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3.9 AVERAGE
3.9 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape
I loved this book. It’s a young man’s writing, filled with laugh out loud wit and sarcasm, drinking tales, and plenty of references to defecating, sex, vomiting, and similar topics. It is a tribute to and a withering expose of Conroy’s overpowering father and beautiful, unreliable mother. Beware of the last 100 pages, where tragedy stalks. Now I know I need to read more Conroy.
A book that so badly wants to be The Great American Novel but actually is 500 mind numbingly superfluous pages of what could have been a 150 page novel.
What a novel. Powerful and beautifully written. It was a joy to read.
3.5/5
Uuuugh. I love Pat Conroy, but this one just wasn't really for me. It's hard to explain: I can't tell if I gave it more credit than I deserved because its Conroy, or because I had such high expectations that they fell flat because its Conroy.
Prince of Tides, South of Broad, etc are all up there for some of the best reads ever, for me. I just couldn't really find the joy in this one. Even the writing lacked a bit for me. It almost felt like an excuse to just bat around witty insults and macho slang? Like, the sheer amount of gay/genitalia jokes started to parody itself. Sportsfans, pissants -- nobody is actually addressed normally in this book. By the end the dialogue felt so rote in terms of the volleying of insults that it was hard to not roll my eyes.
I'm kind of bummed because this is my last fiction Conroy and I had waited a long time to read it. Oh well.
Uuuugh. I love Pat Conroy, but this one just wasn't really for me. It's hard to explain: I can't tell if I gave it more credit than I deserved because its Conroy, or because I had such high expectations that they fell flat because its Conroy.
Prince of Tides, South of Broad, etc are all up there for some of the best reads ever, for me. I just couldn't really find the joy in this one. Even the writing lacked a bit for me. It almost felt like an excuse to just bat around witty insults and macho slang? Like, the sheer amount of gay/genitalia jokes started to parody itself. Sportsfans, pissants -- nobody is actually addressed normally in this book. By the end the dialogue felt so rote in terms of the volleying of insults that it was hard to not roll my eyes.
I'm kind of bummed because this is my last fiction Conroy and I had waited a long time to read it. Oh well.
A gorgeous book. Read so long ago that I need to re-read.
This is a beautifully written book. The forwards and reviews state “You’ll want to hate The Great Santini but you’ll love him.” I didn’t love him. He was a horrible, wife and child abusing bully. This book is a beautifully written tragedy. It made me feel sad.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes