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Pat Conroy

The Prince of Tides

January 12, 2015 by admin Leave a Comment

PrinceOfTides

The Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy is an unforgettable book. I read it for the first time in the nineties, just before the movie came out. And the movie definitely left a lasting impression too —all that gorgeous South Carolina salt marsh country, all watery tall grass and shrimp boats moving through it. So when I got to South Carolina for this literary road trip, I knew I wanted to re-read this novel. It had already left its mark. And I knew that this novel would evoke the essential feel of the low country of South Carolina better than anything I could imagine. I knew it even before I cracked open the cover this time.

From the first page, set on a South Caroline sea island, Conroy’s descriptions dropped me right into the salt water and had me swimming through the fishy, primordial humid air. I remember that the action of the story revolved around a twisted Southern family, but I had forgotten just how brutal the Wingos of Colleton had been to each other. And the language is so lyric and lush. Only rarely could I feel the hard work of the writer crafting those marvelous poetic sentences. Most of the time I just rolled with them, vivid portraits of life growing up in that small island in the south:

 

The island country where I grew up was a fertile, semitropical archipelago that gradually softened up the ocean for the grand surprise of the continent that followed. Melrose was only one of sixty sea islands in Colleton County. . . . The other sea islands, like Melrose, enscarved by vast expanses of marshland, were the green sanctuaries where brown and white shrimp came to spawn in their given seasons. . . .

. . . the river was panther-colored at dawn and it sang to the town in soft canticles of those tides that bore us gloriously out toward the breakers beyond the most beautiful sea islands in the world.

courtesy:https://www.facebook.com/southcarolinasc
courtesyhttps://www.facebook.com/southcarolinasc

The prologue begins with this sentence: My wound is geography. It is also my anchorage, my port of call. Lovely.  But the action of the novel begins with a phone call from Tom Wingo’s mother, a call to action for Tom to head to New York where his twin sister, Savannah, is suffering in a mental health facility. She has attempted, again, to kill herself. Once he arrives in New York, Tom tells stories of his childhood to Savannah’s psychiatrist to help the doctor understand the experiences that have brought her to the brink of suicide. While, admittedly, Conroy is adept at showing us a sliver of life in New York — his sister’s apartment near Sheridan Square, the exquisite dining experiences at the best restaurants in the world, the unsurpassed art and music venues —they do not resonate for me quite like the natural beauty of Melrose Island.

And Conroy is a master of suspense. Early on, we learn that the story he’s telling starts out “before Luke.” We wonder first, who is Luke and once we’ve established Luke as Tom’s eldest sibling, we wonder, through all of the fantastic stories of their youth, running wild on the island, shrimping with their father, growing up with a tiger as a pet/mascot, the terrifying experience of being stalked by an evil giant, their high school years of football and the tight bond that exists between them, we are occasionally reminded of Luke. We know that something terrible has happened to Luke and we keep reading, not only because we are fascinated by this family, but also because we need to know what happened to Luke that could possibly be worse, more shocking, than the beatings and cruelty that is the very fiber that weaves this family together.

As we come to know the Wingos, we come to understand just how damaged Tom and his twin sister have become. First there’s Henry Wingo, twisted family patriarch. Conroy describes Henry as a typical southern man, the product of his birthplace. And the more I read about Henry, the more I think, this man cannot be typical. He’s exceptional in his cruelty. But Conroy suggests that simply being a male in the South explains this brutal behavior. It’s as if Conroy, through Tom, wants us to forgive his father Henry because he just can’t help himself. Tom’s mother, who has suffered greatly at the hands of her husband, makes excuses for him too, but different excuses. She tells Tom that his father can’t help himself because his own mother deserted him when he was a boy. She says, “Your grandmother created a crime against nature. . . .  you can trace all his problems back to that day he woke up and found that he no longer had a mama to feed and care for him. That’s why he’s mentally ill. That’s why he acts like a beast sometimes. . . “

And, too, Tom’s heartbreakingly beautiful mother, Lila, married too young to the once charming but increasingly brutal Henry Wingo, is also a product of the South.  Lila Wingo grew up poor. Her main goal in life is to become rich, to enjoy all the privileges of wealth. She tries so hard to become part of the local upper class in Colleton that it’s heartbreaking. At first, I think that the real villain in the novel is meant to be Tom’s dad, but the deeper I delve into the narrative, the more I think his mother is even more complicit in the Wingo family tragedy. Lila appears to love her children but she allows them to be beaten by their father and then she lies about it. The lies and secrecies are what really destroy each member of this family.

courtesyhttps://www.facebook.com/southcarolinasc
courtesyhttps://www.facebook.com/southcarolinasc

 

Ultimately, Conroy believes that it is geography, the South itself, which has shaped and wounded the Wingos: “We were born to a house of complication, drama and pain. We were typical southerners. In every southerner, beneath the veneer of cliché lies of much deeper motherlode of cliché. But even cliché is overlaid with enormous power when a child is involved.”

