The Prince of Tides - Pat Conroy

What an incredibly long book! Or at least so it seemed. I remember seeing the film starring Barbra Streisand, and was curious to discover the book that lay behind it. The film was really pretty excellent, but this book is just far too long. The style is too over elaborate, the author seems to be more concerned about words rather than plot. The story is about the lives of two brothers and a sister growing up on an island in a remote part of South Carolina. Theirs is hardly an idyllic childhood. As the story opens the younger brother (whose marriage is on the rocks) is summoned to New York because his sister has made another suicide attempt. As the brother sits down with his sister's psychiatrist (Lowenstein) the true history of their joint horrific youth gradually unfolds. Naturally he also becomes sexually involved with Lowenstein, sorts out her son, breaks up her marriage, re-connects with his own wife and children. It is over long, and the stories, layering one terrible incident upon another become almost too much to bear, a bit like being blugeoned by a cosh, emotionally. In the end the final (and in the author's mind the worst) situation is just one slap round the head too much - and it seems so pale in comparison. The other irritation is the obsession with food and eating that pervades this novel - every restaurant and meal is described in so much detail. Rating 6/10