springdellgirl

I Am In Love


Oh Pat Conroy. I love you deeply. I am seduced by your way with words, wit, and wounded inner child. You beguile me with your southern charm. You bewitch me with your intellect. You distract me from anything else that I have going on in my life. I am consumed. Your magnetism is undeniable. I could leave my husband for you except I don't think he has much to worry about because he just might love you as much as I do.

I have read nearly every word you have written. Everything that I can get my hands on. Each time I am enchanted. Even when you show that the mighty Pat Conroy is fallible (South of Broad). Even when disappointed and left wanting I am captivated by your beautiful writing and charisma.

What a treat it was to open the cover of My Reading Life and have it be pure unadulterated Conroy. My heart skipped a beat. This is a book I must buy, write in the margins, and keep as a reference. I must own this work of beauty.

Who could not be beckoned to a comfy chair by this?

"I grew up a word-haunted boy. I felt words inside me and stored them wondrous as pearls. I mouthed them and fingered them and rolled them around my tongue." (pg.84)
Not to mention the ultimate phrase that thrills me every.single.time I read it?
"My wound is my geography. It is also my anchorage. My port of call." (Prologue from the Prince of Tides) Chills I tell you. Chills.

This book is pure joy for a Conroy fan. It is the author talking about his life, his influences, his experience, and the books and people that have shaped who he has become. I wanted it to never end. I wanted to sit by his fireside and listen to my favorite author forever.

I loved how he describes that joy of reading. It is how I feel but have difficulty articulating.

"When an author sets the table right, there will be no need to pass either the foie gras or the barbecue because the characters will grab me by the collar. They will spring to life so fully developed, so richly contained in the oneness of their own universe, that they will populate the cafes and verandas and alleyways of a city I will never want to leave. Few things linger longer or become more indwelling than that feeling of both completion and emptiness when a great book ends. That the book accompanies the reader forever, from that day forward, is part of literature's profligate generosity." (pg. 311)

"Can I incorporate this splendid work, ingest it whole into my bloodstream, where it can become part of my thinking and dreaming life?" (pg. 312)

I have walked many times through Mr. Conroy's "glittering city of words"and have journeyed to the darkest parts of hell with him by my side. I have loved every minute.

I close this book uplifted, inspired and fully satisfied.

My rating: EXCELLENT. A must-read for any Conroy fan or lover of literature