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The Great Santini by Pat Conroy
3.0

I've read that people found Bull Meecham funny and charming, but to me he was just an asshole that made a lot of people miserable. Perhaps my own experiences color the man and the family a bit differently. From page one I despised 'The Great Santini' and even considered not continuing the novel. I'm glad I persevered. The remainder of the family and the people around them earned my time.

Conroy is a great writer and to draw from his own life for this novel was brave. There is tragedy and hope, and every other emotion in the spectrum, and throughout, I just kept my hopes on Ben and Mary Ann escaping to have wonderful lives. I imagine that is what happens when the written story ends.