A memoir of the author?s Marine, jet-fighter dad and growing up in a military family. His dad was loud, egotistical, hard-drinking, controlling, and crude. Yet, he loved his family very much. But when he was drunk or when he felt his orders were not being met, he was abusive, both mentally and physically. A good read.

First edition signed to future teacher , EXLIB. Good

I am a big Conroy fan but somehow had never read this classic. I don't know what it says about my childhood but frankly after all I've heard about his father's abusive nature I was left thinking "Gee, he didn't seem so bad." Hmmm... ( )

I cannot remember ever bailing on a book after putting in 265 pages and making 56%. I would have certainly stopped sooner had it not been Pat Conroy and a group read. I regret to say, this book is garbage. I kept waiting for the good writing and meaningful story to kick in, but it did not.

I have loved Conroy. [b:The Prince of Tides|16735|The Prince of Tides|Pat Conroy|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1512744907l/16735._SY75_.jpg|1312477], [b:The Water is Wide|129947|The Water is Wide|Pat Conroy|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1347578693l/129947._SY75_.jpg|1414582] and [b:Beach Music|16729|Beach Music|Pat Conroy|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1426903848l/16729._SY75_.jpg|2707941] were all fine reads for me; I am totally happy I did not start with Santini, or I would never have gotten to those. This book is meant to be autobiographical, and I am closing it with admiration for Conroy if this is truly what he rose above. If I have ever encountered a less appealing, more appalling character than Bull Meecham, I cannot remember where it was. But it goes beyond that...I feel not the least bit of anything for a single one of these people, not Bull, not Lillian, and not any of the children, least of all the smart ass, Mary Anne, or pitiful "golden boy", Ben.

The book contains non-stop, pervasive vulgar language and coarse behavior. I do not think this is typical of Marines. I worked with military men for quite a long time, and I found officers were indeed gentlemen, and if this kind of language or attitude was common, it must have been reserved for times when no women were present, because it was never on display before us. I would find it very sad to think Bull Meecham typified our Marines.

In defense of myself, here is a sample of the kind of paragraphs that are repeated time and again, page after page:

So the Krauts fried a couple of Jews. Big deal. It was war. We fried Germans in Berlin and Dresden. We fried Japs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki and I mean, sportsfans, we done fried ‘em like eggs there, no pootin’ around. In every war someone gets fried. The Jews got it from the Krauts. In war, there ain’t no morals. There are just winners, losers, and those that got their asses fried sunny side up.”

I do not find this to be clever writing and I believe there is only so much needed to illuminate how disgusting your main character is before we all get the idea.

”You have four fine children.”
“I want the boys to become good soldiers and the girls to be fine pieces of tail for their husbands.”

No father who would say that about his daughters deserves to be read about. I’m out. ( )

The Great Santini is a story about a marine fighter pilot who values being a marine fighter pilot above being a husband or father (or one imagines anything else for that matter). Set in the '60's and 70's in the American South, the story features racial conflict almost as much as the story of a hard drinking, stern, toxically masculine leader of a family that isn't really sure whether they love the man or hate him at any given time. Many of the familial explorations are started but left uncompleted, leaving the reader wishing the thoughts had been more fully formed. It comes to a somewhat predictable end (in my view) without ever explaining the origin of the nickname. Some interesting side plots make for an interesting tale, but overall it's not a novel that I never wanted to end. ( )