Book Summary: The Great Santini By Pat Conroy

The Great Santini is a novel written by Pat Conroy and published in 1976. The Great Santini tells the story of harsh Marine fighter pilot Lut. Colonel Wilbur "Bull" Meecham, who calls himself "The Great Santini," and the family he runs with a strict hand. It follows the Meecham family as they move to and struggle to fit into the Marine town of Ravenel, South Carolina. The novel shows us how the main character, Ben Meecham's growth into manhood, his experiences playing basketball for his high school, as well as his friendship with a black boy. The novel exposes the love/hate relationship between Ben and his father, which requires lots of effort to get his attention and affection
The novel is based on Conroy's own childhood experiences growing up in a military family. Conroy's own father, Donald Conroy, was the inspiration for "Bull" Meecham. Many
Robert Duvall did an excellent job playing the role as Bull Meecham- or the ‘Great Santini’. He has a very tough love relationship with his family. Then there was Blythe Danner who plays Lillian; she also did an fantastic job with her character. Even though in the book she had red hair, and in the movie she was a blonde, they displayed her as the same woman who has a big heart, and has to help her family get through hard times with him. Last but not least Michael O’Keefe was my favourite character; I was most impressed by his performance in the movie matching so carefully the character in the book. There was a character in the movie that they had left out though- it was Sam Wertzberger, I thought he would have been a great addition to the movie especially because he was such an important character- he showed that people would discriminate against religion. Having Stan Shaw, as Toomer Small in the movie was good because Toomer’s character and what he went through showed how injustice racism