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The Great Santini
Pat Conroy’s New York Times –bestselling coming-of-age novel about a son’s struggle to escape the domineering expectations of his volatile military father
Marine Col. Bull Meecham commands his home like a soldiers’ barracks. Cold and controlling, but also loving, Bull has complicated relationships with each member of his family—in particular, his eldest son, Ben.
A born athlete who desperately seeks his father’s approval, Ben is determined to break out from the colonel’s shadow. With guidance from teachers at his new school, he strives to find the courage to stand up to his father once and for all.
Inspired by Pat Conroy’s own difficult relationship with his father, The Great Santini is a captivating and unflinching portrayal of modern family, and a moving novel of a son determined to become his own man.
Marine Col. Bull Meecham commands his home like a soldiers’ barracks. Cold and controlling, but also loving, Bull has complicated relationships with each member of his family—in particular, his eldest son, Ben.
A born athlete who desperately seeks his father’s approval, Ben is determined to break out from the colonel’s shadow. With guidance from teachers at his new school, he strives to find the courage to stand up to his father once and for all.
Inspired by Pat Conroy’s own difficult relationship with his father, The Great Santini is a captivating and unflinching portrayal of modern family, and a moving novel of a son determined to become his own man.
514 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1976
1630 people are currently reading
14135 people want to read
About the author
Pat Conroy
83 books4,158 followersPat Conroy (1945 - 2016) was 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. He is recognized as a leading figure of late-20th century Southern literature.
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) before publishing his first novel, The Boo. Conroy lived on Fripp Island, South Carolina until his death in 2016.
Conroy passed away on March 4, 2016 at his home from Pancreatic Cancer. He was 70 years old at the time of his death.
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) before publishing his first novel, The Boo. Conroy lived on Fripp Island, South Carolina until his death in 2016.
Conroy passed away on March 4, 2016 at his home from Pancreatic Cancer. He was 70 years old at the time of his death.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,558 reviews
October 31, 2023
Buckle up sports fans this might be a rough one. I think this might be my last Pat Conroy novel. Our run together although short has come to an end. We started strong with The Prince of Tides, an absolute classic that I loved. The Lords of Discipline was a small step down from The Prince of Tides, but nonetheless still a great book. So going into my third Conroy novel I had high hopes. Unbeknownst to me, The Great Santini was a sharp descent and a crash into jagged rocks when compared to The Prince of Tides. I realize they can't all be winners, and I realize that this was an autobiographical depiction of Conroy's childhood, and I realize that writers write about what they know, but can we not step away from the abusive southern father for one book? Conroy seems to have made a career off one idea. You can only spin the abused Southern family so many times before it gets old.
This was not an enjoyable read. The characters were shallow. The dialog was abrasive. The story wandered off a lot for no apparent reason. Everything about it was a slog. Send it back to editing, get it down to 300 pages, smooth out the dialog a little, and you might have a decent enough book.
Just my opinion. Go read Conroy's "The Prince of Tides. "
This was not an enjoyable read. The characters were shallow. The dialog was abrasive. The story wandered off a lot for no apparent reason. Everything about it was a slog. Send it back to editing, get it down to 300 pages, smooth out the dialog a little, and you might have a decent enough book.
Just my opinion. Go read Conroy's "The Prince of Tides. "
July 20, 2007
Pat Conroy is one of those writers who can write only one story (John Irving and Amy Tan come to mind, as well). Conroy seems obsessed with the idea of a Southern family trying to navigate the high school experiences of a sensitive son and a smartass daughter. Again there is the angry, abusive father and the rather ineffective mother who is mostly concerned about what the neighbors think. Again there are themes of forgiveness and redemption and racial tension. Again someone gets raped. Again there are pages of descriptions of high school sports.
What's different about this novel is that there are a lot of plot points that are dropped and never picked up again. What happens after the girl is raped? Why should the reader care about the high school basketball tryouts? A thorough editing and pruning would make for a much shorter book, but one that is cleaner and much more fluid. The action is too bogged down by these tangential subplots.
That said, Conroy's descriptions are amazing, as in other books he's written. However, I'd start with The Prince of Tides and not this one.
What's different about this novel is that there are a lot of plot points that are dropped and never picked up again. What happens after the girl is raped? Why should the reader care about the high school basketball tryouts? A thorough editing and pruning would make for a much shorter book, but one that is cleaner and much more fluid. The action is too bogged down by these tangential subplots.
That said, Conroy's descriptions are amazing, as in other books he's written. However, I'd start with The Prince of Tides and not this one.
March 8, 2023
There's something about these old re-reads that gets me. It might be that so many of the recent books that I have read don't have the power to rope me in and then rip me up a bit. This is not the best book ever, but it has a power that is lacking in so much of recent writing. This was moving, funny, emotional and irritating, all in one package. Works for me.
#Goodreads Giveaway
#Goodreads Giveaway
March 9, 2020
Re-read this with On the Southern Literary Trail. The difference from reading this as a young woman with family in the military, and then as an older woman after serving in the Navy as an officer and also being married to a Naval officer and raising kids both while on active duty for 12 years & as a "dependent" wife overseas gave me so many different perspectives. I went through training, I served with Marines, I went to chief's initiations, officer happy hours, Mess Dinners, Navy & Marine Corps birthday balls, and so forth. I stood watch, I raised kids alone while husband was deployed both as an officer and later as a Navy "dependent" wife. Packed the car and moved from place-to-place, 18 times. Met more than a few "Great Santinis", watched the one-on-one scenario acted out with daughter of fellow officer, she whipped her dad & suffered verbal abuse. Many military men are not good sports, competition is life or death to them. Many people wonder if Conroy exaggerated. Maybe. But I doubt he needed to resort to much hyperbole, there are plenty of outrageous egos and stories that are authentic. I found myself in uncomfortably familiar territory, brought back so many memories. Serving as a female officer was no walk in the park, either. Sexual harassment was ingrained, and varied from annoying to dangerous. A lot of senior officers saw women as entertainment or breeders, and it took a lot of effort to get recognized for doing a good job. One's bosom became cocktail hour conversation, and there were few good choices as to ways to shut such comments down without paying for them later. That being said, I served proudly and still love the USN. The military is a concentrated microcosm of greater society, and just as we are not a post-racist country, we are also not a post-feminist one. We keep fighting the same battles. Bull recognized himself as dinosaur within a changing military, but knew he could not change, and so embraced himself as The Great Santini. This book captures slices of our culture, and is a classic. Very highly recommended.
