MY READING LIFE: PAT CONROY

I am not sure how I feel about Pat Conroy as a writer after reading MY READING LIFE.  Though he rambled on about precision and concision, this book is most certainly overwritten, a paean so to speak to Thomas Wolfe, his Look Homeward Angel, which became the model for much of Conroy's fiction.  I don't remember this being so in his early works, THE WATER IS WIDE, THE GREAT SANTINI and THE LORDS OF DISCIPLINE though I did feel this verbosity in THE PRINCE OF TIDES, the last novel of his that I have read, other than his MY LOSING SEASON, his story about his senior year at The Citadel when he played on their losing basketball team, a favorite of mine.

I did enjoy his chapter set in Paris, where he was finishing up THE LORDS OF DISCIPLINE, probably because he mentioned going to two restaurants that I am sure we went to when we spent our three weeks in Versaille.  I assume Manuel mentioned them to us, Vagenende and Le Procope.  He also mentioned spending lots of time on the Rue Mouffetard, at the markets,  which I also seem to remember.  Ah, nostalgia.

He did make me want to reread two books GONE WITH THE WIND  and WAR AND PEACE, two books that he waxed most eloquently about.  I know my brother in law Walt has either finished or is finishing WAR AND PEACE, probably because he read this book as well.  A reader comes away wanting to go back and read, like Conroy, hoping to find that book which will change your life.  For Conroy, it was these two books, the poet James Dickey, and most of the classics.  I did not realize how well read Conroy was, how he set a goal for himself when he was sixteen, of two hundred pages a day, and keeps it up, even today.

I also knew lots of his books were autobiographical but he gets very personal in this book and we realize THE GREAT SANTINI if anything was understated.  Conroy hated his Marine father most of his life, especially when he was a teenager and the hatred seems to have been reciprocated, as his father beat him, made fun of him for reading books, cheered for the opposing team when he played basketball, and made him go to THE CITADEL, a military academy, all with the idea of making a man of him.  I was 'sort of' recruited by THE CITADEL back in 1960, for a few weeks dreamed of wearing the uniform (it gradually wore off), but if I had pursued it, I would have been in his class, on his team.

We learn mostly about a couple of great teachers, both who changed his life, one kind of a Mac figure up introduced Conroy to life, to history, books, racism, music and art.  It began a life long friendship and one of the things I admire about Conroy is his loyalty to his friends.  He talks about a great bookstore in Atlanta, one of a kind, where artists gathered, read their poems or books, socialized and just hung out, the kind that no longer exist.

His life does not sound enviable despite his success, as his has had numerous break downs, contemplated suicide a number of times, and has had four marriages if I am counting correctly.  Coming from his background of a tyrant for a father, a bruised mother, who loved her son, wanted him to become the reader and writer she had always dreamed of, but was locked in a marriage to a man she hated, a life she was not meant for, it's no wonder he was so screwed up.  He loved his mother fiercely but I get the feeling their was more to their relationship, things he does not tell us about her treatment of him.  It makes you feel lucky to have a normal childhood..

He seems to have mellowed, as he is close to seventy now, happily married, living on Fripp Island with his fourth wife, grandchildren, and a house filled with books.  I assume he mourns the ebbing of his creative juices as he has not had a great book since THE PRINCE OF TIDES, if that's a great book.  I will remember him for reminding of the importance of a story, something I preach and agree with all my heart.  It's the story that pulls us in, carries us along, makes us want to read.  Too much of both fiction and film forget this, as they play with structure, with beginnings and middles and endings, and pay little attention to story and character.  I will say this for Conroy, his early novels and characters were compelling and unforgettable, which is why I devoured them.  A good read.

I forgot to mention two things.  He's the first writer that I know of who has read and loved all twelve novels of Anthony Powell's magnum opus, THE DANCE TO THE MUSIC OF TIME, a set of novels that I absolutely loved reading when I was in Turkey.  Conroy even mentions the unforgettable scoundrel Widmerpool, a character I used to tell my classes about.  I even taught the first novel, A Question of Upbringing, to one of my senior classes.  His reading choices parallel many of mine, though he certainly has read a lot more than me, which has made this book personally interesting for me.  And we read them in about the same time in our lives.

Finally, after reading that he had a cookbook, I popped on my computer, went to Amazon and with one click, ordered it and it should be here tomorrow.  No discipline.