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Beach Music
by
Pat Conroy
Pat Conroy is without doubt America's favorite storyteller, a writer who portrays the anguished truth of the human heart and the painful secrets of families in richly lyrical prose and unforgettable narratives. Now, in Beach Music, he tells of the dark memories that haunt generations, in a story that spans South Carolina and Rome and reaches back into the unutterable terro...more
Hardcover, 640 pages
Published
June 1st 1995
by Nan A. Talese
(first published 1995)
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I would never have read this book, had it not been left in a pile of paperbacks on a rig offshore, and I had I not finished the two books I brought with me already. I honestly had no idea what to expect, and almost put it down after 13 pages because Talladega Nights was on HBO.
But I didn't, and I spent large chunks of my afternoons once back onshore reading this monstrosity. Beach Music is a grand, sweeping novel of a Southern man in a Southern city in a Southern state (South Carolina, ironicall...more
But I didn't, and I spent large chunks of my afternoons once back onshore reading this monstrosity. Beach Music is a grand, sweeping novel of a Southern man in a Southern city in a Southern state (South Carolina, ironicall...more
I met Pat Conroy at a book signing event in Atlanta when this book was released. There just so happened to be another Furman Alumni in line ahead of us and I heard Conroy say something about Furman. I spoke up making sure he knew I was there. His response was something like "You Furman people are like Lynx, you're everywhere!" So, thinking I understood that his spat with The Citadel had turned him sour against the school I made some smartass, derogatory comment about The Citadel. He signed my bo...more
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Beautiful!
It's weird because there's something amateur? unintellectual? about his writing, yet it's profoundly wise and he comes up with poetic comparisons all over the place. I can't place it. Maybe the characters are a bit too cheesy at times. Hopeless romantic? I don't know. But he writes about insanely tragic things and with utter understanding. This and Prince of Tides are very healing books - they have a raw power.
One paragraph summed up my Mom in such beauty that that is all I need to kn...more
It's weird because there's something amateur? unintellectual? about his writing, yet it's profoundly wise and he comes up with poetic comparisons all over the place. I can't place it. Maybe the characters are a bit too cheesy at times. Hopeless romantic? I don't know. But he writes about insanely tragic things and with utter understanding. This and Prince of Tides are very healing books - they have a raw power.
One paragraph summed up my Mom in such beauty that that is all I need to kn...more
Possibly one of the worst books I have ever had the misfortune to read. I bought it after hearing Nan Talese, Conroy's editor, talk about how it was put together. In retrospect, I should have realized that her telling of how Conroy was impaired by drink and depression during the writing of the book, and her active role in putting the book together meant it would be a crazy-quilt hodgepodge rambling Faulkner wannabe of a book. When the Nazis showed up, I though, Oh My God.
Pat Conroy is a magical writer, and his 'Beach Music,' is no exception. This is perhaps my favorite book of all time, though I do alternate with his other, 'The Prince of Tides,' so beware that I'm reviewing 'Beach Music' as a committed Conrophile, (if such a phrase could exist). Jack McCall is a sweeping character, and when the book opens, we find he and his daughter ensconced away in Rome after a family tragedy. What follows is a story that, in my opinion, weaves a brilliant quilt of familiarl...more
A good epic southern novel. I forgot how much fun it was to read these types of books full of family drama, unrealistic and over-the-top characters, and some good old romance.
I remember really enjoying Conroy's Prince of Tides when I read it back as the oldest 10th grader you'll ever know--this book has a similar feel to it. Jack McCall has fled to Rome after his wife commits suicide. He takes his daughter, Leah, with him and vows never to return to the South as there are too many painful memor...more
I remember really enjoying Conroy's Prince of Tides when I read it back as the oldest 10th grader you'll ever know--this book has a similar feel to it. Jack McCall has fled to Rome after his wife commits suicide. He takes his daughter, Leah, with him and vows never to return to the South as there are too many painful memor...more
I can count on one hand the number of books that have made me cry. This is one of them. I chose this book because its cold here in Minnesota this time of year and I wanted to be whisked back to warm South Carolina, a state I've been privileged to live in. South Carolina gets into your blood and so does Conroy. He's simply a master of words, some of his descriptions so achingly beautiful that I had to reread them just to see if I had imagined them.