April 15, 2021
I cannot remember ever bailing on a book after putting in 265 pages and making 56%. I would have certainly stopped sooner had it not been Pat Conroy and a group read. I regret to say, this book is garbage. I kept waiting for the good writing and meaningful story to kick in, but it did not.
I have loved Conroy. The Prince of Tides, The Water is Wide and Beach Music were all fine reads for me; I am totally happy I did not start with Santini, or I would never have gotten to those. This book is meant to be autobiographical, and I am closing it with admiration for Conroy if this is truly what he rose above. If I have ever encountered a less appealing, more appalling character than Bull Meecham, I cannot remember where it was. But it goes beyond that...I feel not the least bit of anything for a single one of these people, not Bull, not Lillian, and not any of the children, least of all the smart ass, Mary Anne, or pitiful "golden boy", Ben.
The book contains non-stop, pervasive vulgar language and coarse behavior. I do not think this is typical of Marines. I worked with military men for quite a long time, and I found officers were indeed gentlemen, and if this kind of language or attitude was common, it must have been reserved for times when no women were present, because it was never on display before us. I would find it very sad to think Bull Meecham typified our Marines.
In defense of myself, here is a sample of the kind of paragraphs that are repeated time and again, page after page:
So the Krauts fried a couple of Jews. Big deal. It was war. We fried Germans in Berlin and Dresden. We fried Japs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki and I mean, sportsfans, we done fried ‘em like eggs there, no pootin’ around. In every war someone gets fried. The Jews got it from the Krauts. In war, there ain’t no morals. There are just winners, losers, and those that got their asses fried sunny side up.”
I do not find this to be clever writing and I believe there is only so much needed to illuminate how disgusting your main character is before we all get the idea.
”You have four fine children.”
“I want the boys to become good soldiers and the girls to be fine pieces of tail for their husbands.”
No father who would say that about his daughters deserves to be read about. I’m out.
I have loved Conroy. The Prince of Tides, The Water is Wide and Beach Music were all fine reads for me; I am totally happy I did not start with Santini, or I would never have gotten to those. This book is meant to be autobiographical, and I am closing it with admiration for Conroy if this is truly what he rose above. If I have ever encountered a less appealing, more appalling character than Bull Meecham, I cannot remember where it was. But it goes beyond that...I feel not the least bit of anything for a single one of these people, not Bull, not Lillian, and not any of the children, least of all the smart ass, Mary Anne, or pitiful "golden boy", Ben.
The book contains non-stop, pervasive vulgar language and coarse behavior. I do not think this is typical of Marines. I worked with military men for quite a long time, and I found officers were indeed gentlemen, and if this kind of language or attitude was common, it must have been reserved for times when no women were present, because it was never on display before us. I would find it very sad to think Bull Meecham typified our Marines.
In defense of myself, here is a sample of the kind of paragraphs that are repeated time and again, page after page:
So the Krauts fried a couple of Jews. Big deal. It was war. We fried Germans in Berlin and Dresden. We fried Japs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki and I mean, sportsfans, we done fried ‘em like eggs there, no pootin’ around. In every war someone gets fried. The Jews got it from the Krauts. In war, there ain’t no morals. There are just winners, losers, and those that got their asses fried sunny side up.”
I do not find this to be clever writing and I believe there is only so much needed to illuminate how disgusting your main character is before we all get the idea.
”You have four fine children.”
“I want the boys to become good soldiers and the girls to be fine pieces of tail for their husbands.”
No father who would say that about his daughters deserves to be read about. I’m out.
February 12, 2021
Another semi-autobiographical book,by Pat Conroy. "The Great Santini" is Marine fighter pilot,"Bull Meecham". He is modeled on Pat Conroy's own,hard to please father. Meecham's son,Ben,constantly struggles to win his father's approval and never succeeds.
The book doesn't start off too well. The dialogue is pretty coarse,and vulgar. There is relatively little by way of a story,for hundreds of pages.
A military family moves to a new posting.As a family,they are pretty dysfunctional.The long suffering mother tries to keep it all together.The overbearing,domineering father is never happy with his son,even though he is a born athlete.
But then,in the last hundred pages or so,it comes alive,and then builds to a powerful,emotional climax. That makes up for the slow pace in the rest of the book.
By writing this book,Pat Conroy further strained his relations with his real father. This book also became a movie,one I'd like to see but haven't found.
In real life,there is a happy ending to this story.Pat Conroy and his father finally reconciled,after all the acrimony.
Ironically,however,Pat Conroy used his mother's last illness in another of his books,Beach Music.That was just what his mother was afraid of !
The book doesn't start off too well. The dialogue is pretty coarse,and vulgar. There is relatively little by way of a story,for hundreds of pages.
A military family moves to a new posting.As a family,they are pretty dysfunctional.The long suffering mother tries to keep it all together.The overbearing,domineering father is never happy with his son,even though he is a born athlete.
But then,in the last hundred pages or so,it comes alive,and then builds to a powerful,emotional climax. That makes up for the slow pace in the rest of the book.
By writing this book,Pat Conroy further strained his relations with his real father. This book also became a movie,one I'd like to see but haven't found.
In real life,there is a happy ending to this story.Pat Conroy and his father finally reconciled,after all the acrimony.
Ironically,however,Pat Conroy used his mother's last illness in another of his books,Beach Music.That was just what his mother was afraid of !
June 15, 2017
I’ll say upfront that The Great Santini holds the title for the best book I’ve read this year and has a very good chance of retaining that title all year.
Santini is the late Pat Conroy's first novel and he always claimed that it is largely autobiographical. In fact, in his penultimate book, The Death of Santini: The Story of a Father and His Son, Conroy describes his actual life with his family and his father, Marine fighter pilot Col. Don Conroy, the original Great Santini. This nickname even appears on his military gravestone at the National Cemetery in Beaufort, South Carolina.
