The Dead Poet’s Society is a novel adaptation by N.H. Klienbaum of the 1989 film written by Tom Schulman. It’s a stand alone book, following a group of boys at an exclusive, elite boarding school in Vermont. 

Todd Anderson is the first; a shy, quiet boy, vastly overshadowed by his older brother. For all intents and purposes, he is the main character, though three of the other boys in the group are highlighted as well. The second is Neil Perry, a boy straying from the firm path set by his parents. Third, Charlie Dalton, trying to figure out his place. And finally Knox Overstreet, whose crush on Chris Noel is getting him into more trouble than it’s worth. 

Their monotonous lives at Welton are interrupted by their new English teacher, Mr Keating. Mr Keating teaches the boys poetry, how language is magic, but above all, he tells them: Carpe Diem, Sieze the Day. Inspired by this, Todd, Neil, Charlie, Knox, and a few other boys begin the Dead Poet’s Society, a group dedicated to making the most of life and seizing their moments. 

As the year goes on, the four of them find more resistance from the world at this idea than they expected, and are faced with the question: How do you fly when everyone tries to keep you grounded? How can the four of them seize anything when they’re stuck at Welton, learning history and math all day?

The main characters of Dead Poet’s Society were interesting and complex — Todd’s arc in particular was wonderful. This book is relatively short, and I read it in less than a day. It’s a very engaging story, and kept me asking “what’s going to happen next?”  

To be honest, though, it was much more of a theme-driven story than a character driven one. The characters have moments of personality, but are mostly there for you to build that for them, for you to project onto these boys. The themes weren’t bad, in fact, they were deep and complicated and interesting, but a lot of the main character’s arcs felt incomplete by the end of the story. There was a setup but no conclusion. 

I really enjoyed the beginning of the book, and the theme was interesting and executed well, but again, the ending left me a little confused. Was it supposed to feel incomplete? It made me feel as though these characters lives are going to continue, things will keep happening and we only saw a snippet of their time, but I believe I would have enjoyed it more if there had been a bit deeper and further explored resolution. 

In conclusion, it was an interesting read that I would recommend, though I’d say you should be at least fourteen to read this, due to heavy subject matter and one scene at a party. Overall, I enjoyed the book, I liked the characters, and the idea of Carpe Diem will surely follow me as I find other books to read.