And this reminds me of the difference between the North and South as described by someone I know well who has moved to a different southern state:  “In the South they have what they call civility, which is what we call hypocrisy.” Another chiché, of course, but one with which, I believe, Conroy would agree.

Filed Under: Coast to Coast Tagged With: Pat Conroy, South Carolina low country, The Prince of Tides

Fiction Addiction in South Carolina

December 29, 2014 by admin Leave a Comment

FictionAdditionI’m delighted to take my literary road trip back down south right now — smack dab in the middle of the darkest, coldest and wettest season in the Pacific Northwest. I could use a sun break. I’ll admit that it didn’t take too much online research to find the South Carolina bookstore that sounds just right to me. With a name like Fiction Addiction, how could I miss? I’ll admit to suffering from that same problem myself and having no need for rehab. While I occasionally pick up a nonfiction title, fiction is definitely my addiction. This bookstore seems a natural match.

I read on their website that the owner of Fiction Addiction is from South Carolina originally and that she spent five years in New York working as an editor at St. Martin’s Press — excellent credentials! Also, I’m drawn to the events and other bookish offerings I find listed. First, I notice the “For Local Authors” link: If you are a local author with a publishing contract with a New York publisher, we would love to get an advance reading copy of your forthcoming book so that we can help start some early buzz for you. This bookstore apparently goes out of its way to support local writers and I think that’s awesome. And they don’t only support the big time New York published authors, but also offer creative ways to stock books by local writers and published by indie presses. I like that too. Additional resources for writers include links to the South Carolina Writer’s Workshop and a list of local writing groups with contact information — lovely.

Possibly my favorite offering from this bookstore is called “Book Your Lunch.” This is a program to connect readers with writers by bringing them together over lunch. What a fabulous idea! The bookstore invites authors to a local restaurant to read from or talk about their latest book and follow that with lunch and a book signing. Now that sounds like something we Seattleites could really get into. I’ll keep my fingers crossed that the Elliott Bay Book Company or Third Place Books adds this to their agenda.

Courtesy TravelLandPhotography
Courtesy TravelLandPhotography

And so it is with completely positive feelings that I make the call to Fiction Addiction. The woman who picks up the phone is pleasant and seemsinterested in my project. When I explain that I’m looking for recommendations for a book or two of fiction that is particularly evocative of South Carolina, her initial response is, “Oh my!” She takes some time to consider my request, and I can’t help filling the silence by talking about The Prince of Tides as an example of the kind of book I’m interested in reading. Though I read this novel years ago, I still remember how it dropped me right into the low country, filled with shrimp boats and salt marshes, and how I could practically smell the humid southern air while reading it. The bookseller (I’m sorry I didn’t as her name) admits that she has not read Prince of Tides and I try not to judge that. Instead, I enthusiastically suggest that she add it to her to-read list and reiterate the kind of novel I’m looking for. We talk a little bit about what Greenville is like, she suggests I look up Falls Park in downtown Greenville and so I find this beautiful photo:

After some thought, the woman recommends Dorothea Benton Frank, an author I’m not familiar with, and I suggest she send along whichever of Frank’s titles she likes the best. “She’s very popular around here.” She tells me. “But her books are not exactly literary — more of a beach read.” I tell her that’s fine with me, since I’m on my way to Hawaii soon. As I’m giving her my billing information, I can’t help myself, so I ask her to send along a copy of Prince of Tides, too. It has been so many years since I’ve read that novel. It’s a classic. And it must certainly be one of the best novels set in South Carolina ever. I can’t wait to re-read it.

Filed Under: Book Reviews, Bookstores, Coast to Coast Tagged With: Dorothea Benton Frank, Fiction Addiction, Pat Conroy, Prince of Tides, South Carolina bookstores

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