I usually read two books at one time, one text and one audio and often make sure the books are of different genres so that I don’t mix them up in my head. This time, though, I read The Great Santini while listening to the audio version of The Death of Santini. The experience was a bit confusing but overall it was fascinating. It reminded me of “Ghosts of History” a website where images of soldiers from past wars are superimposed over recent photograph of the same location. It also showed me how actual people from Pat’s life became characters in his novels. Bernie Schein, Conroy’s best friend from high school can be none other than Sammy Wertzberger in Santini.
Bottom Line: This is a great novel and its greatness comes from the author’s ability to write what he knows. Ernest Hemingway once said “There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.” Conroy clearly took this advice to heart. Don't miss this one.
Santini is the late Pat Conroy's first novel and he always claimed that it is largely autobiographical. In fact, in his penultimate book, The Death of Santini: The Story of a Father and His Son, Conroy describes his actual life with his family and his father, Marine fighter pilot Col. Don Conroy, the original Great Santini. This nickname even appears on his military gravestone at the National Cemetery in Beaufort, South Carolina.
I usually read two books at one time, one text and one audio and often make sure the books are of different genres so that I don’t mix them up in my head. This time, though, I read The Great Santini while listening to the audio version of The Death of Santini. The experience was a bit confusing but overall it was fascinating. It reminded me of “Ghosts of History” a website where images of soldiers from past wars are superimposed over recent photograph of the same location. It also showed me how actual people from Pat’s life became characters in his novels. Bernie Schein, Conroy’s best friend from high school can be none other than Sammy Wertzberger in Santini.
Bottom Line: This is a great novel and its greatness comes from the author’s ability to write what he knows. Ernest Hemingway once said “There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.” Conroy clearly took this advice to heart. Don't miss this one.
July 17, 2017
Pat Conroy's thinly disguised autobiographical tale featuring Bull Meecham a hardcore Marine fighter pilot as the domineering and abusive husband and father of an oft relocating military family. The story is told by eldest son Ben, a teenager in the 1950's who is never quite able to appease his father and is often called on to defend his mother Lillian a gentile southern woman who tries to offer up some balance in harsh times. The book is hard to read at times, though Conroy was a master storyteller, who after this wrote The Death of Santini, which is the book billed as his true autobiography. Oddly enough The Great Santini, is dedicated to both his mother Peggy Conroy "grandest of mothers and teachers " and to his father Colonel Donald Conway USMC retired, the "grandest of fathers and marine aviators." June Selection-On the Southern Literary Trail 4 stars
October 30, 2024
I'm on a mission to provide reviews for books I rated previously without a review. The Great Santini is part of that mission.
I had high hopes for The Great Santini. You see, I was the daughter of a career Marine. We lived a life very similar to the family in this book. We moved from base to base across the country every few years. Our family was kind of run like a mini-marine squadron. My brother and I knew what was expected of us, and we knew the consequences if we didn't live up to those expectations.
A memory flashed back to me of my mom watching a movie on TV that ended up being an adaptation of this book. Of course, the book is always better than the movie, right? So I had to read the book.
I don't remember much from the movie, so I don't know if it really is better than the book, but it almost has to be! The book lacked any discernable direction! I felt like I was a fly on the wall of this family's house watching a miserable existence by all. Sure, military family life is rough. But my memory of it isn't this brutal 24/7/365. I had a lot of bright spots in my childhood. I loved the air shows. I was so proud of my dad when I saw him dressed up in his Dress Blues. My heart is still filled with pride when the Marine Corps birthday rolls around every year.
So, yeah. I wasn't impressed with The Great Santini. I might try The Prince of Tides. I bought it the same day I bought The Great Santini, sure I'd love it and want to read more from Pat Conroy. But I've put The Prince of Tides on hold for a while. The Great Santini gets 2 stars from me.
I had high hopes for The Great Santini. You see, I was the daughter of a career Marine. We lived a life very similar to the family in this book. We moved from base to base across the country every few years. Our family was kind of run like a mini-marine squadron. My brother and I knew what was expected of us, and we knew the consequences if we didn't live up to those expectations.
A memory flashed back to me of my mom watching a movie on TV that ended up being an adaptation of this book. Of course, the book is always better than the movie, right? So I had to read the book.
I don't remember much from the movie, so I don't know if it really is better than the book, but it almost has to be! The book lacked any discernable direction! I felt like I was a fly on the wall of this family's house watching a miserable existence by all. Sure, military family life is rough. But my memory of it isn't this brutal 24/7/365. I had a lot of bright spots in my childhood. I loved the air shows. I was so proud of my dad when I saw him dressed up in his Dress Blues. My heart is still filled with pride when the Marine Corps birthday rolls around every year.
So, yeah. I wasn't impressed with The Great Santini. I might try The Prince of Tides. I bought it the same day I bought The Great Santini, sure I'd love it and want to read more from Pat Conroy. But I've put The Prince of Tides on hold for a while. The Great Santini gets 2 stars from me.
July 14, 2007
Of all the Conroys I've read so far, this is my least favorite. The book jacket describes Bull Meacham as someone you should hate but will wind up loving, anyway - but that was not my experience. I found very little loveable about
"The Great Santini". The thing that amazed me was how brave his family was on those occasions when they stood up to him. While I don't doubt he loved his family, and maybe was even proud of them in a way, he was domineering and controlling and sometimes downright cruel in his dealings with them.
"The Great Santini". The thing that amazed me was how brave his family was on those occasions when they stood up to him. While I don't doubt he loved his family, and maybe was even proud of them in a way, he was domineering and controlling and sometimes downright cruel in his dealings with them.
May 2, 2021
This semi-fictional story is Pat Conroy's time growing up in Beaufort, South Carolina. I say "semi-fictional" because he transposed much of his life during that time (as a teenager) into the story's main character, Ben Meechum. It is a story of frustration, abuse, confusion, loyalty, and the hard road of growing up in a dysfunctional family. I enjoyed this book over the Prince of Tides, but not as much as The Lords of Discipline!
January 23, 2008
The story of Bull Meecham, a Marine pilot, and his complex relationships with family and The Corps.
Pat Conroy is an amazing writer. The Houston Chronicle is quoted on the back of my book as saying "Reading Pat Conroy is like watching Michelangelo paint the Sistine Chapel," and I don't think I could articulate the experience any better. I laughed until tears ran down my face and in the same chapter I cried for the sheer pain the characters experienced.
