This month’s book was a work of fiction that offered us a
trip back to 1960s America in the South.
The book focuses on a boy coming of age within a strict military family,
specifically a Marine Air Corps family stationed in Beaufort, South Carolina. The book’s title refers to the family’s
patriarch, Colonel Bull Meechum (nicknamed the Great Santini), who commands his
family as though they are another group of young pilots he must whip into
Marines. The book is a thinly-veiled account
of Pat Conroy’s own childhood growing up in such a family.
MBC’s comments focused on Ben Meechum, Bull’s teenage son
facing the age-old conflict of children finding their place and voice within a
strong patriarchal family. The book
seemed to hit home with MBC as all us are old enough to have grown up in those
times. And all of us are sons and
fathers. The book should be read within
the context of the era the book was written/published – 1976 – well before many
of the “tell all” Mommy Dearest genre books arrived and the book’s stark
description of black life and policing in the South were not common.
Larry hosted this first MBC gathering of 2022 at his home yesterday. The weather cooperated and we were able to dine in Larry’s backyard on a beautiful Marin Sunday afternoon with a Mt. Tam backdrop. And while no mint juleps were seen, Larry did his best to provide a taste of the South with BBQ steaks, grits topped with collard greens, and finishing with homemade pecan pie topped with just churned vanilla ice cream. The Meechums of the book would have been right at home.
The book was generally well received by MBC and reflected the old writers’ adage of “write what you know.” Or in this case write what you lived through, for Ben Meechum reflects the experience of adolescent Pat Conroy. In several cases the MBC members were able to relate specific aspects of their own childhoods to those of the fictional Meechums.
Doug loved the story but found Conroy’s writing a bit prosaic and dull. Andrew found the trip to the 60’s triggered memories of his own father’s parental style – who grew up in the south and attended West Point. Paul enjoyed it, especially where all the children pile on to stop Bull from bullying their mother. He found the book to have a sense of humor and a nice character study. Tom also enjoyed the character development particularly Bull Meechum – a real piece of work. He found the story well written and readable. Dean thought the book was well written and saw the book as a series of vignettes built around the family’s dynamics. He wondered how we would deal with similar situations today – interfering in a basketball game and dealing with an abusive alcoholic father. Dean also related to the Catholic family and found MaryAnn, the daughter, as compelling a character as Ben. Having recommended the book, Larry also identified with the itinerant nature of military life having grown up near an Air Force Base and seeing how some military kids were forced to uproot their lives every few years to move to the next posting.
In the end, the scoring reflected the consistently positive responses among the MBC, with an average rating of 8.1.
--Larry
I really enjoyed this one. As the writeup mentioned, the book wasn't really about The Great Santini (the dad), it was about how his family coped with the dysfunctional swings among different approaches from the dad -- sometimes very loving, or very supporting, sometimes abusively pushy or violent, sometimes drunken and falling about.
ReplyDeleteHow Ben navigates managing his dad is fascinating; and as the oldest child and also male, he inherits that responsibility. Grows up fast.
In turns I laughed, groaned, and sympathized with Ben. Good choice of book!
BTW that last comment was from Paul.
ReplyDeleteI agree, Paul. But even if the novel isn’t truly “about” Bull Meechum, his behavior is central to the story of those around him and the influence he has on them—positive and negative. In fact, his presence is truly oppressive.
ReplyDeleteWhat’s amazing is that we genuinely liked the novel (as have so many other readers) despite Meechum’s notorious shortcomings as a father and a marine. And despite the fact that he’s painfully misogynistic and racist, even for the 1970’s (publication date).
I think, back to Larry’s commentary, that there’s something timeless in the story and redemptive in the code Meechum lives by, as remorseless as he may be in upholding the code. Ben’s final act—taking over as head of the family—is all the more meaningful for it.
—Andrew