One thing that I refuse to do on this blog is provide any spoilers. The whole point is to recommend/not recommend a book without giving too much information--I refuse to read through Amazon reviews until after I've read a book for the same reason. I want you to be able to read my recommendations without worrying that something in the post will spoil anything in the book. I'm going to push that policy here a little.
First, Prince of Tides is one of my all time favorites. Top 50 for me--not top 1 or 2. Pat Conroy is a great author, probably one of the best of his generation. So this recommendation pains me.
The good. Conroy still writes very well. He captures his setting--Charleston--beautifully, and his love for the city comes through in the writing.
Also, there are themes in the book that previous Conroy readers will find all too familiar. Psychologically damaged characters, particularly due to childhood experiences. Daddy issues. Mommy issues. Personal histories of violence.
The main problems here are that (1) the characters are caricatures--way too predictable and (2) the plot is unncessarily and shockingly contrived. I'm still not sure where the book "went." I hated the ending. The character development is also contrived, particularly when Conroy jumps between different time periods and works way too hard to fill in the blanks that the reader is going to need.
All of these are effortless in previous Conroy books. The characters were flawed, yes, but imperfectly flawed and unpredictable. Here, they are predictably flawed, and there are no surprises.
If you want a well written book, and if you just can't help yourself because you are a Conroy fan, give it a try. Otherwise, make sure that you've read Conroy's previous books before you feel the need to pick up his newest.
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