The Great Santini

Rating:
Summary: The Great Santini
Review: This novel by Pat Conroy is an amazing contemporary novel that leads you through the life of a military family in the late 1950's. This book hits home having several family members, two being pilots and one a marine, that have served in the military, and it was a difficult book to put down. In many ways, the "Great Santini" reminded me of my father; a man that at times is both loved and hated by his family. Colonel Bull Meecham is a marine fighter pilot that demands respect as the "Great Santini" by both his family and his flight squadron. His oldest son Ben, a senior in high school, struggles with the relationship that he has with his father, who he hates very much but loves and respects. If not for Lillian Meecham, wife of the "Great Santini" and peacekeeper of the household, the harsh and sometimes abusive father would release his wrath without a second thought. From the witty remarks of Mary Anne to the competitiveness between Ben and his father, The Great Santini creates a family persona that many can relate. The Great Santini takes you through the difficulties of a year in the life of a southern marine family after the Korean War. I highly recommend entering the past and becoming a member of the Meecham family by reading The Great Santini. This non-stop novel reaches heights of laughter and tears and is well worth reading.

Rating:
Summary: Simply Amazing!!!
Review: This was one of the most astonishing books i have read in a long time. The life of a Marine child is not easy, considering that physical and mental edurence that one has to adapte to when having a father such as Bull Meechem. I would highly recommend this novel to anyone who has an intrest in dark humor, and the sarcasiem of a school boy.

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.