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South of Broad
by
Pat Conroy
The publishing event of the season: The one and only Pat Conroy returns, with a big, sprawling novel that is at once a love letter to Charleston and to lifelong friendship.
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 tea...more
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 tea...more
Paperback, Large Print, 768 pages
Published
August 11th 2009
by Random House Large Print
(first published 2009)
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This is a difficult book to review.
I loved Pat Conroy's The Prince of Tides, and I think he is an immensely talented writer and storyteller. South of Broad, however, is not one of his best works. There were far too many jarring grammatical errors (which occurred as early as page three), the dialogue was awful and the storyline over-the-top dramatic. That said, though, I still found it a compelling read, and Conroy at his worst is still better than 99% of the writers out there. P...more
I loved Pat Conroy's The Prince of Tides, and I think he is an immensely talented writer and storyteller. South of Broad, however, is not one of his best works. There were far too many jarring grammatical errors (which occurred as early as page three), the dialogue was awful and the storyline over-the-top dramatic. That said, though, I still found it a compelling read, and Conroy at his worst is still better than 99% of the writers out there. P...more
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Greatly anticipated and greatly loathed. I love the other Conroy novels. The Great Santini and the Prince of Tides are modern classics. But now Conroy has taken the "dysfunctional South Carolina family" formula and beaten it into the ground.
Where to start? Implausible plot elements. I mean PUH-leeze. I can't even cover all the gimmicks Conroy throws into this plot. Give your readers some credit, you don't have to hit them over the head with every imaginable twist on fa...more
Where to start? Implausible plot elements. I mean PUH-leeze. I can't even cover all the gimmicks Conroy throws into this plot. Give your readers some credit, you don't have to hit them over the head with every imaginable twist on fa...more
Pat Conroy’s “South of Broad” is a love song to Charleston with blood on the sheet music.
As he walks toward the Cooper River in 1990, six months after Hurricane Hugo tore into his beloved city, narrator Leo King ponders the city’s rebuilding and healing, and the coming spring: “Since the day I was born, I have been worried that heaven would never be half as beautiful as Charleston.”
Like his counterpart Tom Wingo in “The Prince of Tides” (1986), Leopold Bloom King is a ps...more
As he walks toward the Cooper River in 1990, six months after Hurricane Hugo tore into his beloved city, narrator Leo King ponders the city’s rebuilding and healing, and the coming spring: “Since the day I was born, I have been worried that heaven would never be half as beautiful as Charleston.”
Like his counterpart Tom Wingo in “The Prince of Tides” (1986), Leopold Bloom King is a ps...more
I have a few things to finish before I can read this one but I couldn't resist reading a few pages last night. I absolutely love his prose.
Can we add a shelf for "wouldn't waste my time finishing this?" I made it about halfway, trying to talk myself into finishing it. Finally, I couldn't take the horrid, lame dialog, character mix and plotting. This paragraph, spoken by Sheba Poe, famous "sex goddess" movie star, trying to find her disappeared brother about sums it up;
"Full page column. Tomorrow morning. Herb's going to tell the story of the famous actress and her high school friends from ...more
"Full page column. Tomorrow morning. Herb's going to tell the story of the famous actress and her high school friends from ...more
South of Broad. Stalled. Dead in the Water. Oh Pat Conroy! Where have you gone???
I usually love Conroy's books, despite the disfunctional and disturbed families often in them. His writing is his therapy. But even though this was a favorite author writing about a favorite place, it did nothing for me. Didn't draw me in or make the place alive in my mind's eye. It was like a bad coming of age novel, minus the cow and drive-in. I have abandoned the book for now, in the hopes that ...more
I usually love Conroy's books, despite the disfunctional and disturbed families often in them. His writing is his therapy. But even though this was a favorite author writing about a favorite place, it did nothing for me. Didn't draw me in or make the place alive in my mind's eye. It was like a bad coming of age novel, minus the cow and drive-in. I have abandoned the book for now, in the hopes that ...more
I am 29% into this book (no page numbers on the kindle...a little disconcerting). Not loving it, so far. The dialogue is really bugging me. Do people really talk like this? Is anyone else out there reading this right now and finding it irritating? I am compelled to keep going, because I want to see where it is going, but if the "witty banter" keeps up, I am going to have to give up. These are the oddest caricatures of Southern "folk" I have read in a long time.
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Pat Conroy’s latest, South of Broad, is a love story to both South Carolina and the sense of place one can have for one’s hometown. Contrary to popular belief, love stories aren’t always composed of sunshine and roses; instead they very often contain periods of darkness and clear eyed realism. South of Broad follows Leopold Bloom King and several of his friends through their initial meeting in High School during the very racial charged 1960s, through the first days of the 1990s. True to the s...more
"I'll admit it; I've never watched or read The Prince of Tides. I didn't know who Pat Conroy was when I received this ARC from Doubleday. The book sounded interesting, so I requested a copy. I didn't know what to expect, and therefore, I probably have a different opinion than someone who is a huge fan of his work.[return][return]Since I didn't know what to expect, what I found was simply amazing. I completely fell in love with Mr. Conroy's descriptions of Charleston. It brought the city to ...more
Pat, Pat, is there any perversion you didn't visit in this book? Now I was with you on the Catholic issues, and murder was not out of the question, but the sicko father and the horrible scenes in the Tenderloin district moved into overwrought and in need of editing. Where was Nan on this manuscript? I agree with Kate that the Toad hardly seems like a kid, rather he sounds exactly like the 60 (?) year old author.
