Beach Music: A Novel

I totally enjoyed this book. The story was very different and complex. It was hard to put down. Although it jumped back in time, it was easy to keep up with the story The author did seem to use a lot of big words that are rarely used which made me feel that he paid way more attention in college English than I did.

This book is simply amazing. Conroy is inna class bu himself.

I have found that books can be profound or trivial depending on the time of life and experiences of the reader. This book was the exact book for that time for me. I truly hated for it to end. It is truly a great southern novel .

Pat Conroy wrote the beautiful introduction to one of my all-time favorite books, “Gone with the Wind”. 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 need to look into. “Beach Music” is the first book that I have read by him. It grabbed me right from the start and I was hooked. Even though we were on vacation, it was often pretty much all that I could think about. Part of the story takes place in Italy, specifically Rome, and I finished this book right before we arrived there. Perfect timing! The writing is gorgeous. The story is riveting and had me laughing and crying. The characters are superb to the point where I missed them so very much after finishing the book. For me, that’s definitely a sign of a phenomenal book. While reading, I looked up Pat Conroy and was amazed at how quite a bit of the story is similar to his own life. I was reminded of a quote by P.D. James: “All fiction is largely autobiographical and much autobiography is, of course, fiction.” I can’t wait to read more books by him. How sad that he’s no longer with us. This is definitely my favorite book of 2018, and now one of my favorite books of all time. Some of my favorite quotes: “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.” “When you have been hurt you lose your trust in the world. If the world’s mean to you when you’re a child, you spend the rest of your life being mean back.” “I don’t know why it is that I have always been happier thinking of somewhere I have been or wanted to go, than where I am at the time. I find it difficult to be happy in the present.”

Loved everything about it

I bought this book because of my love of beach music - the Catalinas, the Embers, The Band of Oz and so many others - but I had never read anything by Pat Conroy. I had the book for a long time because I didnt want to make the time commitment to read it (800 pages). But as I was reading it, I wished it would go on forever. My only complaint was Conroys penchant for dragging things out. Lucy was dying the whole book, but she kept rallying back to life to deliver yet another soliloquy to Jack or whomever would listen. I loved the descriptions of Charleston and the low country in general, and the food - oh my goodness it made me drool! I loved the characters, even John Hardin who, even in his craziest, darkest moments, provided an amazing insight into the world of a schizophrenic. The event on the bridge was described so vividly I laughed and blushed at the same time. All in all, Beach Music was many hours well spent. Ken Follett is my favorite author, but Pat Conroy is giving him a run for his money!

I would definitely recommend this book, it was a long read but very enjoyable, 900 pages but gripping. I was glad to read it on my iPad as I utilized the dictionary to look up various words. I never had a book require me to look up so many words I was not familiar with. Excellent read!

There was enough elegant, incredibly evocative writing to keep reading, but this book “doth protest too much,” railing against too many horrors of the times for one book. I worry that Conroy was working too hard with the major issues that from time to time he clings to stereotypes and forced snappy repartee to catch his breath.

From the title, you may think this is a beach book. It is not. Jack McCall has fled his small South Carolina Low Country hometown to live in Rome with his daughter, Leah, after his beloved wifes suicide. He tries to forget the pain and vows to tell Leah all the stories of the South but not let her be enveloped by its hurts and anger. When his mama gets sick, he reluctantly returns home where he will be forced to come to terms not only with his wifes suicide, but also the scars of Vietnam and the 60s that still haunt him and his closest friends. Author Pat Conroy has expertly created several stories in this book, each with its own riveting plot and emotional landmines--until they finally converge at the end. The descriptive text fluctuates between genius and overwrought, the dialogue is not always believable and Leah is just too perfect a child to be real. But those are minor complaints for a book that will grab you and not let go--and make you think hard along the way. (Although we share the same name, Pat Conroy and I are not kin, as they say in South Carolina. Too bad!)

Ive had so many copies of this book and give them away all the time. I love, love this book. Its such a great story and has so many amazing characters.