The Water Is Wide

Rating:
Summary: A Book Worth Reading
Review: "The Water Is Wide" was a very interesting book and I enjoyed reading it mainly because I knew it was based on the life story of the author. The book is about a man named Pat Conroy who moves to a small island in South Carolina named Yamacraw. The reason Pat decides to move is because he decides to teach the students of the island. As Pat starts working he realizes that the students have been given the worst education ever. Most of them don't know how to write, read or even count to atleast 10. The children don't know anything about the modern world and do not even know the name of the country they live in.
As weeks turn into months and so on, Pat learns many things from these children and tries teaching them different things about the world around them. He decides that using the text-books is a waste of time due to the fact the students can't read. After taking them to several trips and getting married to a woman named Barbara Jones, he get's into arguments with the board of education. These problems cause many things to change and throughout the book Pat Conroy explains every detail of his life very well.
This book not only tells us how wrong the island is treated and how ignorant some people may be but it also teaches us to value many things in life. Segregation is no longer an issue but for many years played an important role in life to where the people became ashamed and fought for many resons. Pat Conroy proves himself to be a very honest, loving man towrd people. The love that he develops for his students and the thing he teaches them is just beyond anything I would have ever imagined, specially during that time in life. This book is great and opens the mind of any children who may want to become teachers one day.

Rating:
Summary: It Will Make You Think
Review: "The Water Is Wide" was Pat Conroy's second book, a non-fiction account of the year he spent teaching poverty-stricken children on isolated Yamacraw Island in South Carolina. Conroy went on to write four truly excellent novels over the next two decades, but this one is perhaps more hard-hitting. It combines his already remarkable prose with a brutally honest and telling look at the sad state of public education in an environment nobody wanted to fool with--in a racially-charged era.

Conroy readily admits that he was filled with white liberal guilt by his early twenties, and he was ready to save the world when he plunged headlong into the Yamacraw teaching position nobody else wanted. His task was all but impossible--teaching a classroom of poor, hopelessly uneducated black kids not only how to read, write and spell (many literally couldn't write their names), but to comprehend that there was a big, incredible world out there. As Conroy quickly realized, most of the kids had never even ventured off the small island.

Sadly, the biggest obstacle facing Conroy were the administrators and school board in neighboring Beaufort, Conroy's hometown. These were the folks who supervised the Yamacraw school, and to Conroy's disbelief, the harder he worked to enlighten his students, the more roadblocks were thrown at him from black and white bureaucrats. Standing up for his principles and calling attention to the problems of the poor island school eventually cost Conroy his teaching position--a job he desperately wanted to keep for another year, as he'd come to love the students and their families.

Brutally honest and beautifully written, "The Water Is Wide" is a tightly written novel which leaves a profound impression. Although relations between the races have improved tremendously since this book was written, its subject matter is still very relevant today, as educational politics still fester in school systems large and small, rich and poor. Strongly recommended for all Conroy fans, and for any past, present or future educators.

Rating:
Summary: It Will Make You Think
Review: "The Water Is Wide" was Pat Conroy's second book, a non-fiction account of the year he spent teaching poverty-stricken children on isolated Yamacraw Island in South Carolina. Conroy went on to write four truly excellent novels over the next two decades, but this one is perhaps more hard-hitting. It combines his already remarkable prose with a brutally honest and telling look at the sad state of public education in an environment nobody wanted to fool with--in a racially-charged era.

Conroy readily admits that he was filled with white liberal guilt by his early twenties, and he was ready to save the world when he plunged headlong into the Yamacraw teaching position nobody else wanted. His task was all but impossible--teaching a classroom of poor, hopelessly uneducated black kids not only how to read, write and spell (many literally couldn't write their names), but to comprehend that there was a big, incredible world out there. As Conroy quickly realized, most of the kids had never even ventured off the small island.

Sadly, the biggest obstacle facing Conroy were the administrators and school board in neighboring Beaufort, Conroy's hometown. These were the folks who supervised the Yamacraw school, and to Conroy's disbelief, the harder he worked to enlighten his students, the more roadblocks were thrown at him from black and white bureaucrats. Standing up for his principles and calling attention to the problems of the poor island school eventually cost Conroy his teaching position--a job he desperately wanted to keep for another year, as he'd come to love the students and their families.

Brutally honest and beautifully written, "The Water Is Wide" is a tightly written novel which leaves a profound impression. Although relations between the races have improved tremendously since this book was written, its subject matter is still very relevant today, as educational politics still fester in school systems large and small, rich and poor. Strongly recommended for all Conroy fans, and for any past, present or future educators.

