The Great Santini

Rating:
Summary: A look at America's past
Review: Years ago I read PRINCE OF TIDES and have always rated it as one of my favorite books. But I never got around to reading another Pat Conroy work until my son, who is in the Marines, gave me a copy of THE GREAT SANTINI.

Written in 1976 but set in the American South on the early 1960's it describes a hard drinking brutal side of the Marine Corp air division, that is hopefully a thing of the past. With current pilots limited on their consumption of alcohol prior to flying and an entirely different attitude about drinking in the contemporary world, the descriptios of the binge drinking by Bull Meechum and his pilots was alarming and often disgusting. The brutality among the Marines and the crude insults and language among them were not comical to me, but I'm judging them from a 21st century female perspective.

The descriptions of the spousal and child abuse by Bull were hopefully a thing of the past, along with the horrible racial sterotypes and racial abuse. We can only hope and pray that that generation of Americans no longer exist.

If Ben Meechum were a real person, he would be in his early 60's as would his sister Mary Ann. Did Ben go in to the Marine Corp? One wonders what happened to Lillian Meechum after Bull's death and Karen and Matt. Was Lillian ever able to regain her own self respect and identity. Throughout the book I wondered how she ever stayed with this abusive and crude man who abused her and her children, but considered in the context of the time, maybe she did not have a choice.

The Meechums were a totally disfunctional family. One would like to speculate on how this effected the Meechum children and their children.

It's a good read, but hopefully a part of America that no longer exist.