's really strange.

These books offer a great and easy read that plays out some of the cliches of authors through a series of encounters with famous writers. I would rate these books 3 out of 5 stars.

It seems that the life of a writer is full of mysteries and uncertainties. We can't simply define or categorize it. Each writer has their own unique path and experience.

The quote emphasizes that there is no one-size-fits-all model for a writer's life. Some may find inspiration in the most unexpected places, while others may struggle and persevere in difficult circumstances.

Overall, these books provide an interesting perspective on the world of writing and the people who inhabit it. They make us think about the nature of creativity and the role of the writer in society.

Despite the cliches, there is still something to be gained from reading about the experiences of fictional would-be writers. It can inspire us to pursue our own writing dreams and to embrace the uncertainties that come with it.

In conclusion, while the life of a writer may be hard to define, it is undoubtedly a fascinating and complex subject. These books offer a glimpse into this world and leave us with much to think about.

I read this a couple of years ago on the recommendation of an admired English teacher colleague.

I loved it then but unfortunately lost my copy of it.

When another admired English teacher colleague reminded me of it, I immediately went and bought another copy.

I was so engrossed that I read and finished it in less than 24 hours.

This is truly a book worth buying (and reading) twice.

It is an amazing combination of a page-turning, compelling read and awesome, literary writing.

I'm a HUGE fan of "A Separate Peace," but this one is even better.

I'm convinced that there's something about the prep school experience that makes its veterans (dare I say "survivors") want to both commemorate it and try to explain it.

However, I always sense that I never quite get it because I didn't live it.

The angle that the narrator is a scholarship kid is downplayed but remains an important undercurrent.

It would be an interesting paired reading with the more recent, trashier "Prep," although this one is so much better as the thing that gets them all charged up is a literary contest.