The Great Santini is Bull Meecham. And throughout the novel I felt the same overwhelming conflict that his children did - an intense hatred coupled with admiration and love. This wouldn't have been possible for me without the amazing character craftmanship that Conroy displays. All of the characters have so many layers, so many dimensions - exactly like real human beings.
And his depiction of the South - amazing. He illustrates the town with the use of a small cafe and the men who frequent it every morning, with a school and the various types of students and teachers inside, with a Marine base and the constant competition present there.
His theme comes through in events, converstations, metaphors. And the reader experiences the theme - the theme of confusion. We're trained and conditioned to think, act, believe a certain way, but so often life and nature complicate that "way."
I LOVED this book.
Pat Conroy is an amazing writer. The Houston Chronicle is quoted on the back of my book as saying "Reading Pat Conroy is like watching Michelangelo paint the Sistine Chapel," and I don't think I could articulate the experience any better. I laughed until tears ran down my face and in the same chapter I cried for the sheer pain the characters experienced.
The Great Santini is Bull Meecham. And throughout the novel I felt the same overwhelming conflict that his children did - an intense hatred coupled with admiration and love. This wouldn't have been possible for me without the amazing character craftmanship that Conroy displays. All of the characters have so many layers, so many dimensions - exactly like real human beings.
And his depiction of the South - amazing. He illustrates the town with the use of a small cafe and the men who frequent it every morning, with a school and the various types of students and teachers inside, with a Marine base and the constant competition present there.
His theme comes through in events, converstations, metaphors. And the reader experiences the theme - the theme of confusion. We're trained and conditioned to think, act, believe a certain way, but so often life and nature complicate that "way."
I LOVED this book.
December 18, 2015
Description: Step into the powerhouse life of Bull Meecham. He’s all Marine—fighter pilot, king of the clouds, and absolute ruler of his family. Lillian is his wife—beautiful, southern-bred, with a core of velvet steel. Without her cool head, her kids would be in real trouble. Ben is the oldest, a born athlete whose best never satisfies the big man. Ben’s got to stand up, even fight back, against a father who doesn’t give in—not to his men, not to his wife, and certainly not to his son. Bull Meecham is undoubtedly Pat Conroy’s most explosive character—a man you should hate, but a man you will love.
Opening: In the Cordova Hotel, near the docks of Barcelona, fourteen Marine Corps fighter pilots from the aircraft carrier Forrestal were throwing an ostreperously spirited going away party for Lieutenant Colonel Bull Meecham, the executive officer of their carrier based squadron.
The bickering kids, affected mother, and gross 'Bull' arrive in Ravenel - I do not care for a single one of them. However, am assured by the description that Meecham will become a man I will love."One of your problems, Bull,
Is that your whole life is one
long St. Crispin's Day speech."
- page 78
Too many awful things resonate. I understand that this is semi-biographical from Conroy's point of view and the mother in denial is more than I can take. Feckless procrastination right there.
The film is in the projector for when I feel ready.
I will state that the writing was superb.
3.5* The Prince of Tides
3* The Great Santini
January 30, 2021
The Great Santini is perhaps Pat Conroy’s second most famous novel after Prince of Tides.
This is a well written but disturbing book due to the mental and physical cruelty inflicted by the Great Santini. It is also nuanced in a genuine way with occasional love mixed with the hate. Not so different in that regard from millions of American families. The Great Santini, as Pat Conroy admits, is largely drawn from his own father who was a Marine colonel and highly decorated aviator in WWII and Vietnam. The young protagonist Ben, who is a budding basketball star, is based on Pat Conroy himself. Novels don’t get any more autobiographical than this one.
So there are lots of reasons to read this book but here are a few reasons this book did not merit 5 stars.
1. Conroy gets carried away with extraneous threads that have little follow through - such as when a girl and friend of Ben was raped and the thread was quickly dropped. While the dialogue throughout these threads is crisp and believable, the story construction is not so tight.
2. Racism. None of the African American characters are portrayed in a positive light. Because this novel is autobiographical, it is entirely likely that these were views from his own childhood where the use of the N word was common.
3. This book rides almost entirely on character development and emotion - both of which Conroy masterfully succeeds with. But the plot is not so strong.
4 stars. I really enjoy Pat Conroy’s writing and consider two of his other works - Prince of Tides and Lords of Discipline - to be amongst my favorite books. This book was not quite at that level for me and it covered some of the same recurring themes about abusive men and authority figures. But the Great Santini character - well if nothing else - is certainly memorable.
This is a well written but disturbing book due to the mental and physical cruelty inflicted by the Great Santini. It is also nuanced in a genuine way with occasional love mixed with the hate. Not so different in that regard from millions of American families. The Great Santini, as Pat Conroy admits, is largely drawn from his own father who was a Marine colonel and highly decorated aviator in WWII and Vietnam. The young protagonist Ben, who is a budding basketball star, is based on Pat Conroy himself. Novels don’t get any more autobiographical than this one.
So there are lots of reasons to read this book but here are a few reasons this book did not merit 5 stars.
1. Conroy gets carried away with extraneous threads that have little follow through - such as when a girl and friend of Ben was raped and the thread was quickly dropped. While the dialogue throughout these threads is crisp and believable, the story construction is not so tight.
2. Racism. None of the African American characters are portrayed in a positive light. Because this novel is autobiographical, it is entirely likely that these were views from his own childhood where the use of the N word was common.
3. This book rides almost entirely on character development and emotion - both of which Conroy masterfully succeeds with. But the plot is not so strong.
4 stars. I really enjoy Pat Conroy’s writing and consider two of his other works - Prince of Tides and Lords of Discipline - to be amongst my favorite books. This book was not quite at that level for me and it covered some of the same recurring themes about abusive men and authority figures. But the Great Santini character - well if nothing else - is certainly memorable.
October 10, 2024
What is it about Pat Conroy’s ability to mix these heavy books with humor that’s so appealing to me? I just love his books. Well-written per usual.
September 11, 2012
I enjoyed this unevenly crafted coming of age tale of growing up in the south in the 60's. On one level this is an examination of one family's struggle to love a "hard to love" father who never learned to show the love he so obviously had for his children. On another level, I think that this book is just Pat Conroy's way of making some money off the therapy work he so obviously needed.
