The best audio book that I've ever listened to!

books:


	• Beach Music Pat Conroy Dial Press Trade Paperback, 2002 - 784 pages average customer review:based on 286 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Excellent!! A must read!!

Not only my favorite Conroy novel, but my favorite novel period! This is an excellent book that hooks you with the first line and carries that through the entire book.

I recommend this novel to everyone. It paints a beautiful picture of the South and tells a beautiful story.

Like listening to the ocean

"Beach Music" is the story of Jack McCall, who is forced, through the illness of his mother, to confront his past. This takes him from Italy back to South Carolina, where he spent the first 30 odd years of his life, before leaving with his young daughter to escape his family and southern culture. In the process of confronting his past he discovers reasons his wife took her own life, and begins the healing process of accepting his family for who they are; for their positive aspects as well as shortcomings. The story gradually unfolds as the reader begins to learn more about the complexities and hurtful past of much of his family. The writing is beautiful, and the characters are gripping. This story will suck you in, and won't spit you out until you come to understand the tortured past of Jack's family, and reasons his beloved wife jumped from a bridge to end her life.

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Not sure why all the rave reviews...

Being impressed by the Prince of Tides I was eager to read this book. Unfortunately, I found Beach Music to be overly sappy, unrealistic, and replete with shallow unlikable characters.

The protagonist, Jack McCall, is trying to heal his wounds from the 'shocking' suicide of his wife Shyla. The fact that she was in and out of mental institutions during their youth should have been a heads up to her mental instability, but Jack never seemed to make that connection. Jack's overly precocious eight year old daughter is this little powerhouse of wisdom that causes the reader to grind their teeth and groan in response to her little quips. Also, Jack and his witty clan of brothers share resentment towards their mother and blames her for `ruining them'. However, Conroy never seems to explain what she did wrong and every flashback Jack has about her is always positive. Caper's actions that caused his friends to dislike him are so unrealistic and absurd and are revealed during an equally preposterous climatic scene that is so overly dramatic that I literally rolled my eyes at the book. My favorite character was John Harding because at least he told it like it is and was entertaining.

Besides being overly verbose and having horrible characterization, the story itself was decent-not great. The childhood flashbacks are done very well as well as the scenes in Italy.

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The best audio book that I've ever listened to!

I would give this book 10 stars if I could! I listened to the audio book over two months ago and not a day goes by that I don't think about some aspect of the story...it will make you laugh and cry! Frank Muller does an outstanding job reading the book. If you've never listened to an audio book, this is the one for you!

A Real Disappointment

Pat Conroy is a masterful story-teller and excellent writer (I encourage everyone to read The Lords of Discipline, the Great Santini, and the Prince of Tides), but this book falls flat from the get-go. At 800 pages, it is ponderous and meandering, at the same time self-serving. There are many superfluous, disjointed happenings - the Airport attack, for instance. Most of the characters are just "too" - too beautiful, too clever, too horrendous, too crazy; and they, while almost completely fleshed out, are still unbelievable. I found myself rolling my eyes through the first 300 pages or so. As for the plot, the reader is manhandled and beaten into submission from the very beginning. While there are many beautiful phrases and scenes (thank you, Pat), there are few real subtleties at all.

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reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, page 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17

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