This is a brutal book touching on the topics of...more
This is a brutal book touching on the topics of...more
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I fell in love with Pat Conroy's writing while on holiday at Hunting Island, South Carolina - it was accidental though, my professor at grad school had reccomended him and I thought it looked like a good meaty read for a beach holiday. I didn't have any idea that he sets most of his books there and is from there. But it just hooked me in and I could hardly put it down to even walk down to the beach from our camp site. This might very well be up there with Diana Wynne Jones's A Tale of Time City...more
This is a really beautifully written story.
I've purchased this book no less than 4 different times. Every time someone saw it they wanted to borrow it and somehow it never got returned. My mother-in-law filched the last copy I bought and she SWEARS it belongs to her.
I picked up yet another copy to take away with me and read while traveling and am truly enjoying re-discovering just how wonderful it is to read Pat Conroy.
I'm so pleased to have picked this book up again. What a joy to read such art...more
I've purchased this book no less than 4 different times. Every time someone saw it they wanted to borrow it and somehow it never got returned. My mother-in-law filched the last copy I bought and she SWEARS it belongs to her.
I picked up yet another copy to take away with me and read while traveling and am truly enjoying re-discovering just how wonderful it is to read Pat Conroy.
I'm so pleased to have picked this book up again. What a joy to read such art...more
Feb 08, 2009
Matthew
rated it
2 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
People who can stand sappy writing
Recommended to Matthew by:
One of my tenth grade students
I was initially skeptical about starting up one of these "blockbuster" novels, but Beach Music's prologue was surprisingly well written and I found myself strangely captivated to read on. As a testament to the quality of that prologue, I waded through a couple hundred pages of overwrought and overweight storytelling just to find some closure on the Jack McCall's wife's suicide mystery. There would be times in my reading when I had to look away from the book because the prose would be so sentimen...more
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Set in the American South and Rome, this is one of my all time favorite books. Would give it 10 stars if I could. I loved the complex family dynamic AND the food descriptions. I really enjoy reading people's descriptions of food.* One of the main characters is a food critic and he discusses the meals be prepares for his broken family at various points in his life. This character also finds cooking soothing and a way to escape; I'm happy for this character that he has a job that is one of his pas...more
I read this a while back, but reread parts of it over the holidays and gave it as a gift to my brother Bill. It deals with several friends who grew up together in the 60's. They had various family problems -- one was a child of holocaust survivors, another had a physically and verbally abusive father, while yet another had an alcoholic father and a weak (terrified) mother. Because we grew up with an abusive step-father and an alcoholic father, it was the first book I ever read that I could actua...more
Not loved, but liked it a lot. I listened to it as a wma audiobook. A friend said it was one of the best books she ever read. She reads a lot, so I put it on my to-read list. I was not disappointed. The pros were many: well written, interesting characters and places, a relatable time frame (I was born 2 weeks before the protagonist), a well told, relatable story. The cons: The good guys in the story were very, very liberal and the villains were very, very conservative. I am a conservative Christ...more
This is by far conroy's best novel. Also did I mention he is probably one of the best southern writers...ever. Just to warn you he is very detailed and some people hate that...I don't but some people don't enjoy excessive reading. He focuses most of his work about life experiences in the south...more specifically charleston. This novel is about a man who moves to Rome with his daughter after his wife's suicide to escape his dysfunctional and insane family. He also draws this from similar life ex...more
Aug 26, 2012
David Clark
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
fiction,
summer-2012
Ok, I'll admit it. In the past I liked reading Pat Conroy's novels. I was profoundly affected by "The Water is Wide, "The Great Santini," and the "Prince of Tides." After reading three years worth of "literary" novels and non-fiction and obtaining an MFA in writing, I decided to read a novel by the famous Mr. Conroy. Beach Music is a massive tome (800+pages).
This is a story crammed full of southern "characters," characters who despite being almost stereotypes are rendered with entertaining humo...more
This is a story crammed full of southern "characters," characters who despite being almost stereotypes are rendered with entertaining humo...more
While competently written and quite entertaining, Beach Music tries to be too many books in one. I didn't think the various aspects of the story resonated with each other enough to belong in the same book. I felt that Conroy could have written three tighter novels with the material he packed into this one loose one. For example, the long backstory about Lucy's childhood, while interesting, could have been shortened considerably or left to the imagination. It was enough to know she wasn't "of goo...more
Well, I do think Pat Conroy can really spin a tale. However, this book (which I'll confess to devouring in one weekend), didn't feel very effective to me a novel.