In the early chapters its made clear why this maverick fighter pilot is hated but as the story continues, and despite the man's unchanging nature, the reader's perception changes; until, by the end, you do understand the love his children bear him. It might be Stockholm syndrome, it might be genetics and the biological imperative, it might just be conforming to outsiders expectations.
Whatever it is, the book is a continually interesting read that gives a portait of a period in time that is now gone and a type of individual that is rare today.
Fighter pilots, (like surgeons) are professional that require a different than normal mind-set in order to be excellent at what they do. Their different style of thinking is something that most others will never be comfortable with but when the chips are down, these are people that we need. The real tragedy in the Bull Meecham story, apart from the damage that this type of personality has on his family, is that Bull never really saw much combat in later life. He was a rare type of individual that sacrificed much to become what he was at a time when he was never called upon to fully BE what he became.
In my opening I mentioned that this book was unevenly crafted. How else can one explain the usage of such words as: obstreperously (noisy, clamorous, or boisterous), cuglion (stupid, cattle headed fellow), grizzle-demundy (stupid person - always grinning), slubberdegullion (a slobbering or dirty fellow, a worthless sloven) and the somewhat overobvious, somewhat uninspired sentence "Ben Meechum awoke fully awake."
In the early chapters its made clear why this maverick fighter pilot is hated but as the story continues, and despite the man's unchanging nature, the reader's perception changes; until, by the end, you do understand the love his children bear him. It might be Stockholm syndrome, it might be genetics and the biological imperative, it might just be conforming to outsiders expectations.
Whatever it is, the book is a continually interesting read that gives a portait of a period in time that is now gone and a type of individual that is rare today.
Fighter pilots, (like surgeons) are professional that require a different than normal mind-set in order to be excellent at what they do. Their different style of thinking is something that most others will never be comfortable with but when the chips are down, these are people that we need. The real tragedy in the Bull Meecham story, apart from the damage that this type of personality has on his family, is that Bull never really saw much combat in later life. He was a rare type of individual that sacrificed much to become what he was at a time when he was never called upon to fully BE what he became.
In my opening I mentioned that this book was unevenly crafted. How else can one explain the usage of such words as: obstreperously (noisy, clamorous, or boisterous), cuglion (stupid, cattle headed fellow), grizzle-demundy (stupid person - always grinning), slubberdegullion (a slobbering or dirty fellow, a worthless sloven) and the somewhat overobvious, somewhat uninspired sentence "Ben Meechum awoke fully awake."
May 23, 2025
3.5⭐️
Pat Conroy is a beautiful writer, there is no question. And when I read The Prince of Tides I was just absolutely swept up by the absolute beauty of the landscape, the heartbreak of the story and the deep hope I had for the children in that story. That books was incredibly impactful.
This book, The Great Santini, has some of those same qualities but it never really got there for me in the same way. This book is about a family of 6 who lives basically under the iron fist of their father, Bull, who every year ships them all to a new location due to his career as a marine pilot. Bull is completely overbearing and demanding and controlling. I’ve heard Pat wrote this character based on his father and maybe because it was his dad he was trying to describe, he had a soft spot in his heart for that character, but I just couldn’t bring myself to like or root for him. I really had to fight to find any redeeming qualities about Bull Meecham.
The book also largely follows Bulls oldest son, Ben, and in that regard the book is a coming of age story as we navigate Ben’s journey into adulthood, his friends, his dating life, and how he navigates this extremely complicated relationship with his father.
The book felt a little long for me especially considering I never found myself getting behind Bull… but Conroy is a masterful storyteller and does so well to write about family dynamics and the difficulties we all face in our own lives.
Pat Conroy is a beautiful writer, there is no question. And when I read The Prince of Tides I was just absolutely swept up by the absolute beauty of the landscape, the heartbreak of the story and the deep hope I had for the children in that story. That books was incredibly impactful.
This book, The Great Santini, has some of those same qualities but it never really got there for me in the same way. This book is about a family of 6 who lives basically under the iron fist of their father, Bull, who every year ships them all to a new location due to his career as a marine pilot. Bull is completely overbearing and demanding and controlling. I’ve heard Pat wrote this character based on his father and maybe because it was his dad he was trying to describe, he had a soft spot in his heart for that character, but I just couldn’t bring myself to like or root for him. I really had to fight to find any redeeming qualities about Bull Meecham.
The book also largely follows Bulls oldest son, Ben, and in that regard the book is a coming of age story as we navigate Ben’s journey into adulthood, his friends, his dating life, and how he navigates this extremely complicated relationship with his father.
The book felt a little long for me especially considering I never found myself getting behind Bull… but Conroy is a masterful storyteller and does so well to write about family dynamics and the difficulties we all face in our own lives.
July 14, 2019
I’d never paid any attention to Pat Conroy until a few years ago when I read one of my favorite books of all time Gone with the Wind. Conroy wrote the beautiful introduction to that book. My rule with classics, not that I read them as often as I probably should, is to read the introduction after completing the book. Once I finished “Gone with the Wind” and then read Conroy’s introduction, I knew that this would be an author that I would like. In that introduction, he describes his mother reading him “Gone with the Wind” from a very early age. I believe that he was five years or old so, something like that. His mother, a true Southerner, sounded so much, like the mother in “The Great Santini”. This is one of my favorite excerpts from “The Great Santini”, a letter from the mother to her son, Ben, on his birthday:
“'My dear son, my dear Ben, my dear friend who becomes a man today, I want to tell you something’” the letter began. ‘You are my eldest child, the child I have known the longest, the child I have held the longest. I wanted to write you a letter about being a man and what it means to be a man in the fullest sense. I wanted to tell you that gentleness is the quality I have admired the most in men, but then I remembered how gentle you were. So I decided to write something else. I want you to always follow your noblest instincts. I want you to be a force for right and good. I want you to always defend the weak as I have taught you to do. I want you to always be brave and know that whatever you do or wherever you go, you walk with my blessings and my love. Keep your faith in God, your humility, and your sense of humor. Decide what you want from life then let nothing deter you from getting it. I have had many regrets in my life and many sadnesses but I will never regret the night you were born. I thought I knew about love and the boundaries of love until I raised you these past eighteen years. I knew nothing about love. That has been your gift to me. Happy Birthday. Mama.’”