I would have given this book 5 stars for the amazing writing if it hadn't deg...more
I would have given this book 5 stars for the amazing writing if it hadn't deg...more
Good grief, Pat Conroy. This is the weepiest, most melodramatic thing I've ever had the pelasure of laughing my way through at an airport. The series of events and cast of characters is so hyperbolically implausible that by the time you're in an AIDS flophouse in San Fransisco, you're not even surprised that the zany home-town kids run into an old pal and now drug dealer.
Spoiler-alert for the hilariously over-blown plot points: Leo's mom was a nun and now spouts James Joyce like it's ...more
Spoiler-alert for the hilariously over-blown plot points: Leo's mom was a nun and now spouts James Joyce like it's ...more
After a fourteen year hiatus, author Pat Conroy is back with a long awaited novel, "South of Broad." His last novel "Beach Music" was quite good, as is this latest offering. However, to my mind, nothing beats Conroy's "Prince of Tides," and the "Great Santini," although "South of Broad" comes close. There are similarities in all Conroy's novels - his characters, their lives, dilemmas, and the author's obvious love for the American South. The comm...more
I liked the general story & the main character of this book very much. But it all could have been toned down a LOT. Seriously??? This book is sooo full of cliches its ridiculous. Lets see: interracial relationships during the 60s, homosexuality, the abused starlet, the alcoholic mother, the child that yearns for parental approval, the high school senior year that changes lives, unrequited love, a crazy maniac, a rag tag football team forced to come together & rise above the competition, seve...more
South of Broad has a lot of elements of a great story. Make that a lot of elements from too many great stories, already written (including some of his own). Leo's mother is The Great Santini: successful and combative, both admirable and unlovable. South of Broad regurgitates several themes from The Prince of Tides, including the twin dynamic, rape, death of a sibling, suicidal tendencies, and therapy. Leo's fair and kind character borrows liberally from Will in The Lords of Discipline, whil...more
Another reviewer put it best - Pat Conroy at 10% of his best is better than most writers' 99%. It is difficult not to be moved by how this man uses language, and the oft-repeated idea that this book is a "love letter to Charleston, SC" is accurate. I enjoyed the book and loved the characters, but I admit to having the sensation of things being a little off in terms of the dialogue and the plot's more implausible moments. But it's fiction, right?
My moments of greatest ple...more
My moments of greatest ple...more
This is the first Conroy I have read. When I first started the novel, I could not believe the flowery prose, but I thought okay, I guess this is Conroy flipping everyone the bird and showing that he can write whatever he wants and it will get published. Then as more and more characters were introduced, each one more melodramatic, tragic, and completely unbelievable than the last, I started to feel outraged that this thing was printed even though it wouldn't survive a single pass through a beginn...more
This book is a retelling of life with the Great Santini as revamped and transformed in Sister Mary Norbert. The reversed parental roles are similar, the timeline again starts in the 1960s, and a South Carolina city serves as the location. Where former marine Bull Meecham brought military discipline into his family, the former nun Lisa King rules with religious sternness. Ben Meecham is translated into the narrator Leo “Toad” King, who endures parental disappointments, teenage angst, personal ...more
Read Michael Sugerman's review in the reviews. He is so right on in his assessment. Was this book written by THE Pat Conroy of The Great Santini, Lords of Discipline and Prince of Tides fame? This book is like a caricature of a Pat Conroy novel - if it was a movie it would be filled with overacting. Some of the events are so unbelievable I actually fact-checked them! Leo could not have jumped into his Chrysler LeBaron in 1969 - the first LeBaron was introduced in 1977. He was arrested at a party...more
Pat Conroy’s South of Broad, a long awaited novel by his fans, is the story of teenager Leopold “Leo” Bloom King, a friendless boy with lots of things stacked against him. His perfect younger brother is dead, he has a history of mental problems, a mother who venerates James Joyce and is the principal of his high school, and above all, no friends.
