Beach Music: The Review

Though flawed and not hugely well-known, Pat Conroy's Beach Music is my favourite novel currently. To me it can feel over descriptive and over saturated with details at times, and many reviewers have noted its unintellectual, amateurish feel. Yet, all readers concur that this fantastic novel is beautiful and almost poetic: its rich prose and profoundly wise, historical and social commentations are superb. This is partly due to the fact that Conroy (who also wrote the famous The Prince of Tides which was adapted to the screen also) inhabited South Carolina and Rome as a youth, which act as the settings for this novel. Through this telling notion, the audience can see how his rich accounts of the fictional events within the story may reflect facets of his own eventful story disguised.

It is simply a brilliant, complex work that few writers other than Pat Conroy would even attempt to pull off.

After being enticed by the mesmeric and touching sleeve of my edition (that I found at my local supermarket and gave a charity the madatory £1 for), I read a piece that explained how Nan Talese, Conroy's editor, talk about how it was put together; her telling of how Conroy was impaired by drink and depression during the writing of the book, and her active role in putting the book together makes me wonder in awe at the elegant and grace about Conroy's storytelling. His accounts of major, major events such as the Holocaust, the Vietnam War and issues such as mental illness and suicide all intertwine into a magnificant tale that picks away at life's wounds with sharp wit.

Those who don't like the book usually focus on its length (nearly 800 pages), and what they call the "indistinguishable" brothers. Beach Music may sometimes feel too long but the brutal and tear-jerking storyline is so spectacular one should forget about the length. As for the indistinguishable brothers, it's not their story - it's Jack's story. Yes, Conroy could have made Dallas, Dupree and Tee have more quirks, but who cares? The book is utterly rich with wonderful, memorable characters: Jack, Shyla, Lucy, Jordan, George and Ruth Fox, Max Rusoff, Capers, Leah and more.

The incredible characterisation of Jack McCall and his four brothers depict wonderful moments of grief, pain, acceptance and hilarious banter, but one of my favourite times in the novel must be with the loggerheads and their eggs; such a natural event is so well used to 'metaphorise' life's tendecies and great griefs.

Conroy's evocation of the impact of the Vietnam War on college campuses (and Jack and his friends) at the turn of the 70's is not only hauntingly accurate with its instant radicals and infiltrating cops (I've done the research), it is the hub around which the entire brilliant narrative turns.

Whilst many may not view this novel as artful, exquisite or even good storytelling, it is a favourite of mine and has a healing quality that many novels attempt to have but fail to reach. To me, a reader and writer who has only read this one Conroy novel, Beach Music has a beautiful, vivid, extremely pleasant and rewarding story; filled with lovely moments, filthy characters, aesthetic settings and everything in between. The novel amalgamates the best and worst of humankind, and Conroy's story, whether personal or fictional, is remarkable.

Close second: Dan Brown's widely celebrated novel The Da Vinci Code for its intense and incredible tale and short, punchy chapters which tie all narrative strands perfectly.

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