Beach Music (novel)

infobox Book |
name = Beach Music
title_orig =
translator =


author = Pat Conroy
cover_artist =
country = United States
language = English
series =
genre = Novel
publisher = Nan A. Talese
release_date = July 1995
media_type = Print (Hardback & Paperback)
pages = 640 p. (hardback edition)
isbn = ISBN 0-385-41304-1 (hardback edition)
preceded_by =
followed_by =

Beach Music is Pat Conroy's novel of Jack McCall, a South Carolina native who flees the South with his daughter, Leah, after his wife commits suicide. This novel explores the Vietnam War-era, the Holocaust, and coming of age in the twentieth century. Published in 1995.

Plot introduction

Jack McCall, an American living in Rome with his young daughter, is trying to find peace after the recent trauma of his wife's suicide. But his search for solitude is disturbed when a telegram from a family member summons Jack back to South Carolina to be with his ailing mother. He begins to explore his past and all its demons, as well as a new mystery that his sister-in-law and two school friends invite him to explore. They want Jack's help in tracking down another classmate who went underground as a Vietnam protester and never resurfaced. As Jack begins a journey that encompasses the past and the present in both Europe and the American South, he also begins a quest that will lead him to shocking truths.

Themes

Like Prince of Tides, Conroy's famous novel turned movie, "Beach Music" deals with "picking away at life's wounds with a sharp wit" [(Marlowe July). ]

Some other (potentially controversial) themes in the novel include:

* Suicide as Jack deals with his wife's, Shyla's, suicidal leap from the South Carolina bridge by escaping to Rome in order to avoid traumatic family drama.

* War from the terrors of the Holocaust discussed by Jewish characters and the Vietnam War's effects on those left behind.

* Mental illness as Jack's youngest brother, John Hardin, suffers with bouts of Schizophrenia.

* Loss of innocence

* Self Awareness and Acceptance of self and of personal heritage

* Finding Forgiveness from others and from ourselves

* Abuse of Power

* Death

* Grief

* Southern United States

* Southern Aristocracy

* Story-telling

Marlowe, Kimberly. "Southern Saga -- Conroy's 'Beach Music' Another Dark Journey Home." The Seattle Times 16 Jul 1995: M2.

etting

Setting holds as much importance in "Beach Music" as its themes, or even the main character, Jack McCall. Pat Conroy acknowledges in an interview that the perception he is “the product of a single landscape is actually false” [(Doubleday).] As a military kid, Conroy moved often and lived in Rome, Italy for three years before finding his longest lasting home in Beaufort, South Carolina. Both of these locales hold great significance for Jack McCall in "Beach Music". He runs from the traditions and his past in the southern atmosphere of South Carolina, and seeks refuge in the food and travel of Rome, Italy.

Charleston, South Carolina represents all that Jack wishes to forget, namely his wife, Shyla’s, suicidal jump off Silas Pearlman Bridge.

Rome, Italy represents the shield Jack uses to protect his daughter Leah from their family’s tumultuous past, as well as his own discomfort with dealing with that past.

Characters

*Jack McCall - The main character in the novel, Jack is coping with the recent suicide of his wife, Shyla. A cookbook and travel writer, he flees Waterford to the peaceful life of a Roman Piazza with his daughter Leah. He is the oldest of the five McCall brothers.

*Leah McCall - the daughter of Jack McCall and Shyla Fox. There is an ugly custody dispute over Leah involving Jack and Shyla's parents (after her death), but a final letter that Shyla left for Jack proves his adequacy as a parent.

*Shyla Fox - Jack's wife, daughter of George and Ruth Fox. Commits suicide by jumping from the [Silas Pearlman Bridge] .

*Dupree McCall - The second oldest of the McCall brothers, Dupree is Jack's younger brother and works in the state mental hospital. His occupation often bears with it the burden of his younger brother, John Hardin, who suffers from Schizophrenia.

*Dallas McCall - The third oldest of the McCall brothers, he is Jack's younger brother and a law partner with "The Judge" in Waterford.

*Tee McCall - The fourth oldest of the McCall brothers, Tee is a teacher for autistic children in Georgetown County.

*John Hardin McCall - The youngest of all five McCall brothers, John Hardin suffers from a variety psychological illnesses and often spends time in the city's mental hospital in Waterford.

*Martha Fox - Shyla's younger sister.

*Ruth Fox - Shyla's mother; Leah's grandmother.

*Judge Johnson Hagood McCall - Jack's father and the town's functioning drunk, "The Judge" has been divorced from Jack's mother for years, but he pines after her still.

*Lucy McCall - Mother to Jack, John Hardin, Dupree, Tee, and Dallas. Suffering from cancer, Lucy wants to spend her remaining days on the beach, surrounded by her family and the endangered sea turtles. It is her illness that summons Jack and Leah out of Italy and back to the states.

*Silas McCall - "The Judge's" father; Jack's grandfather.

*Jordan Elliot - A close friend of Jack's, he moved to Waterford when the two were in high school. A military brat with a tyrant father, Jordan struggled against authority in his youth. He is caught in a scandal which has motivated him to retreat/hide in the priesthood in Italy, which is where he and Jack reconnect.

*Mike Hess - Another one of Jack's high school friends, Mike is a Hollywood producer. He wants to tell the store of their childhood in the south through a mini-series that he hopes to produce. Having recalled Mike as one of the nicest guys from his youth, Jack recognizes (as does Mike, himself) that Hollywood has changed Mike for the worse.

*Ledare Ansley - Capers Middleton's ex-wife, Ledare is one of Jack's childhood friends. Beautiful and charming, Ledare becomes more and more important to Jack as the novel progresses.

*Capers Middleton - Another friend of Jack's from high school. His father's heritage is known for their aristocracy and political prowess in South Carolina. Capers hopes to run for governor of South Carolina. After back-stabbing Jack in college, he tries to reinstate his friendship with him after Shyla's death.

*Max Russoff - Ruth's adopted father; after Ruth went through the Holocaust it was Max "The Great Jew" rescued her from Poland.

External links

[http://www.taiyin.net/conroy/interview.html Interview With Pat Conroy on "Beach Music"]

[http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780385413046&view=excerpt "Beach Music" excerpt]

[http://www.cooperriverbridge.org/history.shtml Silas Pearlman Bridge Information]