Rating: 
Summary: Great Vacation Read
Review: You won't be disappointed in Beach Music. Engrossing novel dealing with suicide, relationships, family (it's all there) and the journey of Jack to find answers by searching through his past. Although some parts of the book seemed a bit long, I highly recommend this be on your list to read!
Rating:
Summary: Music To My Ears
Review: Pat Conroy is, more or less, the best modern American writer. Word truly seem to flow from his "pen"; his characters are captivating and well-developed; his descriptions, whether he's describing a person, place or thing, are unbelievable; and his plots are such dramas, filled with scenes that will make you laugh, make you shrink back in horror, and make you cry.Beach Music is probably the best, and longest, of Conroy's books. The melodrama begins when Jack McCall, an Southerner who moved to Italy to raise his young daughter after his wife committed suicide, is called back to his home town--Waterford, SC--because his mother is dying. The book describes Jack and his four younger brothers (including wonderfully written scenes with his youngest, and craziest brother John Hardin--who happens to be my favorite character) as they struggle with their family's past, their mother's dying, and the pitiful-excuse-of-a-human-being that is their father. Secondly, this book describes Jack's attempt to understand why his wife killed herself, and his attempt to reconcile with her family. This part of the book, Jack's in-laws' stories, are probably the hardest emotionally to read. Both of his in-laws were survivors of concentration camps, and their stories are truly heart-wrenching. Thirdly, this book tells the tale of Jack reuniting with his best guy and girl friends from his teenage years. This part tells how Jack fell in love, how he met his best friend, and what happened to each of their lives. For whatever reason, this section of the book reminded me of the Big Chill (probably because of the reuniting of old friends), but I found this part very enjoyable. Overall, this book is about a man having to look back--not necessarily reminisce, but to re-examine--on his past to try to solve problems he has with himself, his family, and with raising his daughter without including any family help. This book is very good, very powerful, and, personally, is a book I would take if I were stranded on a desert island.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing to Read
Review: If Pat Conroy has has shown us anything is that he knows how to write a book. Like his other previous novels, Conroy carries on the tradition of fine Southern writers. Beach Music is a story of life and death within a family in South Carolina. The personal touches of the book make it so vivid and interesting that it is often impossible to put down. Instead of being confused with all of the multiple characters in the novel, Conroy is so brilliant with his descriptions that you cannot forget anyone. From Italy to the lowcountry of South Carolina, you are immersed in many different settings, each of them told in a memorable way that will ensure their memory. My only frustration is with the book is that it did not win the Pulitzer several years ago. Over the years I have shared my copies with other people and they too were stunned by excellent the book is. Without a doubt it is Conroy's best work and on my favorites list. Though this book may be long, do not let it fool you, when reading it time slips by and you are finished in what seems like a few hours...
Rating:
Summary: Over and Over
Review: I absolutely love Beach Music, Pat Conroy's style draws you in with tastes of the places he lives and has lived then shares the despair and drama of them both! I have read this book 3 times and still think it is wonderful. It is a vacation in your hands! I have tried his other books, and enjoy this one the best. A great read for men and women alike!
Rating:
Summary: The Good and the Bad
Review: The Good:
Reading Pat Conroy is like reading poetry. His stories are filled with unforgetable sadness and non-stop humor. Conroys uprecendented strengths as a writer are once again on display in Beach Music. His charecters are complex and wonderfully developed. You'll find yourself falling in love with the books many "relationships." A story of family and love and all the problems inbetween, it doesnt get any better then this. If you enjoyed Conroys other masterpieces (Prince of Tides, Lords of Discipline, The Great Santini), then you will surely rate this among your favorites. If this is your first Conroy read and you enjoy it, consider yourself lucky that you are able to read his other works. I would do anything to read any of his books for the first time.
The Bad:
I always find it difficult to find bad things about Conroys books, but I will try to highlight some possible dislikes people might have. This book is a very complex book, with very complex topics. People who like "soft" reads will probably find this book hard to stomach. It deals with array of subjects from family disfunction and suicide to The Holocaust. It may not be for the unsentimental or the unemotional type.
Rating:
Summary: Fabulous!
Review: THIS IS MY FAVORITE BOOK EVER. TOUCHING AND REAL IN EVERY WAY.
