South of Broad: A Novel

If you like Pat Conroy enough to be tolerant of the recurrant themes of his style of writing, or you haven't read him before and you come new to this book, you may not have the problems I encountered when first reading this novel. I like Conroy's writing enough to preorder this in hardback, but I found the first two parts of the book hard slogging.First, it is hard not to be impatient when almost all of the younger characters dialogue and some of the olders' is indistinguishable from eachother. You can't tell who is whom, because they all have the same quasi-smart, disparaging, ironic, sarcastic, humorlessly humorous patter. You come to expect in a Conroy book that the protagonist and some of the other characters will engage in this trademark some of the time. But in the past it has been leavened with spots of real candor, real exposition. But in South of Broad nearly all of the characters indulge in this sort of dialogue all of the time in this first section of the book, as the characters are introducted. It not only makes it hard to tell who is speaking to whom without a scorecard, it is so shallow that a hundred pages into the book you don't care very much what happens to anyone. Not that anything much happens through the first half.Another major problem is that those who aren't engaging in this patter are also stock Conway characters. The profane hellraising fighter pilot is missing, but the nice, saintly, inoffensive grandfather from Prince of Tides reappears as the protagonist Leo's father, the mother's cold often cruel dialogue is a mirror of the mother in POT. An insane villian and a violent past sexual assault is also stock Conway fare since the Great Santini. And the same deprecating protagonist, alternately tortured by Catholicism and a sense of unworthiness, but enlivened by literature, sport and the Citatel, the beauty of nature in the south (for Charleston is almost as much a character in this story as any human one) and his own humor is both the hero and the patsy.In the first two parts of the novel these characters are introduced, in the first as children and in the second as adults. Most of the kids treat each other badly, some because they are privileged, spoiled and too stupid to have elementary courtesy in spite of their alleged breeding and so called manners, others because they are psychologically damaged from past experiences. The mothers are ciphers, psychos or harpies. Leo's mothers is unbelievable in her coldness and the cruelty of her attitude. The fathers, except for the coach, are MIA or ineffectual blowhards, except for Leo's saintly father, who still does a lousy job protecting Leo from the excesses of his cold demanding and unnurturing mother.It's very hard for a reader to identify with anyone in this novel because those who trodden on never do much of anything to tell those doing the trodding they are selfish, lousy people. They just keep forgiving them, grateful for the few crumbs of kindness thrown their way, and keep coming back for more. And the nasty people go on believing in their inestimable right to treat the others like dirt. It takea 225 pages and the first two parts to introduce these groups of people and their mode of interacting, and you come to almost loathe them all before the main mission of the story begins. By that time I suspect more than a few readers have given up in impatient disgust. I nearly did a few times.Things get more interesting when everyone relocates to San Francisco. That city gets its own character tribute as well. And finally the action picks up and the scenarios laboriously set up in the first two parts start to come into play. The story becomes almost gripping as the group returns to Charleston to more drama, both personal and natural. The descriptions of Charleston in the grip of a hurricane are riveting and are some of the best writing in the book. Yes there was a hurricane too in POT, but this one is a character almost in itself. After that, the human action returns and story winds down with a few predictable denouments.The biggest issue I had with this novel was the lack of feeling. The main character's emotions have been frozen, perhaps like the author himself, since a bad experience in his youth. The hero picks only damaged people to love, or people that can't love him back. He lives a life of introspection and isolation, in spite of his myriad, often questionable friends. Because he feels so little, it's hard for the reader to feel much either. Unlike the Prince of Tides, the main character in South of Broad was a side actor in the early tragedy. It misses him directly and he lives with the mystery of it, suffers only from the fallout, serious though that is. But being a step removed from tragedy means the reader is also set apart from it too and is as disengaged and frozen as Leo often is, insulated by sarcasm, disassociation and poor wit. This made the novel shorter and it was safer, more psychologically insulated for the author/writer, but it shortchanged the book and the reader. Maybe the author just couldn't go too deep in the depths of madness this time and had to protect himself. But the work suffers and is more shallow for it.I didn't get the impression Conroy worked too hard on this novel.He churned out the patter and stock characters he does so well, but didn't put much else in, until we get to the hurricane, when I think because it is not a human force, he lets himself go. So much of this book is pure cliche and what isn't, as above, is a step removed.But for all that, you can't write off a Conroy novel. In spite of the stock characters and snappy indistinguishable bad patter, the sometimes tedious 200 page buildup to the start of the real action, Conroy's still a novelist that can evoke emotion, make you laugh a little, tear up a little and drop a few profound thoughts on the reader along the way. There's an awful lot of chaff in among the wheat. But the little wheat there is, is gold. Perhaps, unconscionably like Leo the protagonist, this reader is grateful for it, in spite of having to put up with an awful lot of drek to get it. And hopes for better in the future. A tortured 3 1/2 stars.