Pat Conroy with his mother, Peg, in 1948
Pat Conroy has a way with storytelling, and this was a powerful read. This book is based on his own life growing up in a military family, with an abusive father. Although there were many painful and difficult scenes, the story dragged a bit in some parts. It was an amazing book, but I didn’t love it as much as others that I have read by him.
A quote that liked:
“Because I saw myself as pretty, I became pretty. If you think you are ugly, you will be ugly, mark my words. I even think depression is caused by thinking about things that depress you. I feel that if you think positively, things will turn out for the better. It’s also a matter of good taste to talk about only happy things.”
“Have you taught me to have good taste, Mama? Is that another trick of the trade I haven’t learned?” Mary Anne said.
“Good taste is not something you can be taught. It’s not something you obtain in a store or go to college to learn. You either have it or you don’t. It is passed down from generation to generation in a straight line, but not everybody in a family gets it. It’s like high cheekbones. Your father will never have good taste and I will never be without it. You could drain every drop of blood from my body and what was left would include my innate good taste.”
The Conroy family in 1965
“'My dear son, my dear Ben, my dear friend who becomes a man today, I want to tell you something’” the letter began. ‘You are my eldest child, the child I have known the longest, the child I have held the longest. I wanted to write you a letter about being a man and what it means to be a man in the fullest sense. I wanted to tell you that gentleness is the quality I have admired the most in men, but then I remembered how gentle you were. So I decided to write something else. I want you to always follow your noblest instincts. I want you to be a force for right and good. I want you to always defend the weak as I have taught you to do. I want you to always be brave and know that whatever you do or wherever you go, you walk with my blessings and my love. Keep your faith in God, your humility, and your sense of humor. Decide what you want from life then let nothing deter you from getting it. I have had many regrets in my life and many sadnesses but I will never regret the night you were born. I thought I knew about love and the boundaries of love until I raised you these past eighteen years. I knew nothing about love. That has been your gift to me. Happy Birthday. Mama.’”
Pat Conroy with his mother, Peg, in 1948
Pat Conroy has a way with storytelling, and this was a powerful read. This book is based on his own life growing up in a military family, with an abusive father. Although there were many painful and difficult scenes, the story dragged a bit in some parts. It was an amazing book, but I didn’t love it as much as others that I have read by him.
A quote that liked:
“Because I saw myself as pretty, I became pretty. If you think you are ugly, you will be ugly, mark my words. I even think depression is caused by thinking about things that depress you. I feel that if you think positively, things will turn out for the better. It’s also a matter of good taste to talk about only happy things.”
“Have you taught me to have good taste, Mama? Is that another trick of the trade I haven’t learned?” Mary Anne said.
“Good taste is not something you can be taught. It’s not something you obtain in a store or go to college to learn. You either have it or you don’t. It is passed down from generation to generation in a straight line, but not everybody in a family gets it. It’s like high cheekbones. Your father will never have good taste and I will never be without it. You could drain every drop of blood from my body and what was left would include my innate good taste.”
The Conroy family in 1965
December 8, 2018
"They love their families with their hearts and souls and they wage war against them to prove it."
Marines - and specifically Bull Meechum, "... the greatest marine fighter pilot to ever crap between two shoes!" - are fierce and loyal, difficult and unpredictable; they rule by fear, demand respect, and inspire admiration. It's not easy to be a marine family, but it is especially difficult to be the family of Bull Meechum, the self-proclaimed Great Santini.
This is really the coming-of-age story of Ben Meechum, eldest son (or should I just call him 'dependent') to Bull, but with the indelible Lt. Col. for a father, it has the feel of being Bull's story. How could it not? The entire family lives in fear of the ferocity of their patriarch - he casts an ominously large shadow, but he is also incredibly complex. His love is just as ferocious as his anger, however.
To understand who Ben is becoming we have to attempt to understand the father that rules over him.
Bull wanted to pass on the gift of fury to his oldest son, a passion to inflict defeat on others, even humiliation.
"In war, there ain't no morals. There are just winners, losers, and those that got their asses fried sunny side up."
This is a book filled with violent emotion and actions, it is a roller coaster ride that is both exhausting and exhilarating in it's own way. The plot seems to hop and skip in concentric circles toward the explosive events that shape lives. This is a frustratingly human story filled with the ugly, the beautiful, and the just plain stupid, but always keeping a certain sense of humor and hope about it.
"If you ever meet a man as truthful as a windsock, you have just met a hell of a man. You've also met a real dumb ass."
There is non-stop sarcasm and banter that the family engages in, sometimes as a form of verbal defense and sometimes just for amusement. This is also something that unites the family, the cutting, disparaging and even threatening repartee. It is entertaining, but at times also annoying and hurtful (oh family).
Things can seem bad under their roof, they can seem out right desperate, they could always be worse and they can also take sudden leaps to heights of gentle loveliness - they will always be Meechums. This is the story of a complicated father-son relationship and also about the type of person you wish to be. By the end of this book I was a little tired of the ride though, if only I had consumed this story a little faster, then perhaps the luster would not have worn off of this particular brass-balled Bull.
Marines - and specifically Bull Meechum, "... the greatest marine fighter pilot to ever crap between two shoes!" - are fierce and loyal, difficult and unpredictable; they rule by fear, demand respect, and inspire admiration. It's not easy to be a marine family, but it is especially difficult to be the family of Bull Meechum, the self-proclaimed Great Santini.
This is really the coming-of-age story of Ben Meechum, eldest son (or should I just call him 'dependent') to Bull, but with the indelible Lt. Col. for a father, it has the feel of being Bull's story. How could it not? The entire family lives in fear of the ferocity of their patriarch - he casts an ominously large shadow, but he is also incredibly complex. His love is just as ferocious as his anger, however.
"I'd like to propose a toast, to my son. He is eighteen today. He has just ordered his first drink. Before he drinks it, I'd like to wish him a long life, a wife as fine as his mother, and a son as fine as he's been. To my son!"
To understand who Ben is becoming we have to attempt to understand the father that rules over him.
Bull wanted to pass on the gift of fury to his oldest son, a passion to inflict defeat on others, even humiliation.
"In war, there ain't no morals. There are just winners, losers, and those that got their asses fried sunny side up."
