Their worlds are changed when the new English teacher, Mr. The novel, like the film, follows a group of boys at an isolated preparatory school in Vermont, where excellence and uniformity are not just expected but commanded of them. The film scored high with critics, winning the Oscar in 1990 for Best Original Screenplay and receiving nominations for Best Picture, Best Actor (Williams), and Best Director (Peter Weir). Keating, and Ethan Hawke as Todd Anderson. The novel was released as a companion piece to the wildly popular film-also titled Dead Poets Society and released in 1989- which starred famous actors such as Robin Williams as Mr. Kleinbaum’s Dead Poets Society is a 1989 novel based on the motion picture written by Tom Schulman. Yet, the boys stay loyal to Keating, as they prove when he leaves, by saying sorry.N. Neil commits suicide the next night.Īn investigation is started at Welton, and it is decided that Keating was the cause of this event, and the boys are forced to sign a paper that puts all the blame on Keating, who has to resign after this. Yet Neil goes along with the play, but his father finds out, and gets very angry. Neil has decided to act in a play, and his father does not agree. The friends decide to restart this society, and so they do.īut after a while, things start going wrong. They ask Keating about this, and discover that it was a secret society, who read poetry for eachother, and lived free, as they thought they should live, even though the teachers at 'Helton' said differently. When Neil goes to find some information about Keating, he discovers that Keating had been a member of a group called 'Dead Poets Society'. He encourages people to think for themselves. They attend Welton Academy in the year 1959.įor English, they have the new teacher, John Keating, who is a very different teacher than the others. The book is about 6 friends, Neil Perry, Todd Anderson, Richard Cameron, Knox Overstreet, Charlie Dalton and Steven Meeks.

Yes, I would certainly say it is a good book. Also, the poetry becomes much nicer, clearer, if it's read in English. The book explains things in a much clearer way, with alot of detail, which you don't have in the movie. I had seen the movie too, but the book adds yet another dimension to the already quite excellent movie.

Sadly, the other people at Welton don't agree on his opinion, and that will result in a sad ending of the story. He tells the boys to read poetry in the way they want to read and judge it, not the way others say it should be read and judged. In his class he encourages the boys to show at least a little criticism to what others say. Keating is a very open minded person who believes that, on the contrary of what the other people at Welton say, young boys, can think for themselves. He replaces the old English teacher, who retired. John Keating is the new teacher at Welton.

Kleinbaum dead poets society