Making his first real friends and how these relationships become part of his future is set against the backdrop of Charleston, South Carolina ...more
Making his first real friends and how these relationships become part of his future is set against the backdrop of Charleston, South Carolina ...more
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I like to be the first of my friends to read a book, but it is a gamble that I will get something I cannot wholeheartedly recommend. The last paragraph on page 510 is the theme of the story in a nutshell and shows off the talent of Pat Conroy for the English language: "Trevor is flying out in the morning for San Francisco, his future uncertain. But so is mine, and so are the fates of the children who play in the yard below. We have been touched by the fury of storms and the wrath of an angr...more
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Started at ten pm finished this last night or technically at one am this morning and it's still filtering through. The novel is set in Charleston and is a love letter to the city, among other things. The main character is Leopold Bloom King also called the Toad for his thick glasses and bug eyes. He's not very good-looking and has been scarred for life by finding his ten-year-old older brother dead in the bathtub of an apparent a suicide.
The novel starts in the summer before Leo's seni...more
The novel starts in the summer before Leo's seni...more
South of Broad
Pat Conroy
Book Review
Brief Synopsis:
South of Broad centers on a gossip columnist, Leopold Bloom King, as he narrates the story about his childhood home (Charleston, SC) and tells the tale of his family and friends in the late 1960's and the late 1980's. As a young adult, he befriends a variety of people—a black football coach's son, a brother and sister of a Charleston aristocrat, orphans who lived in the Appalachian Mountains, and a pair o...more
Pat Conroy
Book Review
Brief Synopsis:
South of Broad centers on a gossip columnist, Leopold Bloom King, as he narrates the story about his childhood home (Charleston, SC) and tells the tale of his family and friends in the late 1960's and the late 1980's. As a young adult, he befriends a variety of people—a black football coach's son, a brother and sister of a Charleston aristocrat, orphans who lived in the Appalachian Mountains, and a pair o...more
This came recommended by family in Richmond, Virginia. We're all suckers for Pat Conroy's fiction. While I enjoy his books, I've never put him in the same category as Walker Percy, with whom he's compared inexplicably on Wikipedia. Conroy's fiction is more raw (some might say ham-handed), but more ready-for-Hollywood because it's filled with redemption and closure. He lights up his southern characters with nobility, sentimentality, cavalier manners and conversational banter that make all of us...more
I enjoyed the plot in this book, but at times Conroy's writing style is so thick with metaphor that it's entirely unclear what he is talking about - metaphors within metaphors, mixed metaphors, the whole shebang. I was constantly asking myself, "Now, what is it he's actually talking about?" The book, unfortunately, starts off very slowly, because the prologue is just one long extended metaphor alluding to the main character's tumultuous family history and inner emotional life. I alm...more
Mr. Conroy writes beautifully, and describes feelings and the idiosyncrasies of his characters with great accuracy. His wise-cracking dialogue has great comedic value, but sometimes borders on the edge of being too cute. Nevertheless, I read it with great pleasure, and laughed out loud several times. I had the feeling I was reading literature, and not just some thriller by Baldacci. But by the same token, I felt as if there were no plot, and I was missing same. But then Conroy introduced ...more
After reading South of Broad by Pat Conroy, it is truly impossible not to fall in love with the city of Charleston, South Carolina where the novel takes place. Who knew the city could be so healing, so, magical, so spiritual? While I’ve never been there, I plan to visit as soon as possible.
This book is an excellent read. Conroy interweavers the most sensitive, intimate and tragic pieces of the human experience through the lives of a handful of people that have become unlikely but lif...more
This book is an excellent read. Conroy interweavers the most sensitive, intimate and tragic pieces of the human experience through the lives of a handful of people that have become unlikely but lif...more
Boy can this man turn a phrase. While the characters might be somewhat unbelievable, Pat Conroy noted in an interview I heard that one doesn't have to go too far in one's on family to find such unbelievable characters. And he's right.
This fast-moving, gritty yet graceful novel transported me into lives that were rich in so many essential aspects: love, conflict, dilemmas and hope. Ten days after finishing this book, I still can see the characters in my mind and miss spending time with...more
This fast-moving, gritty yet graceful novel transported me into lives that were rich in so many essential aspects: love, conflict, dilemmas and hope. Ten days after finishing this book, I still can see the characters in my mind and miss spending time with...more
I had forgotten what a wonderful writer Pat Conroy is. The last book I had read by him was Beach Music and so it was a renewed pleasure to read South of Broad.
Mr. Conroy has a gift of weaving a story in such a way that draws you in with the first written words and holds you captive until the very end.
South of Broad tells the story of a group of friends from a mixture of backgrounds and their journey through adulthood, children, and the death of their own.
Leop...more
Mr. Conroy has a gift of weaving a story in such a way that draws you in with the first written words and holds you captive until the very end.
South of Broad tells the story of a group of friends from a mixture of backgrounds and their journey through adulthood, children, and the death of their own.
Leop...more
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| To savoir every morsel. | 31 | 88 | Oct 28, 2011 03:40am |
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The first of seven children born into a military family, Pat Conroy was the victim of his father’s violence and abuse from a young age. The family moved constantly during his youth. After attending The Citadel, a military college in Charleston, South Carolina, Conroy wrote and published his first book, The Boo, about a legendary school administrator.
Conroy became a teacher after graduation, ...more
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