"My Losing Season" by Pat Conroy

LTBF · Apr 25, 2003

I am almost through reading this brilliant book by this brilliant southern writer. It is really a semi-autobiographical telling of his own life with his sadistic father and his adored but almost totally useless mother.

I intend now to go back and reread all his novels, with an eye toward understanding them better in light of what I have learned from My Losing Season.

His crafting of the English language is masterful. I will (later) share some of his wonderful sentences with readers on this board.

ROLL TIDE FOREVER!

LTBF · Apr 25, 2003

I have now finished reading My Losing Season, and the finale is breathtaking. I defy anyone who loves his country to read the last chapter, entitled "A New Game," without bawling like a baby.

His credits, though, are a little off-putting. He says, of his "Alabama family," that he will never say "Roll Tide." Let's hope that somebody can change his mind about that. What a shame to go through life without having that delicious experience!

ROLL TIDE FOREVER!

bobstod · Apr 25, 2003

Caroline, I hope you caught my reply on non-sports. I really enjoyed Season, and Prince of Tides is one of my all-time favorite books.

I will look forward to your comments.

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ALABAMA : Tradition ; Class ; A name to respect in College Football

LTBF · Apr 25, 2003

Bob, I knew I had made a post on Season, but I couldn't find it. I can't understand why I put it on NonSports. I'm just losing it, I guess. Oldtimers disease, as they say!

I am going to reread his novels in the order in which they were written, I think.

The Hoover Southern Writers Conference is a well-known event in my hometown, and it is indeed where Pat Conroy met his current wife. He had better learn to say "Roll Tide", though! I could not believe that he made that remark!

ROLL TIDE FOREVER!

[This message has been edited by LTBF (edited April 25, 2003).]

bobstod · Apr 25, 2003

Caroline, the gist of what I said on the other post was that unless you have read Conroy's other novels, and become interested in him as a writer and a person; you might not enjoy Season. It is even MORE personal and revealing about his painful life than his other books, which, at least, couched the events in a fictitious setting.

My brother Tom (Turnaround) said "Conroy does not know moderation"! He was referring, of course, to the drastic portrayals in his works of stern, abusive fathers and spiteful, ulterior (crazy) mothers.

Either he does a VERY good job of making stuff up; or he had parents who should have been institutionalized. I think he's a great writer; but I also think his parents must have been much as he describes, don't you? He has so much pain!

I thought Season was fascinating purely because it gave me some insight into the man who was able to write Prince of Tides. Of course, it was also extremely well-written. Eventually I will read Tides again; I have read it twice, but the last time was several years ago.

Looking forward to your further comments...

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ALABAMA : Tradition ; Class ; A name to respect in College Football

LTBF · Apr 29, 2003

Bob, I have almost finished rereading
The Great Santini. In light of his comments on this novel in My Losing Season, I was interesting in reviewing how he portrayed his father. I read the book so many years ago that I couldn't be sure exactly what I remembered.

Season made his father seem a monster. I can hardly remember a more sadistic character anywhere. He comments in Season that his father was shocked about how he was portrayed in the earlier novel,and that it made his change his life somewhat, using the book as a kind of roadmap, and repairing his relationship with his family.

I couldn't help but wonder what his father would have thought about Season, if he had lived long enough to read it.

Somehow I feel that Season represents Conroy's best memories of his family life. What a sad and pathetic disfunctional family that must have been.

BTW, I loved the movie The Great Santini a lot. I need now to rent it, and see it again.

ROLL TIDE FOREVER!

SCrammerjammer · May 23, 2003

I know about his life. I was totally bored and wound up scanning most of it. I've read the others and am a huge fan of Prince of Tides. This one just didn't do it for me. Too much verbage for too little story. His father was right...at least this one is no Faulkner. Sorry. But, I have Prince of Tides tabbed for great come-backs and excellent ways to talk about certain topics. Prince is priceless. This one is OK, but will end up at the yard sale.

[This message has been edited by SCrammerjammer (edited May 23, 2003).]

The Tusk · Jun 10, 2003

I lived The Great Santini as a kid (right down to the bouncing the ball (soccer in my case) off of my head while saying "So, are you gonna cry? C'mon, momma's boy, are you gonna cry?"), so I read the book and watched the film alternately laughing and slightly chagrined. Of course, I watched the film with my dad, so the laughter was muted...

TiderinVA · Jun 30, 2003

I've read a couple of his books (Prince of Tides and Lords of Discipline) and liked them but he strikes me as a guy who has a real love/hate relationship with the South. I'll never understand that. While I would say that the South has had some not so good days (slavery, segregation, lynchings), there is much to love about the South (best looking women, great weather, manners, best football, sweet tea, barbeque, etc). I tell my kids constantly that they should thank God they were born in the South.

LTBF · Jun 30, 2003

TiderinVA, I agree with you 100%. Read Beach Music and you'll see that theme further elaborated and expanded.

Then there is the love/hate relationship with his father, which strikes me mostly as hate. but maybe his hatred is really directed toward the Marine Corps.

Thank God for the South! May it truly rise again!

ROLL TIDE FOREVER!

TiderinVA · Jul 2, 2003

I read part of Beach Music but had to stop, just too dark and depressing. I did notice the love/hate thing there too.

LTBF · Jul 4, 2003

Beach Music got better as you went along, I thought. All Conroy's works have that funny/dark dichotomy, it seems.

As with The Tusk, I alternately laughed and cried with The Great Santini. I did not read (yet) The Prince of Tides, but judging from the movie, I would think the laughing part would be muted, and the crying part intensified.

This man is so marked by his experiences growing up that he cannot seem ever to escape them in his fiction. I didn't really realize that until I read My Losing Season.

ROLL TIDE FOREVER!

JD95 · Aug 5, 2003

I think Conroy is one of the great authors of our time.

Santini is probably my favorite book in the world, with Lords of Discipline close behind. I thought My Losing Season was wonderful because it's the closest we come to seeing the real Conroy, rather than a fictitious character that is merely based on Conroy.

Prince of Tides and Beach Music were a little more "out there" as far as I was concerned, but I enjoyed both of them as well.

Don't overlook The Water is Wide, an account of Conroy's experience as a teacher on an isolated barrier island off North Carolina. It's a quick read, and it's terrific. Like My Losing Season, The Water is Wide really sheds light on Conroy's values as a person.

LTBF · Sep 13, 2003

I agree. I loved The Water is Wide. It is right up there with The Great Santini as one of my favorites. Pat Conroy is such a SOUTHERN writer that it is easy to identify with him. Then too, he is almost my exact contemporary, so it is easy to see the world through his eyes.

ROLL TIDE FOREVER!

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