Rating:
Summary: The best of a Great American Writer
Review: I am a huge fan of PC. I grew up the son of an army colonel and a graduate of the USMA (West Point). I live in the south and find many things to love and loathe about my home. Pat Conroy and I have a lot of common benchmarks and experiences; and given what we have in common, for me Pat Conroy does the best job of any author at helping my mind see the world in which his stories take place. I have read all of Pat Conroy's books and I loved all of them; but Beach Music stands out for me as the best of what I love from Pat Conroy. It was horrifically sad, terrible, beautiful and inspirational.
Rating: 
Summary: Good solid reading with likeable characters
Review: I was a little more prepared for this book having read 'The Prince of Tides' which I started reading not realizing it was fiction (see review). The best thing that can be said about Conroy's writing is that he must have had a screwed up life. His insight and ability to read and spell out emotions is amazing. I'd offer the opinion that if someone in the mental health field hadn't read this and other Conroy books, they are letting their clients down. Probably the same could be said for pastors and lay counselors.
Rating:
Summary: MUSIC TO MY EARS
Review: To read a book by Pat Conroy is to come to the realization that so much of everything else I read, and think is good, is truly just an appetizer getting me ready for the main course -- which is what Conroy is. Every sentence you read lures you into the web of Conroy's storytelling. This is a book that will take you from the piazzas in Rome to the low country of South Carolina. You will fall so deeply in love with each setting that you couldn't possibly decide which place you would prefer to live. Every character is a tortured soul who has a tale to tell -- one more heartbreaking than the other. The main story follows Jack McCall, who flees to Rome with his young daughter Leah after his beloved wife Shyla has committed suicide. He leaves behind a bevy of colorful family and friends in an effort to escape his torment and begin a new life in a new land. As a travel writer by trade, Jack is able to pick up and live wherever he chooses. It is a telegram from a family member that will finally bring Jack back to South Carolina to face his demons and learn the stories of all those he loves. Conroy has the ability of dropping crumbs along the way leading you to each character's hidden story. He touches on times in history involving the Holocaust and the Vietnam War -- each decade so real that I don't even want to think about the horrors. But it is these horrors that have come to shape the characters whose cards have been dealt and whose hands must be played. They are all part of a finely interwoven story with South Carolina as the stage for the grand finale. In reading the book, I can only wonder if the author can write the last twenty pages and not cry himself. I don't usually cry when reading a book but I must admit that this one did me in. Conroy so neatly ties up all the loose ends so that the reader feels no need for a sequel as they are confident that the lives of the characters they have come to love will go on. While this is a book about tortured souls, it is also a book that holds great promise filled with love and hope and devotion and yes...redemption. We always talk about the books that will stay with us forever. This is one for me...music to my ears...Beach Music that is.
Rating:
Summary: A BOOK THAT LIVES FOREVER....DEEP.........TOUCHING
Review: This book is set in South Carolina and Rome.
This is one of the first books I've read by Pat Conroy and it is one of the deepest I've read in my life. I found it quite educational as it introduced me to South Carolina, a state I had never visited and felt a great urge to do so afterwards. It was also educational in inviting readers to see the holocaust from the point of view of suicide victim Shyla. The main character Jack McCall has left his homeland of South Carolina with his young daughter Leah to flee the mental anguish he is suffering as a a result of the suicidal death of his beautiful wife Shyla. Shyla had thrown herself to her own death when life became too much for her. Jack and Leah take to Rome where he spends his days in isolation writing cook books and trying to forget. However, after some time in Rome, it isn't long before his telephone is ringing and he is being begged to return to the USA. His mother Lucy has learnt that she has cancer, one of his brothers is giving trouble; all sorts of things are surfacing in the South, ready to
interrupt Jack's hibernation. His dysfuntional family needs him back there to straighten things out.....they cannot function without him. With a great deal of relutance, Jack and his daughter Leah return home and the haunting horrors which he has tried so hard to black out, flood back into his memory; inviting sometimes short-lived humour, deep sadness, unfinished business and quite a lot of 'what ifs?' The characters in this book are bright sparks and will stay with you forever, especially Jack's mother Lucy, his brothers, his father and his special school friend Jordan whose character you're bound to be facinated with along with so many others.
This novel is quite long but as the author unravels the cause of Shyla's suicide, you'll find yourself savouring the details which adds very much depth to the storyline. Another one of those books that I'll definitely be rereading. I only hope that Mr. Contoy has another spectacular one in the works for us soon, but in the meanwhile, you can dance to Beach Music which I highly recommend. Buy from Amazon today!! Nutface
September 24th 2001
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