There was so much I loved about this book -- the brothers, Conroy's evocation of Rome and lowland SC. But especially the stories that make up the book: the giant ray and being lost at sea; the Holocaust stories; Jack's mom's story of her childhood; and lots more.
And structurally, there is a narrative arc.
However, I found that structure...more
There was so much I loved about this book -- the brothers, Conroy's evocation of Rome and lowland SC. But especially the stories that make up the book: the giant ray and being lost at sea; the Holocaust stories; Jack's mom's story of her childhood; and lots more.
And structurally, there is a narrative arc.
However, I found that structure...more
The back cover of this book doesn't give a very good description of what the plot is about. And why would it (how could it?), when the plot is this much of a mess? In short: Jack McCall is an American who moves to Rome with his young daughter after his wife commits suicide, intending to never see anyone from his past again (including his own family), but he eventually comes home and starts dealing with the past.
The long version of the plot is... I don't even know where to begin, the book is such...more
The long version of the plot is... I don't even know where to begin, the book is such...more
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I finally found an enjoyable book, after reading many poorly written books. I have read Conroy before, but feel that this is one of his better novels. Conroy employs many of the same themes in all his novels: the South, the beach, loggerhead turtles, the military, religion, sex, the Viet Nam War, and domestic violence. This story touched upon the Jews and Nazis, Italy, and cancer. The McCall family consists of 5 brothers, their drunken lawyer/judge father, and emotionally and physically battered...more
The satisfication of fulfillment I receive after finishing a good book is food for the soul. Beach Music by Pat Conroy was a southern masterpiece of fiction.
In BEACH MUSIC, Pat Conroy writes of the dark memories that haunt generations, in a story that spans South Carolina and Rome and reaches back into the unutterable terrors of the Holocaust.
Jack McCall is an American living in Rome with his young daughter, trying to find peace after the recent trauma of his wife's suicide. But his solitude is...more
In BEACH MUSIC, Pat Conroy writes of the dark memories that haunt generations, in a story that spans South Carolina and Rome and reaches back into the unutterable terrors of the Holocaust.
Jack McCall is an American living in Rome with his young daughter, trying to find peace after the recent trauma of his wife's suicide. But his solitude is...more
Pat Conroy has the ability to weave a story out of the most deeply disturbing events and gorgeous prose ever to appear on a printed page. It's a strange combination, a reading experience that leaves you exhausted, nostalgic, wanting to close the book, compelled to read on, and glad you finished the novel at the end. Suicide, mental illness, the Vietnam War, the Holocaust, and domestic abuse scar the tapestry of this novel all the way through, but the beauty of South Carolina's low country, the b...more
This is a tough review, and I'm not going to even try to summarize the plot. It is so big and sprawling and spans the Holocaust to the Low Country to the Appalachians to Italy and back again. The story is beautiful and heart-breaking at the same time. Some of the characters are beautifully developed and some seem more like cardboard cut-outs. I love how the ending tied up the loose strings though I think some of it was unfair.
The writing is amazing. The author has a gift for description that ma...more
The writing is amazing. The author has a gift for description that ma...more
Initially Beach Music seemed to me to be yet another trite, flavorless tale of a dysfunctional family. I'm glad I stayed with it, as there were some interesting turns of events. Jack is an at times unlikable protagonist, which probably adds to the novel's inertia. In the end, Pat Conroy manages to weave a tapestry of knotted mystery which intrigues and opens up the heart and mind for contemplation.
Spoilers beyond here:
I particularly liked the animated over-the-top portrayal and dialogue of John...more
Spoilers beyond here:
I particularly liked the animated over-the-top portrayal and dialogue of John...more
I guess this goes on the "mainstream" shelf...the fact that it's the only book there right now says something about my tastes in reading. Anyway, I bushing loved this book. The end.
Oh, well, I guess I could go into some detail. The characters are fun, the stories they have are enthralling, and the settings are wonderfully described. The plot moves in a less-than-linear fashion, with flashbacks forming a significant portion of the book, but that's just fine.
And not only are the characters fun, th...more
Oh, well, I guess I could go into some detail. The characters are fun, the stories they have are enthralling, and the settings are wonderfully described. The plot moves in a less-than-linear fashion, with flashbacks forming a significant portion of the book, but that's just fine.
