The Water Is Wide

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Summary: Great summer reading
Review: I knew this would be the perfect book to read this summer. I first caught a glimpse of "Conrack" playing one morning on AMC, then I found this book on the shelves by some kind of kismet. As I perused the pages, I was immediately drawn into the humid, lush island environment that Conroy deftly describes. There's a paragraph in the beginning of the book that I read over and over, it was such a wonderfully and lovingly written homage to the beauty and wonder of this magical place. The rest of the book was equally great, and was a wonderful learning experience for me. It taught me many things, but most of all it taught me how great storytellers tell great stories. The lessons that the writer and the reader learn together in the telling of the tale are fairly self evident, and don't need to be retold here. It is a brave book, told by a courageous and extraordinary writer and man. I didn't take a vacation this summer, but I read The Water is Wide. And it was one of the finest trips I've ever taken.

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Summary: Conroy on Yamacraw
Review: I liked this book a lot and being a highschool sophmore I believe that it is a good book for students my age to read. I liked the way it had problems that were soon solved and they had a good number of characters. Although I did think that it was kind of confusing with all of the kids in the class I still loved all their personalities. All in all i believe that The Water is Wide is a good book and that many people should read it. I read it in about 3 days and i loved it!!!

Rating:
Summary: Bring your dictionary
Review: I read this in high school and it was the first novel that made me understand the necessity of all the vocabulary tests I'd endured. Conroy's use of language is unparalleled in our time. His stories are intricate and enticing and his words bring them to life. Someday I'd like to thank him for teaching me how to enjoy reading!

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Summary: Another great Conroy book
Review: I really enjoyed this book. I could feel the firey spirit that kept "Conrack" going. I wanted to stand and cheer and applaud his efforts to improve the lives of his students. The story is a great tribute to what great teachers can do. I highly recommend this book.

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Summary: This book was a great experience
Review: I really enjoyed this book. This book helped me understand the many different ways some places were ignored maybe because they were all back or uneducated. In this book I realized how much I take my own education for granted.

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Summary: English class Summer reading
Review: In my opinion the book was just O.K. It had a good story line, but it just didn't appeal to me.

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Summary: Great way to start a writing career...
Review: In Pat Conroy's first book, The Water is Wide, he writes of a universal theme: young idealistic man sets out to change the world and runs into a brick wall. But while this story has been told by other writers, nobody writes with the passion and emotion of Conroy.

The Water is Wide is based on Conroy's experiences of teaching on Daufuskie Island in the late 1960's (thinly disguised as Wamacraw Island in the book). After his application was turned down for the Peace Corps, Conroy applied for a job teaching black children on this isolated sea island off the South Carolina coast. His 18 charges were from the upper elementary grades. What he discovered was an unbelievable shock. These 18 students did not know what country they lived in, the name of their president, or what ocean lapped their beach. Some couldn't read or write, recognize the alphabet, write their names or count to ten. Also, none of these children who lived surrounded by water could swim. Everything Conroy had learned about teaching was obsolete on Daufuskie, and he had to be flexible in his methodology in teaching his students to learn. Unfortunately, he hits one roadblock after another from supervisors, the superintendent, the school board, his only colleague and even the parents (who liked what Conroy was doing, but didn't want their children leaving the island for trips). He also runs into hypocrisy, inertia, prejudice, and jealousy.

While Conroy is trying to teach his students, they are giving him an education as well. While the kids from nearby Beaufort are worrying about the homecoming dance, what costume to wear for Halloween, dating, and a host of other non-serious topics, the Daufuskie kids have to deal with poverty, substandard levels of education, alcoholic parents, violence and a host of very serious issues for children so young. Yet, his students are honest to a fault and very endearing. Conroy is amazed and enlightened to see the world through their eyes.

But Conroy wasn't fated to remain at Daufuskie very long, and not all endings are happy. He claims to have not made much of an impact on his students (most readers will disagree). Much of the pristine Daufuskie Island has been turned into a golfing resort. Many of the same problems still plague the islanders. Yet, his short-lived career as a teacher gave him the story that really began his literary career. Not many young writers can boast that their first commercial effort not only became a major bestseller, but also a major motion picture (Conrack with Jon Voight). Conroy's agent, Julian Bach, first read The Water is Wide and told him that he was a natural writer and would write many more successful books. Bach's crystal ball was certainly working well that day as Conroy has since published The Lords of Discipline, The Great Santini, The Prince of Tides, My Losing Season and Beach Music. It doesn't get any better than that.


Rating:
Summary: All around a great book!
Review: In The Water is Wide, by Pat Conroy, he does a great job of writing about his experiences on an island called Yamacraw where he is faced with difficult challenges. He shows us how he developed a bond with these childreb abd taught them things they may have never known before. I thoroughly enjoyed this book because he made you feel as if you were him and that you were one of the students watching from afar. This book also made me laugh right out loud sometimes, like when the kids would tell him he was crazy or he would try and trick them when he was teaching them something. This book also made me know why I wanted to be a teacher so badly, so I could make a diffrence in kids'lives just like he did.

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Summary: Robert Hill
Review: Mr. Hill, in your statement you say that everyday, Conroycrosses thetreacherous waters between the island and the mainland to bring his kids hope and the education they rightfully deserve. As it says early on, he sleeps at the school. Just anted to add that info.

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Summary: A sensitive story about a battle against ignorance.
Review: My first novel by Pat Conroy. I was really intrigued by this piece of work and I'm not sure exactly why. I guess in thinking back that perhaps that it was simply a well-written novel. Conroy has a fine way with words and a real feel for the plight of people. As a teacher, I had a tough time visualizing the situation on the island, but I had no trouble understanding the politics. I enjoyed this book, talked it up and now I am moving on to PRINCE OF TIDES.