Conroy uses her as a deus ex Ulysses to manipulate her son into meeting, in a 24 hour stretch, the eight friends who form the core of the tale. He awakens from the dreams to befriend a female nurse as he prepares to leave the institution and the traumatic experiences of his life, looking boldly into the future. Dreadful. Just as it appears Leo's life is coming together, Trevor reveals a most damaging revelation - in his pornographic video collection, Trevor finds an old tape inside a sealed case that shows a young Monsignor Max raping Steve around the time of his suicide. I began Pat Conroy's latest novel, South of Broad, with high expectations. Dreadful. South of Broad is a 2009 novel by Pat Conroy. Broad is set in South Carolina and tells the story of his lifelong friendships forged during a fateful summer before his senior year of high school. I didn't know who Pat Conroy was when I received this ARC from Doubleday. Enough already!My first thought when I finished "South of Broad" — yes, spoken aloud to no one (except the author) — was, "Wow, you sure as hell pulled that one out of the fire.
In addition to being a coming-of-age story and character study, the novel also functions as a love letter to Charleston and all its unique residents.
Is anyone else out there reading this right now and finding it irritating? ANother example: in the first 44 pages, a 17-year-old straight boy "skips" no fewer than 3 times. And didn't edit a thing.I suggested this for one of my book clubs after I spent an afternoon in Charleston on a recent road trip. South of Broad (2009), a novel by Pat Conroy, carefully and precisely narrates the life of Leopold Bloom King, a resident of Charleston, South Carolina. This is the weepiest, most melodramatic thing I've ever had the pelasure of laughing my way through at an airport. Leo found his body at a tender age, the trauma of which caused him a breakdown and an extended time out in a mental institution. The dialogue is really bugging me. I know it's not for everyone, but I felt like this was him saying to us, the people who read everything, "I'm OK now." when conroy starts writing dialogue, it all goes flat. For that's what makes Charleston the special place it is today. We’d love your help.
As it opens, he is a lonely teenager in the summer between Junior and Senior year of high school. i gave up. the characters are caricatures. I completely fell in love with Mr. Conroy's descriptions of Charleston. I didn't know who Pat Conroy was when I received this ARC from Doubleday. And some people fall in love with books about falling in love.
Do people really talk like this?
These are the oddest caricatures of Southern "folk" I have read in a long time. The series of events and cast of characters is so hyperbolically implausible that by the time you're in an AIDS flophouse in San Fransisco, you're not even surprised that the zany home-town kids run into an old pal and now drug dealer. Nothing rings at all true in it, despite Conroy's best intentions. I felt the same about Thomas Harris when he was forced to write more Lecter stories because the greedy publishers wanted to make some money off of him. One example: there are two characters named Fraser and Niles. [return][return]To me, in spite of the drama, suspense, mystery, and heartache, this book is about love.
At the time of its launch, reviewers were split on the literary value of According to Conroy's literary agency, soon after the book was released, the publisher remarked: "South of Broad hit all possible best seller list[sic] and is selling at a pass never seen 'this side of Tom Clancy' so to speak. the men are either really, really good, or really, really bad. ANother example: in the first 44 pages, a 17-year-old straight boy "skips" no fewerOh, this book is killing me.
I found the characters to be rich and perplexing, not at all stereotypical as someone else said. Could it be an intentional self mocking parody of his earlier work?
I made it about halfway, trying to talk myself into finishing it. a saga about family with a backdrop of the city conroy so clearly adores, charleston.
I mean, I know he took the i out of "Frasier", but COME ON. I didn't know what to expect, and therefore, I probably have a different opinion than someone who is a huge fan of his work. I was so excited to read this new Conroy, and now it has destroyed my love of him as an author. Leo narrates the tale and keeps on reminding us that he is a shy youth but never shuts up, and his patter is identical to the youthful lead characters in 'The Great Santini' and 'Lords of Discipline'. In my mind that honor is reserved for Anna Karenina, The Grapes of Wrath, Angle of Repose. It brought the city to life "I'll admit it; I've never watched or read The Prince of Tides.
The plot twists and turns like a snake peering at the under layer of humanity's foibles. Having thoroughly cleaned and sanitized our establishment, we have committed to being socially responsible by making adjustments to our dining experience. Thank you to Doubleday and Nan Talese for the opportunity to review this ARC! Despite that, or perhaps because of it, when Conroy finally landed in one place -- that place being Beaufort, South Carolina -- he developed a strong bond with it. Greatly anticipated and greatly loathed. Spend your time rereading an old Conroy novel instead. You know there will be a character named Molly.
Homes for sale in South of Broad, Charleston, SC have a median listing price of $379,000 and a price per square foot of $213.