My Reading Life

My Reading Life: Pat Conroy: Ever since I read The Water is Wide, I've loved Pat Conroy, and every book of his I've read since has made me love him more, excepting South of Broad -- I just didn't care for that book at all -- it was missing something -- the heart that's present in most Conroy novels. Anyway, to run across this new book where he talks about the books and the writers and the teachers and the librarians who influenced him and ultimately made him into a writer was a real thrill for me. Despite the fact that Conroy's usual writing weaknesses are present here -- he's often criticized, and not unfairly, for overblown prose -- this book was a delight to read since his strengths are present also. I read it in a day and I'd go back and read it again. Or I might simply pull out my favorite Conroy novel, The Prince of Tides, and read it for the fifth time, or possibly re-read Beach Music, which I've only read once.

South of Broad

South of Broad: Pat Conroy: I love Pat Conroy; he is probably one of my favorite Southern writers. His ability to inject South Carolina's Low Country into his novels as a character, not just a setting, is breathtaking. Every time, a new Pat Conroy book comes out, I'm thrilled and can't wait to read it. That said, I'm really disappointed in South of Broad. All the usual Conroy

themes are there -- suicide, depression, abusive families, chosen family -- and there's nothing wrong with these, in general. What's wrong with them specifically in South of Broad is that Conroy does nothing new with them. The reviewer in EW

said that the main character reminds him of Tom Wingo in the far superior The Prince of Tides. I wouldn't go that far, but Leo King doesn't bring anything interesting to the world of Conroy characters. What's frustrating to me about a less than wonderful Conroy novel is that we have to wait so long in between books; he's not prolific like Stephen King, so that I can ignore the books I don't like, knowing a new one will be coming along soon. Beach Music was his last novel and that was in 1995. I hope the next Conroy novel is better -- maybe I'll still be alive for it.