Pat Conroy

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14 comments:

Anonymous said...

I really enjoyed reading Conroy for my author thesis paper. I read the three books: The Great Santini, The Prince of Tides, and The Lords of Discipline. I enjoyed each of the books but they were each somewhere between 500 and 700 pages so leaving them to the last couple of days to read was a big mistake on my part. I thought they were all really good and it was convenient when writing the paper that they all have alot of similar themes and characters. Conroy's writing can be kind of dense because he uses alot of big vocabulary but it's still understandable and for the most part easy to read. My least favorite book was probably The Prince of Tides which was also the longest. It was my least favorite becuase it was so long and tended to get slow at points. But I would definitely recommend reading Conroy.

Anonymous said...

I thought Conroy was a really interesting author to read. His books include a lot about the military, so if your not into that then I wouldn't read him. They are all pretty long, so you have to be committed to reading them when you go into it, and make sure you stick to your deadlines. I read The Great Santini, Lords of Discipline and Water is Wide which was actually an autobiography. The Lords of Discipline was my favorite, the end was pretty unexpected. Conroy tries to make you really understand and empathize with his main character, mainly because he has lived a lot of the things he is writing about. All in all Conroy is a really interesting author and a good choice for the thesis.

Ethan(Rose) said...

My experience reading Pat Conroy was very enjoyable and I am glad I chose him as my author. I chose Conroy because of his military themed books and that subject was very appealing to me as a reader. I chose to read three of his books: The Lords of Discipline, The Great Santini and South of Broad. When considering Conroy as a possible choice, keep in mind that his books are close to 550 pages each and take a considerable amount of time to read and analyze. They are not difficult books to read but keep in mind they take more than a couple of nights to read. I would recommend Conroy to future writers because of his novels compelling plots and insightful characters. Throughout his books there are multiple themes that you can pick up on and extensive evidence to back them up. Overall, I would definitely recommend Pat Conroy to future readers.

Anne (Bennett) said...

I liked reading Conroy for my author thesis. I read The Prince of Tides, Water is Wide, and The Boo. The Prince of Tides and Water is Wide are very lengthy (400-700 pages), so make sure to stick to the deadlines so you don't fall behind. The Boo was a quick read (150 pages I think) but was Conroy's first piece so it is mostly random stories about a military college. I thought these books connected really well, which made it helpful when I started writing because they all have similar themes about neglect and abuse. I would keep in mind The Prince of Tides can be hard to read because some of the topics are disturbing. Overall, I think Conroy is a good author, I would just warn future readers of lengthy text and harsh topics.

connor(Anderson) said...

145 words
Connor Darcey
Pat Conroy writes all about the military, and the type of lifestyles that you live when you are involved with the military. I read The Great Santini and The Lords of Displine, these books were semi challenging and they were also were long in length, they were between 500-700 pages. The books themselves were not hard to read because I enjoyed the topic that Conroy was writing about, military. Writing about Conroy’s novels was not very challenging because I could take so much from each book and relate it to something else that had to do with military. I think people who enjoy reading about military and who enjoy that topic should enjoy reading Conroy’s novels, they are very strong in language and very intriguing. I would make sure you read your books closer and think take very strong notes for each of your books.

Abby (Brown) said...

I loved reading Pat Conroy for my author thesis! His books are a little long, but it is worth it if you enjoy the author. The books connected well, and they were interesting, but keep in mind that they deal with many sensitive topics. Conroy is a great choice if you are interested in the military lifestyle.

Clara (Mr.Cluff) said...

I loved Pat Conroy’s books and I really enjoyed having him as my author in this project. Out of the five books I read, The Prince of Tides and Beach Music were my favorite. Pat Conroy is the ideal author for those who would rather read lengthy books that are quick and easy to read, instead of reading short and hard novels. While the reading part of Author Thesis may be long if you choose Pat Conroy, the writing process is easy because Conroy’s novels share a lot of common themes that are very deep and easy to connect with one another. There is a common belief that Conroy’s novels are based on war and military, which is not necessarily true as some of Conroy’s recurring themes are friendship, family, love and suicide.

Anonymous said...

Pat Conroy's books are very entertaining whether or not there is anything but dialogue in the scene, Conroys focus on relationships makes the talking only scenes just as, much if not more entertaining then every other scene. His book are not too long nor are they too difficult to read from a diction standpoint, but his books do focus on heavy issues in a very realistic way. You can read his books relatively quickly, but I found myself having to pause at some intense moments. When you are done reading Pat Coneoy's books you come away with a clear and thought provoking/deep theme that is apparent in most of his books at least all the ones I read. (Children of Discipline, My Losing Season, and The Great Santini.)
Ben Kannel

Maggie (Anderson) said...