This is a book filled with violent emotion and actions, it is a roller coaster ride that is both exhausting and exhilarating in it's own way. The plot seems to hop and skip in concentric circles toward the explosive events that shape lives. This is a frustratingly human story filled with the ugly, the beautiful, and the just plain stupid, but always keeping a certain sense of humor and hope about it.
"If you ever meet a man as truthful as a windsock, you have just met a hell of a man. You've also met a real dumb ass."
There is non-stop sarcasm and banter that the family engages in, sometimes as a form of verbal defense and sometimes just for amusement. This is also something that unites the family, the cutting, disparaging and even threatening repartee. It is entertaining, but at times also annoying and hurtful (oh family).
Things can seem bad under their roof, they can seem out right desperate, they could always be worse and they can also take sudden leaps to heights of gentle loveliness - they will always be Meechums. This is the story of a complicated father-son relationship and also about the type of person you wish to be. By the end of this book I was a little tired of the ride though, if only I had consumed this story a little faster, then perhaps the luster would not have worn off of this particular brass-balled Bull.
January 7, 2014
I saw the movie before I read the book. Pat Conroy is the master of the low country when it comes to fiction. Like his character in this book, he moved there as a Marine Corps brat and his father was stationed at Marine Air Station Beaufort. I lived on Hilton Head, on the Intracoastal for several years and the ferry to Dafuskie Island passed by every day and I could see the island to the south along the water. Conroy taught on Dafuskie (The Water Is Wide) and people there still remember him as a teacher.
Spoiler alert:
While Conroy is a great writer (when Jimmy Buffet sets your words to music, duh), his tales are larger than life while representing his own life. I'll discuss his other books I've read in the different posts, but in this case, it seems the only way to resolve the issue of an abusive father is for him to nobly sacrifice himself and the young man take on the mantle of father of the family. This isn't at all what happened in real life-- that's been dealt with in Conroy's latest release, Death of Santini.
Overall, a great read. If you've never been to the Low Country, this book will make you feel it. In fact, it made me shift my Green Beret series to the area because there is a bit of a lawless feel about the area. The only law on Hilton Head was the Beaufort Sheriff which is quite a ways away.
Anyway. A great tale of a young man's introduction to adulthood, whether by getting drunk in the O'Club (yes, there was a time officers were encouraged to get drunk and in fights in the O'Club before everything became politically correct-- we want you to kill the enemy, but don't cause a ruckus!), to crabbing in the tidal swamps to being caught up in racial violence.
Highly recommended!
Spoiler alert:
While Conroy is a great writer (when Jimmy Buffet sets your words to music, duh), his tales are larger than life while representing his own life. I'll discuss his other books I've read in the different posts, but in this case, it seems the only way to resolve the issue of an abusive father is for him to nobly sacrifice himself and the young man take on the mantle of father of the family. This isn't at all what happened in real life-- that's been dealt with in Conroy's latest release, Death of Santini.
Overall, a great read. If you've never been to the Low Country, this book will make you feel it. In fact, it made me shift my Green Beret series to the area because there is a bit of a lawless feel about the area. The only law on Hilton Head was the Beaufort Sheriff which is quite a ways away.
Anyway. A great tale of a young man's introduction to adulthood, whether by getting drunk in the O'Club (yes, there was a time officers were encouraged to get drunk and in fights in the O'Club before everything became politically correct-- we want you to kill the enemy, but don't cause a ruckus!), to crabbing in the tidal swamps to being caught up in racial violence.
Highly recommended!
December 15, 2013
Lt Col Bull Meecham is a Marine fighter pilot – No – he is the GREATEST Marine Fighter Pilot. Just ask his family or any of the men serving under him. This novel gives us a glimpse of one Marine’s family. Lillian is the gentle, Southern-born wife who tempers her husband’s erratic drive with a cool, steady demeanor. She is the buffer between Bull and their children. But as their first-born, Ben, moves toward high school graduation, he is increasingly at odds with his father. No matter how he excels – at sports or academics – it is never good enough to please the Colonel.
I really disliked Bull and yet I really liked the novel. Conroy completely drew me into this dysfunctional family and their complicated relationships. I loved the way he gave us insight into his characters by showing us examples of their strengths and weaknesses: Ben one-on-one against his father shooting baskets in the driveway; Mary Anne masking her pain with a smart retort; Bull coming to Ben’s defense against the town bullies; Lillian pleading with Ben to bring his father home.
As much as I disliked Bull, I grew to love Ben. He is a sensitive boy, growing to manhood, and he is able to glean the good lessons from his father – loyalty to your family and friends, championing the weak, hard work and never giving up – and recognize the poor example as well, vowing to never be like his father in those ways.
The person I was most infuriated with was Lillian. Her blind devotion to the man she married – or the man she hoped he was – drove me crazy. Even when confronted with specific evidence she refused to see how harmful Bull’s behavior was to her and her children.
I have had Pat Conroy on my reading radar for a long time, but never read any of his novels before this. I’m certain this won’t be my last Conroy work.
I really disliked Bull and yet I really liked the novel. Conroy completely drew me into this dysfunctional family and their complicated relationships. I loved the way he gave us insight into his characters by showing us examples of their strengths and weaknesses: Ben one-on-one against his father shooting baskets in the driveway; Mary Anne masking her pain with a smart retort; Bull coming to Ben’s defense against the town bullies; Lillian pleading with Ben to bring his father home.
As much as I disliked Bull, I grew to love Ben. He is a sensitive boy, growing to manhood, and he is able to glean the good lessons from his father – loyalty to your family and friends, championing the weak, hard work and never giving up – and recognize the poor example as well, vowing to never be like his father in those ways.
The person I was most infuriated with was Lillian. Her blind devotion to the man she married – or the man she hoped he was – drove me crazy. Even when confronted with specific evidence she refused to see how harmful Bull’s behavior was to her and her children.
I have had Pat Conroy on my reading radar for a long time, but never read any of his novels before this. I’m certain this won’t be my last Conroy work.
June 3, 2019
First let me say I am a big Pat Conroy fan, and have read 90% of his works. Secondly, this is my second time reading the Great Santini. (I read my favorite books again and again.) Thirdly, it is generally known that this story is about Conroy’s father and his abusive nature.
