The Great Santini

By: Pat Conroy

Narrated by: Michael Crouch

Length: 18 hrs and 4 mins

Publisher's summary

“Conroy takes aim at our darkest emotions, lets the arrow fly and hits a bull’s-eye almost every time.” —Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

This is the story of Bull Meecham, the epitome of the Marine officer. Demanding, authoritarian, as tough a disciplinarian at home as at the base, Bull is a difficult man to please, and even harder to love. This is also the story of Ben Meecham, Bull’s oldest son. A gifted athlete whose best never satisfies his father, Ben must balance his own ambition with his father’s expectations – and decide what course he will chart for himself and what kind of man he will become. Piercing, bittersweet, and unforgettable, The Great Santini is Pat Conroy’s semi-autobiographical lens into fathers and sons, and the powerful legacy one man can leave behind.

“Robust and vivid…full of feeling.” – Newsday

“Few novelists write as well, and none as beautifully.” – Lexington Herald Leader

©1976 Pat Conroy (P)2023 HarperCollins Publishers

Still Santini, Still Great

It was such a joy to see Audible adding this to the Library.
Pat Conroy is my favorite writer, and his words evoke all emotions, and actually enable me to see, hear, and smell the scenes as written. You feel like you are in the story.

Incredible

Great character development and interplay. A book written from the heart to all types of families.

A Heartbreaking, Yet Beautiful Story

A wonderful deliberation on how we still love those who are cruel to us. Conroy's elegant prose is vividly descriptive and paints an amazing picture of the Lowcountry. He quickly invests the reader emotionally into his characters. My only dislike was that at times the characters spoke so much I became disinterested and skipped ahead. But overall the book is great. That you can hate, and like, a character as much as Bull Meechum is a testament to Conroy's skill as a writer

Didn't expect that!

I love to read and listen to Pat Conroy. I can't say this is an all time favorite but I certainly wasn't expecting the ending.

Bigotry Overload

I can not believe the author used such vile language. If Bull was big shot why would he use N word and antisemitism. Would he not be above such language. Very disappointed in Bull’s treatment of wife and children.

Captures a time and place despite weak narrator

I read this novel not long after it first came out and looked forward to listening to it these many years later. When I began listening, I wasn't sure I'd be able to continue due to Michael Crouch's tearful voice. His way of showing emotion is to sound as if he's about to cry or holding back tears, a sound that's entirely inappropriate to this novel. The best I can say is that he's good at women's voices.

As for the book itself, one of its many strengths is the way it portrays Bull Meecham (Santini) as both an individual and an embodiment of the Navy culture at the time, where insults and violence were ways of showing affection, where any kind of weakness could not be shown (and kindness was a weakness). Yet Conroy doesn't condemn this man from a superior height, even while showing the terrible damage he inflicts on his family; Conroy shows him as he is.

The town of Ravenel is like a character in itself, with immense natural beauty and small town attitudes. The most disturbing, and not particularly necessary, character is the one Jew, a friend of Bull's son Ben, who is annoying and obnoxious, portrayed as obsessed with the sex he never gets. Ultimately, he is pitiable. I wouldn't go so far as to say the portrayal of this character is antisemitic, but it does contain some of the worst tropes.

Was wary at first, but loved it!

I absolutely loved this story, the very real characters, and portrayal of the old South. I highly recommend it.

Wonderful

Michael Crouch’s narration is way beyond excellent. I was totally captivated by his storytelling. Great book.

Wonderful

Excellent writing and story telling. Pat Conroy is a wizard with words. One more excellent work by this author.

Good story,

I've read a lot of Pat Conroy over the years and don't know how or why I missed this one. It is a good story with engaging characters. I wasn't over the moon about the narrator but was determined to listen to the book.

Not for the faint of heart as it is raw and gritty and is set during a time when language wasn't as PC as it is now.