springdellgirl

Book Review #69


Today I am sick so it is the perfect time to catch up on book reviews. I have put off writing this review because I never thought the day would come when I wouldn't write a rave review for my favorite author of all-time...the amazing Pat Conroy. I waited years for Pat Conroy to write another book. Fourteen years to be exact. Tyler bought this book for us even before it was released. It sat on the bookshelf untouched by me for months. Delaying gratification. It was a treat just waiting for the right time to be devoured by me. (Tyler read it immediately.)

From Barnes and Noble:

"Against the sumptuous backdrop of Charleston, South Carolina, South of Broad gathers a unique cast of sinners and saints. Leopold Bloom King, our narrator, is the son of an amiable, loving father who teaches science at the local high school. His mother, an ex-nun, is the high school principal and a well-known Joyce scholar. After Leo's older brother commits suicide at the age of thirteen, the family struggles with the shattering effects of his death, and Leo, lonely and isolated, searches for something to sustain him. Eventually, he finds his answer when he becomes part of a tightly knit group of high school seniors...whose liaisons will ripple across two decades-from 1960s counterculture through the dawn of the AIDS crisis in the 1980s. The ties among them endure for years, surviving marriages happy and troubled, unrequited loves and unspoken longings, hard-won successes and devastating breakdowns, and Charleston's dark legacy of racism and class divisions. But the final test of friendship that brings them to San Francisco is something no one is prepared for. "

Pat Conroy works his magic on the page once again. No one holds a candle to him for the beauty of his prose and description. He is a poet. His descriptions of his beloved South are seductive and haunting. I love his dark, Gothic, dysfunctional, and complicated sagas that span decades. His damaged yet endearing characters live on in my mind forever...Tom, Luke, Will and Ben. They are old friends. Conroy's main character in this book Leo King will do the same. I love Leo. I love his wit and his humanity. I loved his character development. He was/is real. The plot held promise. Enduring friendships that span decades; profound experiences that shaped their lives; tragedy; unrequited love; violence; and finally redemption. Unfortunately the story fell short. The character development suffered. Most of the characters felt like caricatures and stereotypes to me. Trevor and Sheba, Molly and Chad, Ike and Betty...none of them had a pulse. I felt like every possible gimmick was thrown into the story. Really? Monsignor Max? Come on!! Who didn't see that one coming? It left me disappointed...then angry...then sad.

There ARE moments of brilliance. Sentences that beg to be read aloud and then read to someone you love just so you can experience the moment and the beauty together. There are moments that had me laughing until I was crying. The relationship and banter between Leo and Harrington Canon is classic Conroy. I loved it. There is beauty in the relationship between Leo and his father. A Conroy first. But then in one turn of the page there is vulgarity and crassness that ruin the beauty of the page before and cheapens the experience.

That said...Pat Conroy at less than his best is still better than most authors at their best...in my opinion. Read it this summer...it is what it is...a beach/poolside read. But it sure isn't another Prince of Tides.

My rating: Good but not excellent. If you are a die hard Conroy fan...disappointing.