That being said, this is a coming of age novel of Ben Meechum and his senior year in high school in Ravenel, SC. Ravenel is a small southern coastal town near Charleston, S.C.
Throughout his life Ben was under the influence of a heavy handed father, USMC fighter pilot Bull Meechum, and his mother Lillian, the opposite to his tyrant father, who taught Ben to be gentle, caring for the less fortunate and a thirst for the world of literature.
During Ben’s senior year he received good grades, came to the aid of a Jewish kid being humiliated and bullied on the school grounds, befriended a stuttering black man who sold flowers from a wagon in the alleys of town, and after being a victim of a cheap shot, retaliated with a vicious foul upon an opposing school basketball player, an act so flagrant that Ben was kicked out of the game and off the team.
The writing is superb and Conroy’s use of his extensive vocabulary, kept my nose in the dictionary on the side. Composing a story based on his experiences of a conflicted life with a bully for a father and a loving mother, Conroy’s end product is captivating and extraordinary.
Highly recommended.
That being said, this is a coming of age novel of Ben Meechum and his senior year in high school in Ravenel, SC. Ravenel is a small southern coastal town near Charleston, S.C.
Throughout his life Ben was under the influence of a heavy handed father, USMC fighter pilot Bull Meechum, and his mother Lillian, the opposite to his tyrant father, who taught Ben to be gentle, caring for the less fortunate and a thirst for the world of literature.
During Ben’s senior year he received good grades, came to the aid of a Jewish kid being humiliated and bullied on the school grounds, befriended a stuttering black man who sold flowers from a wagon in the alleys of town, and after being a victim of a cheap shot, retaliated with a vicious foul upon an opposing school basketball player, an act so flagrant that Ben was kicked out of the game and off the team.
The writing is superb and Conroy’s use of his extensive vocabulary, kept my nose in the dictionary on the side. Composing a story based on his experiences of a conflicted life with a bully for a father and a loving mother, Conroy’s end product is captivating and extraordinary.
Highly recommended.
January 22, 2018
Pat Conroy (1945-2016) was one of America's most acclaimed and widely read authors and the New York Times-bestselling writer of eleven novels and memoirs.
Although a fictional novel, Pat Conroy's writing was heavily influenced by his personal life experiences.
THE GREAT SANTINI depicts a Marine Corps pilot who is a domineering father often physically and emotionally abusive to his children. This is an intense, dramatic, passionate and sometimes humorous read. It was made into a major film.
4 stars
Although a fictional novel, Pat Conroy's writing was heavily influenced by his personal life experiences.
THE GREAT SANTINI depicts a Marine Corps pilot who is a domineering father often physically and emotionally abusive to his children. This is an intense, dramatic, passionate and sometimes humorous read. It was made into a major film.
4 stars
April 25, 2008
I saw the movie before I read the book, and it was the first time I saw my experiences as a military brat played out in a work of fiction. I recognized the shifting family dynamics and the insistence on appearances to the exclusion of all else. I experienced the warrior culture, the comradeship of a family in opposition to the world every time we transfered, too, and moves from one alien environment to another. My dad was no Bull Meecham, but he was a piece of work. Conroy helps me remember.
May 18, 2016
This is a thinly disguised story of the author growing up with a military father who was verbally, physically and emotionally abusive to his family. The central character is Ben Meechum, son to "Bull" Meechum, a borderline alcoholic and Marine pilot.
November 21, 2017
I enjoyed this book. More on it later.
January 30, 2013
Pat Conroy is a master story teller and one of the best descriptive authors around. His use of words is so good, sometime I find myself reading a passage a couple of times so to savor it. This is the third Conroy book I have read and they all have some very dark elements within the story. But there is much beauty as well, especially in how he relates to the American South.
Many years ago I had the opportunity to meet Pat Conroy and speak with him. He was a speaker at a small marketing conference in Charleston SC - a regional meeting of the National Council for Marketing and Public Relations (part of the American Association of Community College). Pat came to the dinner early and talked to every person there. His remarks were wonderful - he proved to me the great Irish storyteller in person. What was most impressive was that he came back to the hotel the next morning and had breakfast with us. He said he enjoyed the company.
I am glad there are more books of his for me to read.
Many years ago I had the opportunity to meet Pat Conroy and speak with him. He was a speaker at a small marketing conference in Charleston SC - a regional meeting of the National Council for Marketing and Public Relations (part of the American Association of Community College). Pat came to the dinner early and talked to every person there. His remarks were wonderful - he proved to me the great Irish storyteller in person. What was most impressive was that he came back to the hotel the next morning and had breakfast with us. He said he enjoyed the company.
I am glad there are more books of his for me to read.
July 20, 2016
I love Pat Conroy & two of his books, The Prince of Tides & South of Broad, are among my favorites of all time. Sadly, I couldn't get into this one.
June 22, 2024
3.5 stars (between good and very good)
Overall I enjoyed this novel, although not as much as The Prince of Tides. Conroy is a gifted storyteller with an engaging, propulsive style. My attention therefore never flagged, but there did seem to be too many similarities to The Prince of Tides in theme and character types: the abusive authoritarian Southern father, the long-suffering and saintly mother, the quirky sister who is a budding literary genius, etc. In addition, I found tiresome the incessant ridicule of a clichéd caricature of Catholicism. I’m beginning to wonder if that may actually be a feature rather than a bug in Conroy novels. But no matter, I’m still willing to try another one someday.
Overall I enjoyed this novel, although not as much as The Prince of Tides. Conroy is a gifted storyteller with an engaging, propulsive style. My attention therefore never flagged, but there did seem to be too many similarities to The Prince of Tides in theme and character types: the abusive authoritarian Southern father, the long-suffering and saintly mother, the quirky sister who is a budding literary genius, etc. In addition, I found tiresome the incessant ridicule of a clichéd caricature of Catholicism. I’m beginning to wonder if that may actually be a feature rather than a bug in Conroy novels. But no matter, I’m still willing to try another one someday.
November 20, 2018
Coup de coeur pour ce premier roman de Pat Conroy ! ❤❤❤ Ça fait des années que je repousse sa lecture mais je ne regrette pas, je trouve qu'il a encore plus de sens quand on a lu l'oeuvre de l'écrivain et qu'on connaît son histoire.
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