‘The Class’ by Erich Segal follows the life of five young graduates of ’58 batch of Harvard University culminating in their 25th college reunion. The five men hail from extremely diverse backgrounds and cultures, each united in the single purpose of becoming people of high social standing. The story follows their lives through the years and across the continents to a captivating climax.
The first half of the story discusses Harvard life in detail right from the time; the five people join the university to the day of their graduation. Erich Segal explains in detail the happenings in every term of the elite academy-the struggles, the challenges, the laughter and the heartbreaks. The student life is discussed so well that you will be amazed at each and every incident that the students go through.
The book has five central characters and this is their story.
Danny Rossi: A shy, introverted young man who has an amazing talent in music. His music wins him fame, success and many women, but he craves for fulfillment which avoids him. His past included yearning for his father’s praise as he could never match up to his elder brother’s athletic exploits. The dizzying heights of fame only make him work harder and harder till he faces his toughest challenge.
Ted Lambros: The Greek outsider who makes it through Harvard only on the basis of his hard work. In his career as a literary professor, he has to face a lot of petty politics in the pursuit of Harvard’s highest academic position.
Jason Gilbert: Born with a silver spoon in his mouth, the handsome, athletic Jewish man has no problems till he reaches Harvard and struggles with his religious identity. The spiritual transformation he faces makes him discard his pretences and listen to his true calling.
George Keller: A refugee from Hungary who makes his way to the highest echelons of power in America. He knows that there is no stopping a man who has a personal mission to succeed, no matter where he comes from.
Andrew Elliot: He is the only person to have a rich, untainted past albeit one which was so illustrious that people’s expectations from him, make him feel smaller as the days go by. At Harvard, he feels as if he is the least accomplished amongst all his peers. As the central character of the narrative, he tells the story of all their lives interspersed with excerpts from his diary.
It is only when all of them catch up at their 25th reunion that Andrew Elliot realizes that he is a lot better off than some of his erstwhile accomplished friends. The present troubled situation of his friend’s lives makes him realize that appearances are a lot deceptive.
Each character has been developed very carefully and in depth. This is an important part of the story because as the plot progresses, the readers identify easily with the character’s dilemmas and reactions as they are in sync with his past.
As the reader, you cannot help but prod on Danny as he struggles with his grueling fitness test, or pause for a sorrowful moment when Jason has to leave his sweetheart for his military assignment and you quickly realize why Andrew has an I-don’t-belong-here behavior.
In the second half of the book, the plot races from the hallowed portals of Harvard University to the troubled lands of Vietnam & the Middle East. The characters grow here on not just in stature but also in their display of their hidden greed, lust and desire for absolute power. As is Segal’s forte, he peppers the story with lots of historical data and incidents along with amazing bifurcations of the main plot.
The Class is not just about the lives of 5 illustrious men; instead it’s about living and breathing every moment of their chequered fortunes. To put it simply, it is a novel of epic proportions and a story that will leave you richer in many ways than one.