I've read Beach Music twice. After the first reading, 15 years ago, I decided it was one of the best books I'd ever read. Now, in 2010, I finally re-read it and came to the exact same conclusion. It is simply a brilliant, complex work that few writers other than Pat Conroy would even attempt to pull off.

Those who don't like the book usually focus on its length (nearly 800 pages), and what they call the "indistinguishable" brothers. When it comes to book length, my view is that a bad book at 50 pages is too long, but a good book at 1000 pages is a treasure. Length should not matter unless the book is clogged with irrelevant details or story lines. Beach Music isn't. As for the indistinguishable brothers, it's not their story--it's Jack's story. Yes, Conroy could have made Dallas, Dupree and Tee have more quirks, but who cares? The book is utterly rich with wonderful, memorable characters--Jack, Shyla, Lucy, Jordan, George and Ruth Fox, Max Rusoff, Capers, Leah and more.

I have read hundreds of fictional accounts of Holocaust experiences, but none as powerful as George Fox's story. The way Conroy has Fox tell it to Jack in one long uninterrupted monologue is riveting.

Finally, Conroy's evocation of the impact of the Vietnam War on college campuses (and Jack and his friends) at the turn of the 70's is not only hauntingly accurate with its instant radicals and infiltrating cops, it is the hub around which the entire brilliant narrative turns.

All Conroy's books are masterpieces. Beach Music deserves pride of place among them. In my opinion, it and South of Broad are his finest achievements.