<p>I read the novel Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld (Groton, class of 1993) and love how she vividly describes prep school and draws the reader into this unique world. I am glad that the book is not a simple snobs vs. slobs story but a more subtle look at the ways a scholarship student might feel like an outsider. </p>
<p>I know that many people hate the novel because they think it makes boarding school sound like the worst place in the world but I actually think the book is more complicated than that. I found the authors descriptions of dorm life and the school traditions very appealing and exciting. Its too bad that the main character was shy and unable to participate in activities like school dances. However, after being lonely for her first seven months the character was finally able to find a best friend at boarding school. Sittenfeld writes, From then on, as long as I was at Ault, I would never be alone. Martha and I would get along, our friendship would last. Years later, I heard a minister at a wedding describe marriage as cutting sorrow in half and doubling joy and
I thought immediately of Martha. </p>
<p>Wow! To me that is really powerful writing and the best example I know of how boarding school allows you to really bond with your roommate and the kids on your floor. I am looking forward to living in a dorm and making special friends like this. What do other people think of the novel Prep?</p>
<p>I read it. I wouldn't let my daughter read it though, I think it would really turn her off to boarding school. I thought it was a bit over the top. Very titilating but I doubt much of it was factual. I found it kind of depressing. The main character was so unhappy all the time.</p>
<p>personally, i absolutely hated the main character, but i think that was one of the book's strong points. it's a very unique and interesting book.</p>
<p>i read it...very good....not what i was expecting though :)</p>
<p>It was really good but the main character was annoying.</p>
<p>I read it before I was even intrested in boarding schools, and though it was depressing, it still remains one of my favorites. </p>
<p>Still, I must say that it is very much a fully MADE UP NOVEL and not a fictionalized factual account (If that makes sense.) :)</p>
<p>Also, if your looking for prep school books to read, I LOVED "Looking for Alaska" Although it too, is a bit depressing, it's a great story set at a boarding school. It tends to focous a bit more on the characters and the plotline than the actual "School"</p>
<p>Dazzles! Youre back on!
Im going to PM you.</p>
<p>I read Prep once a couple years ago and again more recently. I more or less disliked it both times. I found the writing a bit indulgent and, basically, not particularly good. It is engaging, without question, but the writing was sort of immature. All lot of the sentences seemed sort of superfluous and indulgent. There are plenty of worse books certainly--I would not call Prep bad--but I felt like the concept of the type of book it is has a novelty, and that was the reason it was so popular... not because the writing or the story were masterful or brilliant.
When I first read it, I didn't like the portrayal of prep school, but in retrospect I think I like that the most.
I'm pretty critical of literature, though, so...I suppose my opinion should be taken with some watering down.
And yes, I found the main character really annoying.</p>
<p>i actually find prep to be a good book. it won't become another Lord of the Flies or anything, but in modern times i think the author wrote quite well. still, the concept outshone the quality of the writing like prettyckitty pointed out, which is why people question the overall value of the story; is it just a stupid story or a story executed imperfectly?</p>
<p>i like how she portrayed boarding school, actually. it moves on from the glossy-plastic-seventeen-magazine version of "omg i love boarding school!" to something more introspective. and it didn't turn me away from boarding school, but rather attracted me to it.</p>
<p>I read Prep a couple of years ago, under a sun umbrella and towel, avoiding critical onlookers...this was well before my son started looking into boarding school ..as a former midwesterner and star in public school, a big fish in a small pond, I could relate to the protagonist and even sympathize with her plight, running into bigger fish in bs and especially later in the novel as she befriended more interesting people and realized that the big man on campus was insincere and overrated.</p>