South of Broad has probably been the most highly anticipated novel in the last decade. Have we been waiting that long? I received and began the book with great trepidation. How could Pat Conroy do a story any better than The Lords of Discipline, The Great Santini, The Water is Wide, Prince of Tides, or Beach Music. As the self proclaimed #1 fan of Pat Conroy's works, (he is my favorite contemporary writer in the whole wide world), I was worried. What if the book did not meet his previous standard? Would I be disappointed?Now I read voraciously but I took three weeks to read South of Broad. Why? It was just that good. Each word was savored and he had me hook, line, and sinker when the boy character, Leo, was giving this old codger a pedicure as part of his community service. As the boy and old man bantered he told the southern gentleman something like, "shall I dry your feet with my hair, kind of a Mary Magadalene moment".The humor of Pat Conroy strikes such a chord with me, actually his book was a symphony of words. I know a lot of people don't understand how he can have so many emotions tied into a book but coming from a family that was more than a bit dysfunctional, his book reads to me as a promise that there is hope and salvation out there for those of us who had difficult childhoods. I happen to believe those attributes come from the reading of great books.When I became sold it was the best book I had ever read was towards the end when he tells the children and the adults a story. Pat Conroy is a storyteller of the finest caliber. Now months and months ago I made this book an official Pulpwood Queen and Timber Guy Book Club selection. You see I run the largest "meeting and discussing" book club in the world. I made it a book club selection without reading the book. I never do that. I always read the book first, but I could not get my hands on a copy. Then the critics started coming in with reviews and as I read them, I remembered the reviews from Beach Music and smiled. I smiled because I knew this was going to be one of the biggest books of my life. So when South of Broad made #1 on the New York Times bestseller's list, Publisher's Weekly bestseller's list, and the Southern Independent Bestsellers bestseller list, I knew I was in for one heck of read. You all, I too give this book FIVE Diamonds in my Pulpwood Queen TIARA, the highest honor for a Pulpwood Queen Book Club Selection. Pat just went up a few more steps on the pedestal where I place him. And it's just like my book club that really chooses books more for being great reads, great stories to read and share more than anything, the readers are the true judge of a book's worth!Read South of Broad and do as I did, take your time. Then read ALL of Pat's books and watch a writer as he grew and perfected his craft. Then you will know why on numerous occastions I have stood in line for hours just to get a copy of his latest signed book. And the best part, the author is one of the nicest, kindest, loving men I have ever met in my life. Authors could take lessons from Pat Conroy on how to be a true literary leader. I bow to the feet of Pat Conroy. Shoot, I would dry his feet too with my hair, kind of a Mary Magdalene moment!Tiara wearing and Book sharing,Kathy L. PatrickFounder of the Pulpwood Queens and Timber Guys Book Clubs

I think this sums up what life is. A roller coaster, ups and downs, more downs that a child would have endured. Same as the one the author experienced it in his own life.I’ve read that most of the authors subconsciously or consciously express their joy or disappointment in the stories they write. In the case of Conroy, he had his history, bits and pieces, sometimes a tapestry, being woven in the stories he told. In this novel, as usual, there are happiness, joy, fun and on the dark side, heartbreaks, disappointments, missed passion and a lot of intense abuse.No, no, no. It’s not a dull and doomed story, but rather it is about redemption and forgiveness. It is written in such poetic prose that throughout the pages you’ll be drawn into the lull and lithe of the telling. That keeps me turning the pages because the prose is too beautiful, I can’t just close the book.This story will be another one from Conroy I’ll remember for a long while.

Perhaps it's been a while since last I read Pat Conroy, but I don't recall his writing being this over-the-top ornate. There were times that I wanted to set the book down in frustration as he wrote descriptive fancy yet again. The only other novel that I found as frustrating was the House of the Seven Gables (a running joke in my family for the belief that Hawthorne must've earned more for the length of each sentence and per word syllable). I felt throughout South of Broad that Conroy must've been challenged to use as many adjectival phrases and descriptors as possible.That said, I found the story interesting, even if the surprise revelation at the end was entirely predictable. I enjoyed getting to know the group of friends, and was drawn into their world. I lived in the Tenderloin in the late 1990s, and was interested to read the chapters set in the Tenderloin. If Conroy was writing accurately, then not much had changed!There is a necessary suspension of disbelief as with most fiction. In reality, I couldn't imagine this group forming, nor would I expect the longevity of their relationships, nor their career successes. I suppose the drama that is covered in the book seems a bit too much for a small group of people as well. But, that's fiction for you.

In Pat Conroy's most recent work I noted his aversion to critics and his life long avoidance of engaging in criticism of other writers himself. Mindful of such perspective from a great author, who has in the past produced memorable works of stunning beauty and poetic detail, I'm reluctant to heap too much in the way of criticism on this work. However, I think part of the problem with each successive Conroy work is the hopes and expectations that his followers have come to expect from previous novels and they have set a very high bar to follow.Because, by his own admission, much of Conroy's fiction has it's roots in autobiography and personal experiences, one often feels that they have encountered similar characters in different guises before. In this work however some of the characters venture that bit too far into formulaic or cliche and one is left longing for the more rounded and believable characters that one either loved or hated or pitied (or all three) in previous novels.Personally I found this one hard going and almost gave up on it a few times before persisting to finally finish it. But even then I was disappointed both with the entire work but also especially with the formulaic or cliche nature of the conclusion.

A typical Conroy nostalgic fond look at Charleston life and southern society differences. I did get bogged down with the fragmentary story development and flashbacks at one point and nearly gave up. Thankfully I didn't because the characters and their relationships really develop in startling ways. It is a beautifully written story about a group of High School friends and their complex lives which come together when they unite in the search for a gay friend in San Francisco's AIDS ridden era. Highly recommended.

Pat Conroy is my favourite author and this book is truly superb, I think probably his best yet although I loved Beach Music and The Prince of Tides. He is a master at his craft, a wordsmith, his use of words is so beautiful and his descriptions of South Carolina and Charleston make me want to visit there as soon as I possibly can. All his books make me laugh and cry in the space of a few minutes. His characters are so well drawn, and you can feel so much empathy for the central character, Leo King, expressed in the first person by the author. He is such a lovely sensitive though damaged young man, and it is impossible not to love him. The story is wonderful, moving, exciting and I could not put the book down, although I have read it before, and no doubt will do so again, as I have with most of Pat Conroy's books. I can recommend this book, and indeed all his others, 100%.