Anatomy School [Paperback]

Strict Irish priests are rigorous in their training of young men, using corporal punishment, coupled with the occasional spiritual retreat: three days of silence, prayer and soul-searching. The most effective and lasting discipline is mental, constant drumming lectures concerning the nature of sin, especially when entertained as lascivious thoughts, where a boy's chastity is threatened by self-will. Martin Brennan and his friends survive just such an environment, their sexuality a driving force, as they bond in friendship defined by four-letter words and innuendo. Driven by hormones, conscience runs a close second, carefully nurtured through years of training.

To his shame, Brennan is repeating his last year of high school before seeking employment. Kavanagh, a star basketball player, is Martin's best pal and co-conspirator. When the more sophisticated Blaise Foley boards at their school, the paradigm changes, the three boys forming a lopsided triumvirate, as Blaise challenges Martin to question everything he has been taught. The free-floating anxiety common to boys on the verge of manhood tempers Martin and Kavanagh's natural hubris and enthusiasm.

The iconoclastic Blaise is a perfect foil to the more conscientious Brennan and Kavanagh, pricking holes in their beliefs and expectations. It is Blaise who suggests a scheme for passing exams, critical to each young man's future. Blaise is an antagonist whose best work is done while skating on the thin edge of risk, a practiced con man with a deep distrust of conformity. But ill-conceived interference by a disciplinarian begins a cycle of violence that leaves one boy fighting for his life and shocking the others into adulthood overnight. This injudicious incident changes the course of their futures.

Some harsh lessons burn a hole in the soul, a black mark that cannot be removed, possibly requiring a sojourn in Purgatory. But youthful experience denies the pull of grief and shame, where hope bravely shimmers, a light at the end of the tunnel.

There is a notable scene where Brennan loses his virginity, perfectly capturing the tortuous journey from exploration to intimacy. Unaware of his own charms, Brennan is an attractive young man to the opposite sex. His first foray into sexual adventure is tender and touching. MacLaverty skillfully portrays the difficult terrain of youthful maturity, when young boys perform age-old rituals that mark such significant events.

In a familiar and humorous rendition, MacLaverty's Martin Brennan, carefully tended by a religious mother who surrounds her son with moral values, is the essence of a boy's transition into the next phase of life, his struggles proscribed by universal experience, successfully navigating his path towards the future. Luan Gaines/2003.