Pat Conroy writes long, but interesting novels that are worth the time. I read Lords of Discipline, South of Broad, Prince of Tides, and The Great Santini. The books were easier to read then they were to write about, but neither reading nor writing was particularly difficult. While it was difficult to think of a thesis, once the organizer was complete, it was easy to complete the actual writing portion of the assignment. Conroy writes about family, the south, and the military as well as other topics. The topics in themselves are interesting, and his writing style is beautiful. If you choose Pat Conroy, I would suggest taking care to provide yourself with enough time to read and analyze his novels, because the majority are more than 500 pages. Also keep in mind that Conroy writes about sensitive topics that may be difficult to read about. I would recommend Pat Conroy for the American Author Thesis Project.

Alex (Anderson) said...

Pat Conroy
Although the length of Pat Conroy’s novels may appear intimidating at first, each one is intricately designed to be full of twists, action and suspense. They hardly ever drone on, every page is worth reading, and Conroy’s style of writing is easy to follow despite the occasional challenging vocab. The three books I read, The Great Santini, The Lords of Discipline and The Prince of Tides all closely relate in theme and plot. He can be very graphic, gruesome and suspenseful; but also insightful and thoughtful in his writing. The stories are meticulously crafted and always have interesting dialogue and action scenes to keep the reader interested, as well as relatable struggles involving abusive family relationships. If you choose Conroy (which I highly recommend you do), map out daily time periods to read, as you might forget one of the many important details in the story if you don’t read frequently enough.

Ellen Tierney said...

Pat Conroy is an excellent author to choose for the author thesis. His books quite long (500-700 pages), but have many themes packed into each page. Don't get discouraged by the length of the books because when the writing process starts you will have lots of quotes and themes to analyze. In addition, his themes can be dark and disturbing; there is a lot of depression, death, abuse, and lack of love. If you are looking for cheerful books, Conroy is definitely not for you. Conroy shows these themes in beautiful language, but at times you may need to slow down in order to completely understand it. I read The Prince of Tides, The Lords of Discipline, and The Water is Wide. I’m not a big reading fan and I wasn't expecting to love his books, but I was pleasantly surprised.

Anonymous said...

Pat Conroy is an interesting writer whose novels, while long, contain thought provoking relationships and stories. The themes of depression, abusive relationships, and family come up in multiple of Conroy’s works and his common use of similar themes make relating his books to each other easy. If you are good at remembering the details of a book days after you have read it, reading novels by Conroy will be much easier. By understanding the details of the text it allows you to feel a sort of sympathy for the characters. Because my situation did not match that of any of the characters, the gruesome twists and turns in Conroy’s novels kept me intrigued the whole time I was reading. If you can handle darker novels and don't mind taking the time to reread parts of a book in order to understand it, then Conroy is for you.

Anonymous said...

Pat Conroy is an excellent choice for the American author thesis paper. First off, don't be thrown off by the length of his books. Yes, they are quite long (400-700 pages), but I promise you they are all a breeze to read through, and the way he builds up his characters is fantastic. Second, it is easy to find a surface level argument that connects any of the 2/3 books you read, but going deeper to find Conroy's true argument really takes a closer reading and analysis of the text. Third, Conroy writes his novels through a lens based on his own childhood/adolescent experience. Although this may seem like a great point to add into your paper, just a word to the wise, please remember that you cannot use any outside information on your author, or by your author that isn't the books you are reading. Personally, I enjoyed the style of Conroy's work and how I was able to connect to the main character while reading, making it that much more interesting to me. I read Beach Music The Lords of Discipline, and The Great Santini, and I highly recommend Pat Conroy if you enjoy novels with a unique, flowing, straightforward writing style, and fantastic character buildup.

Kayla Johnston said...

Pat Conroy is an excellent author to chose for your American Author Thesis project! He has a great variety of book to chose from that have dozens of overlapping themes. An interesting feature of his books is there are many hidden messages throughout his novels under the surface of text. This causes the reader to dig in and analyze, that later helps them understand the greater meaning of the themes and book. The books are lengthy and not considered a quick read due to the level of depth in the text but they are well worth the read! I read The Water Is Wide and South of Broad and was pleasantly surprised by how well the books intertwined with each other and the amazing story lines!

American Author Thesis

Now that you have written your essay, we ask that you reflect on the reading portion of the experience and write 100-150 words about your author.

Think of what you write as advice for someone next year and beyond, someone who (like you were doing last fall) is thinking about choosing your author - and maybe even the same three books - to read for the assignment.