{"id":6162,"date":"2011-08-01T11:31:42","date_gmt":"2011-08-01T15:31:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mookseandgripes.com\/reviews\/?p=6162"},"modified":"2016-07-06T18:07:35","modified_gmt":"2016-07-06T22:07:35","slug":"august-recommendations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mookseandgripes.com\/reviews\/2011\/08\/01\/august-recommendations\/","title":{"rendered":"August Recommendations"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I associate August with the winding down of summer and the beginning of a new school year. I know for many people that association would connect better with\u00a0September, but where I grew up the school year started in the middle of August so that we could take two weeks off in harvest season to go harvest potatoes (I don&#8217;t know if they do that anymore . . .). I was a big fan of school and I&#8217;m a big fan of &#8220;school&#8221; books. Here are five of my favorites. Feel free to recommend others in the comments.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><em>A Separate Peace<\/em><\/strong>, by John Knowles (<a title=\"Mookse Review of A Separate Peace\" href=\"http:\/\/mookseandgripes.com\/reviews\/2008\/11\/19\/john-knowless-a-separate-peace\/\">original review from\u00a0November 19, 2008<\/a>). I have mentioned this before (you&#8217;ll see it in my review, in fact), but this is one of the first books I fell in love with. When I revisited it a few years ago, I was happy that it wasn&#8217;t just a youthful infatuation: this is a tremendous book about two boys at boarding school in the summer of 1942: &#8220;Nothing endures, not a tree, not love, not even a death by violence.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li><strong><em>The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie<\/em><\/strong>, by Muriel Spark (<a title=\"Mookse Review of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie\" href=\"http:\/\/mookseandgripes.com\/reviews\/2009\/04\/24\/muriel-sparks-the-prime-of-miss-jean-brodie\/\">original review from\u00a0April 24, 2008<\/a>). When I first read this, I didn&#8217;t know what to make of it, but this short, often cruel novel about a group of girls who fall under the spell of Miss Brodie, the unconventional teacher. But if you&#8217;re worried\u00a0this is going to be a conventional novella about an unconventional teacher, worry no more. Did I mention just how cruel this book can get? And the film? Excellent stuff &#8212; it just took me a while to realize it.<\/li>\n<li><strong><em>Old School<\/em><\/strong>, by Tobias Wolff (<a title=\"Mookse Review of Old School\" href=\"http:\/\/mookseandgripes.com\/reviews\/2009\/07\/08\/tobias-wolffs-old-school\/\" target=\"_blank\">original review from\u00a0July 8, 2009<\/a>). Another book about boys in boarding school, and it&#8217;s as excellent as they come. Here we are in the early 1960s following around a young man who wants to be a writer. One day he&#8217;s fascinated by Hemingway, the next by Ayn Rand &#8212; then Rand comes to the school and our young man is disillusioned. This is also\u00a0a story about guilt and justifications.<\/li>\n<li><strong><em>The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks<\/em><\/strong>, by E. Lockhart (<a title=\"Mookse Review of The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks\" href=\"http:\/\/mookseandgripes.com\/reviews\/2009\/10\/09\/e-lockhart-the-disreputable-history-of-frankie-landau-banks\/\" target=\"_blank\">original review from\u00a0October 9, 2009<\/a>). The newest book here, certainly the funniest, though no less serious and sophisticated, we go now to an elite\u00a0co-ed boarding school. The boy&#8217;s club is old, venerated, and rules. Ah, but if I summarize more of the plot here it might come off sounding like\u00a0blunt feminism. Though the book explores male \/ female relationships and power struggles, it&#8217;s incredibly nuanced and ambiguous, offering no easy solutions. It&#8217;s much more focused on a wonderfully rendered character. And the pranks are fantastic.<\/li>\n<li><strong><em>Stoner<\/em><\/strong>, by John Williams (<a title=\"Mookse Review of Stoner\" href=\"http:\/\/mookseandgripes.com\/reviews\/2010\/09\/21\/john-williams-stoner\/\" target=\"_blank\">original review from September 21, 2010<\/a>). John Williams&#8217; <em>Stoner<\/em> has experienced a much deserved revival in the past few years, and I hope it continues. One of the best books on academia &#8212; one of the best books period. It&#8217;s so precise in its portrayal of literary infatuation and\u00a0loneliness about a man who is dead when the book begins, a man who &#8220;did not rise above the rank of assistant professor, and [whom] few students remember . . . with any sharpness after they had taken his course.&#8221; From that beginning, Williams succeeds in making us feel a reverence for William Stoner&#8217;s life.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Some recommendations for this August! <a href=\"http:\/\/mookseandgripes.com\/reviews\/2011\/08\/01\/august-recommendations\/\"><u>Read the full 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