I read this after several years on my to read list. It was a favorite of a good friend, and their particular recommendation.

The plotting, characters, setting, and wordsmith were all exemplary. In everyway, this was an excellent book. In the end I just can't make it a favorite because it didn't completely connect in a meaningful way. Maybe I had difficulty with the main character of Tom, or possibly the abuse throughout the lives of the characters. It still was an honest, insightful look at abusive relationships intertwined with love and pain. The physical setting of a small coastal, Southern Island and community even reflected the reality in the lives of the Wingo family.

This is a great read, and I hope others that haven't read it, will give it a try. It may not have harmonized with me at this point in my life, but it just may for you. ( )

I have very mixed feelings about this one. I wanted to keep reading it, but at the same I didn’t enjoy what I was reading. ( )

I read this one so long ago that I don't recall any details. ( )

My 15 year old had to read this for freshman English. He dislikes reading so when he recommended it to me, I was somewhat in a state of shock, but figured I'd best read it.

So happy that I did.

It is a story of three children . . .Tom, Luke, and Savannah . . .growing up in the South on an island with a physically abusive father. Savannah has attempted suicide, and the story alternates between contemporary scenes in New York City where Tom attempts to aid Savannah's psychiatrist and scenes from Tom and Savannah's childhood.

The beauty of this book has a great deal to do with Conroy's incredible talent for pacing. He builds suspense slowly, inexorably, until you really feel like you cannot put the book aside even for a few moments. And then, he uses great storytelling to reveal his characters slowly - - truly a master of the adage to "show the reader, don't tell them". Finally, the icing on the cake is his beautiful descriptive prose . . .which, for me, was woven into his tale in such a way as not to be too distracting, but just to add to the pleasure of reading it.

I will say this is a dark novel . . .so be prepared. It's not for the faint of heart. Chapter 22 was disturbing to say the least. I'm a little surprised it was assigned to ninth graders. ( )

"If Henry Wingo had not been a violent man, I think he would have made a splendid father" (p 5). That sums up The Prince of Tides in a nutshell. Well, sort of. No. Not really. I want to say it is about loving someone so fiercely you love well beyond any pain they could bring you. The writing of Pat Conroy is so beautiful it is hard to believe the subject matter of Prince of Tides could be so dark. The damaged Wingo family will stay with you long after you have closed the massive 600-plus page book. Most affected is Savannah Wingo, the sister-twin of Tom, who speaks to the hidden ones, hallucinates angels hanging from lamposts and self-mutilates herself to stave off the voice of her father urging her to kill herself. In reality, the bad times roll in as constant as the South Carolina tide for all of the Wingos. The entire family experiences enough unimaginable terrors to last a lifetime. To name a few: a father badly wounded surviving the horrors of World War II with a little help from a priest; Grandpa's black widow spiders used as a defense from a stalker intent on raping Lila, the Wingo mother; four stillborn children one right after the other, each kept in the freezer like porkchops until it was time to bury them in the backyard; a tiger trained to rip someone's face off...Probably the worst offense is not Henry Wingo, a father who beats his wife and children. The inexplicable nightmare is Lila Wingo, a woman so hellbent on keeping a prestine and proud reputation she denies every horror. Is this southern living or a perpetual seventh circle of hell?
Savannah is only partially able to escape her violent past by moving to New York City. After her latest suicide attempt is very close to successful, Savannah's therapist calls Tom, her twin brother, for insight into the Wingo family. In order to help Savannah Dr. Lowenstein needs to dig deeper into the entire family's tumultuous history. What emerges is Tom's own tragic story of coming of age as a souther male in an abusive household. In the beginning of Prince of Tides, the character of Tom Wingo was only slightly annoying with his "American Male" posturing. But by page 300 you realize after all that he and his family have gone through he is allowed to tell jokes when it hurts. He has survived by humor his entire life.
Conroy's Prince of Tides is a strange love letter to the Southern way of life. It is a story of tenacity and tenderness. ( )