The Great Santini: A Novel by Pat Conroy
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Book Reviews of The Great Santini: A Novel
Book Review: The Great Santini
Summary: 5 Stars
Loved this book and of course the author. Service was excellent and a great way to shop!!!Book Review: Conroy the Great
Summary: 4 Stars
I discovered Pay Conroy as a young adult many years ago and in short order read everything he ever wrote. In my youthful, relatively uneducated mind, I couldn't help but think he was one of the greatest writers of all time. I distinctly remember the unmitigated joy of reading The Lords of Discipline for the first time, unable to tear myself away from the thing, staying up some nights until 4am with it. It was and maybe still is the most engrossing book I have ever read.
Well, many years have passed and many more books are under the belt and I guess I've come to the conclusion that maybe Pat Conroy isn't the greatest thing since sliced bread after all, but, all the melodrama notwithstanding, he still has to rank up there somewhere. This one, The Great Santini, is a fine example of Conroy in his prime.
We are introduced to the Great Santini--aka Bull Meacham, Marine fighter pilot--at a wild, drunken, hilarious going-away party in his honor in the first scene of the novel. We see immediately that he is a brash, loud, cocky and arrogant; traits that serve him more or less to good effect with his Marine subordinates, but traits that serve him far less effectively with his wife and four children.
The story, of course, is truly about them, and especially Ben, the oldest of the siblings. The relationship with his father is of the classic love/hate variety. He is proud of his father: his exaggerated toughness, his extraordinary discipline, his status in the world as a true warrior. But he loathes him as well: his bullying, brutal, unbending tactics are too often unnecessarily thoughtless and cruel.
There are so many fine scenes. One of the most famous is the one-on-one basketball game between the maturing seventeen-year old Ben and his insanely competitive father. Ben beats him, finally--a great moment in his life--but instead of getting the congratulations he deserves and has strived for since childhood, his father instead humiliates him, calling him a girl and systematically bouncing the basketball off of his head as he walks into the house.
But as brutish as Ben's father is, his mother in contrast is filled with Southern charm and grace, and loves her children unconditionally. There is a wonderful scene that I had forgotten about, in which the family is walking to midnight mass on Christmas Eve. The mother is suddenly so overcome with joy that she begins to dance on the way, a gentle, graceful waltz, thrilling the children with her loveliness. Even old Bull expresses a growl of appreciation.
The novel is loaded with scenes like this, both big and small. All of the characters are sharply defined and painfully human. And as with Conroy's other novels, there is a strong sense of the South, with its swamps and its backwoods, slow-paced charm. Conroy is also a very witty fellow, particularly the dialogue between his characters which is always hilariously dead-pan.
However, by the end you realize that he's tried just a little bit too hard. The novel encompasses a little less than a year in Ben's life, yet his friend's date is victimized by a brutal rapist, another friend is murdered, he is threatened by a deputy sheriff, and finally he must come to terms with the death of a significant character. It is a bit much.
But don't be dissuaded. It's nevertheless a fine novel, filled with wit, wisdom and painful honestly. As are all of his first four novels--The Water is Wide, this one, The Lords of Discipline, and The Prince of Tides--which are each and every one a terrific read.
Book Review: Lessons Learned
Summary: 4 Stars
Just fabulous. No one can write realism like Conroy writes it.
This coming of age story involving a young man and his overbearing and probably neurotic father combines nerve shattering angst with Conroy's trademark humor.
The contest between Bull and Ben reflects not just that specific relationship but the challenge each of us faces when our very nature wars between our selfish controlling tendencies and our more rational compassionate side. Depending on any specific instance, one never knows where honor lies.
Hard lesson for Ben to learn but learn it he did.
Amazing storyline. Amazing writing. Amazing book.
Book Review: Good book with alot behind it.
Summary: 4 Stars
This book has a lot of good writing behind it. The plot is well developed characters with completely developed characters that make sense. Within the book everything seems to flow from event to event.Book Review: Not as good as his other books
Summary: 3 Stars
Let me start out by saying that I think Pat Conroy is one of the best authors out there. He can paint a picture so vividly with is words you truly feel like you are there. I first read Beach Music and it rocked my world. Each of the stories told in that book were amazing. So, even though I'd seen the movie Prince of Tides, I decided to read the book. I loved it also. Now having a hunger for more of his amazing writing, I picked up The Great Santini. I must say, I was disappointed. I loved the characters and the general concept of the story. A tough Marine, a true southern belle and two of the four children with depth that you admire throughout the entire story. I just felt that there was no storyline. I get what Conroy was trying to portray by creating the characters, and the relationships between the characters were great, but I just felt as if something was missing from this story. I also didn't feel like a whole lot happened until half way through the book.
There were also a couple of highly dramatic scenes(Sammy's girlfriend and Toomer and Red) that had you at the edge of your seat. However, once that chapter was over, no mention of it whatsoever. I would think these things happened for a reason (e.g. character growth, forming a bond between two characters)and would be explored through the eyes of the characters some more. This was a disappointment to me also.
All in all, the book had a lot of good in it, but just didn't measure up to Beach Music and The Prince of Tides. I plan on reading Conroy's other books in hopes to feel the magic of his writing again.