Rating:
Summary: Making a difference
Review:

This novel is especially appropriate for teachers, educators, and students who aspire to make a difference in the world through teaching. This book revolves around themes of social change, specifically the aftermath of the Civil Rights Movement where attitudes of the heart lagged behind newly instituted laws. This book is about a young, idealistic, teacher who comes of age in a harsh, prejudiced environment. He fights for justice and change in a culture that does not want to change, that fears change.

The tiny, lush island of Yamacraw lies twenty miles off the coast of South Carolina. Populated by black people who depend on the sea and their farms for their livelihoods, the island has practically been forgotten by the mainland. The white powers that govern the island neglect the needs of the Yamacraw people and thus perpetuate the poverty, drunkenness, illiteracy, and hopelessness that consume the islanders. It is this environment and situation in which Pat Conroy enters in 1969. He becomes appalled at the lack of education the children have received from the inefficient and uncaring educational system. He exposes his lovable class to the world they are cut off from and thus becomes the bridge that brings ideas to their young minds-- minds that have no idea what state or country they live in. Everyday, Conroy crosses the treacherous waters between the island and the mainland to bring his kids hope and the education they rightfully deserve. However, it is not nature he must overcome to educate these kids, but the monstrous forces of prejudice, inefficient educational bureaucracy, and institutional racism.

This is the kind of novel that gets you fired up about the ills and wrongs of society and makes you want to change the world. It is definitely a must read for aspiring educators and teachers. I loved this book. Conroy tells his story poignantly and insightfully. Plus, the children are a hoot

Rating:
Summary: Candid, humorous novel
Review: Although Pat Conroy's "The Water is Wide" talked about the injustices many of the poor blacks dealt with, it did so in a humorous tone that made the reader feel that "everything is going to be alright." Conroy himself, is the main character who displays incredible courage and dedication toward his occupation. Due to his teachings, poor blacks learned vast amounts of information we today would take for granted and consider "common sense."

Rating:
Summary: A teacher with courage and conviction
Review: As a school administrator I have great respect and admiration for a teacher with the intelectual abilities of Pat Conroy but more importantly I realize how much better education in America could be if we employed and retained more teachers who stood firmly in their convictions. The Water is Wide is a book written to convey a commitment to children not to promote any specific quality of the author. An enjoyable reading experience which I am revisiting this summer during many sailing adventures.

Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Book
Review: Before Pat Conroy became a successful author he was a teacher. This book chronicles the one year he spent teaching in a two-room schoolhouse on Yamacraw Island off the coast of South Carolina. It is a moving and often funny story of one man's attempt to bring education to eighteen mostly-forgotten black children. Children who didn't know the name of the ocean at their front door, didn't know who was their President, didn't even know the name of the country they lived in. However the story never becomes maudlin and the tone is upbeat throughout. Many times I found myself laughing out loud. Mr. Conroy is an excellent writer. I recommend this book highly.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful
Review: I am surprised that this book is not mandatory reading for all education students. I had the pleaseure of reading Beach music this summer and chose this becauce I had enjoyed his other book so much. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that Conroy had an early career in education.

As an 8th grade teacher I enjoy reading books about others in education, but quality teaching stories are hard to find.

I loved this lyrical tale of Conroy's year spent teaching on a remote South Carlina island. He faced immense challenges in this primative school, but loved his students and made a great impact on these young lives.

I found his stories both tragic and humorous. Aternatley lauging and crying. Conroy is a gifted story teller capturing the children, the island and himself woth poignancy and clarity. This was delightful to read!

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful
Review: I am surprised that this book is not mandatory reading for all education students. I had the pleaseure of reading Beach music this summer and chose this becauce I had enjoyed his other book so much. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that Conroy had an early career in education.

As an 8th grade teacher I enjoy reading books about others in education, but quality teaching stories are hard to find.

I loved this lyrical tale of Conroy's year spent teaching on a remote South Carlina island. He faced immense challenges in this primative school, but loved his students and made a great impact on these young lives.

I found his stories both tragic and humorous. Aternatley lauging and crying. Conroy is a gifted story teller capturing the children, the island and himself woth poignancy and clarity. This was delightful to read!

Rating:
Summary: Conroy is a great storyteller!
Review: I have never read a book by Pat Conroy that I didn't love, and The Water is Wide is no exception. Conroy is one of the best writers of our time. I didn't just read this book; I became involved in it. I wanted to help the students myself. As with all of his books, I was sorry when I came to the end.