And not only are the characters fun, th...more
This is not an action/adventure story. More like a first person biography narrative, centered on the protagonist family and close friends and milestone events leading to the unfolding of the story over about a year in time.
My first time reading a novel by Pat Conroy so I had no idea what to expect. Very multi-layered story involving lots of characters which formed his psyche and personality. Some parts I could relate to better than others.
I enjoyed reading about the background family history aro...more
My first time reading a novel by Pat Conroy so I had no idea what to expect. Very multi-layered story involving lots of characters which formed his psyche and personality. Some parts I could relate to better than others.
I enjoyed reading about the background family history aro...more
I have read this book at least a dozen times, and it remains one of my very favorites. I can't recommend it enough.
The story centers around Jack McCall, who leaves his home in South Carolina and moves to Italy with his daughter, Leah, after losing his wife. The story follows Jack and Leah as they make a new life in Italy, eventually return to South Carolina, and cope with the loss of their beloved wife and mother. There are interesting subplots throughout, along with beautifully written characte...more
The story centers around Jack McCall, who leaves his home in South Carolina and moves to Italy with his daughter, Leah, after losing his wife. The story follows Jack and Leah as they make a new life in Italy, eventually return to South Carolina, and cope with the loss of their beloved wife and mother. There are interesting subplots throughout, along with beautifully written characte...more
Patrick Conroy hurls words and ideas at you and they all land in a perfectly harmonized formation of drama, humor and outrageously engaging characters. His gift for creating characters from words on a page to larger than life people is magnificent. Beach Music incorporates some very difficult topics and weaves together a number of complex story lines, which intertwine in this multi generational epic. In all his books he is excellent at depicting dysfunction in families and this book is no except...more
I wanted to like Pat Conroy’s Beach Music. Really, I did. The opening paragraph (a stunning, lyrical evocation of a young woman’s suicide) drew me into the sprawling, eight hundred page tome. At first glance, the book seemed to have all the elements of a rip-roaring good yarn: betrayal, forgiveness, intergenerational conflict, and a number of love affairs thrown in for good measure.
At the story’s start, we meet main character Jack McCall, who (with only his daughter, Leah, for company) is livin...more
At the story’s start, we meet main character Jack McCall, who (with only his daughter, Leah, for company) is livin...more
This book was recommended to me by a patron from Cook Library. Great book, although too long I felt it could have skipped some of the World War II horror anc still accomplished the fact that Shyla's parents were the way they were because of it. Very visual with the scenes and history in South Carolina. The McCall boys seemed a little extreme in many instances but probably accurate. John Hardin naturally was out of control and I wondered if people really let him live that way but I am happy he wa...more
this is a great book, especially for those of us who might have been close to draft age and/or in college in the late 60's
The story weaves around three guys (and a couple of neighbor girls) who grow up in a small coastal town of S Carolina. In their freshman year they befriend a new kids who comes in from Southern Cal whose old man is a mean Marine corp officer--that is mean to his kid.
they raise a lot of hell and play good sports through high school do many things we would have loved to do--mai...more
The story weaves around three guys (and a couple of neighbor girls) who grow up in a small coastal town of S Carolina. In their freshman year they befriend a new kids who comes in from Southern Cal whose old man is a mean Marine corp officer--that is mean to his kid.
they raise a lot of hell and play good sports through high school do many things we would have loved to do--mai...more
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| Beach Music | 14 | 106 | Sep 04, 2011 07:50pm |
Pat Conroy is the New York Times bestselling author of two memoirs and seven novels, including The Prince of Tides, The Great Santini, and The Lords of Discipline. Born the eldest of seven children in a rigidly disciplined military household, he attended the Citadel, the military college of South Carolina. He briefly became a schoolteacher (which he chronicled in his memoir The Water Is Wide) befo...more
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“Music could ache and hurt, that beautiful music was a place a suffering man could hide.”
—
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“American men are allotted just as many tears as American women. But because we are forbidden to shed them, we die long before women do, with our hearts exploding or our blood pressure rising or our livers eaten away by alcohol because that lake of grief inside us has no outlet. We, men, die because our faces were not watered enough.”
—
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Aug 14, 2007 08:12am
I love every word of this book. Pat Conroy's ability to bring you inside of the story, put you in the middle of it all. You smell and tas...more
Nov 23, 2008 01:18pm
Dec 19, 2012 06:57am