Pat Conroy books

I have not read all of Pat Conroy's books, but I did enjoy Lords of Discipline and I did make it through Prince of Tides, Beach Music, and most recently, South of Broad.
One thing I like about his books is how realistic they are. His descriptions are long, sensory experiences. The plot is frequently saddening, but not in an overly tragic way, with a glimmer of hope at the end of each. For the most part, they are compelling reads, too. I didn't want to stop reading the last one, and, even though it took me a couple tries to get into Beach Music, I ended up liking it too.
There are some things I don't like about Conroy's books. Each one starts with a long monologue that is about the most depressing reading in print to be found anywhere. Every book starts with this downer! Sometimes, it puts you off the whole book. Another thing I don't like is the dialogue...because it is too good. It always has the feel of a witty, snarky, new-york-style play. Every line is a zinger. No one ever stutters or fails to say exactly what they mean. It is too perfect. And I don't like it because it is such a contrast with the realism of the rest of the book. The plot is intricate but believable, the twists are easily conceivable, but no one I know speaks like a character from any of his books. No one I know is that cutting or cruel or dead-sure. So, while I am reading, I am taking in these verbose descriptions, getting a real sense of things, and then people speak, and its suddenly brought home that this is fiction. And I do like to get lost in the story, wondering how true everything I am reading is, wondering how much is autobiography. But I know these conversations are not the truth. They are honed, sharpened, distilled essences of the truth that we rarely ever meet in our daily lives. Its what we say in our heads hours later, usually preceded by, "what I should have said was...". The characters in Conroy's books are either too good or too evil, and rarely a mixture of both. The main character is always a wonderful person. In fact, almost too wonderful. Maybe that character is always supposed to represent our better selves. It is our selves if we did always make all the tough decisions correctly. The main character of a Conroy book is never fatally flawed, and that is usually what keeps the book from being a tragedy.
One of the reasons I love the Harry Potter books is, that HP is NOT perfect and he makes some stupid mistakes and errors in judgement in each book. He does learn from them, but it makes him more likeable to see him pay for his errors, and grow.
I never get the sense that the main character of a Conroy book is growing, learning or changing. Its more like he is weathering, enduring, and hoping against all hope, but he is a complete person in the beginning and a complete one at the end, and ultimately, I find it hard to identify with!
So while I like reading Pat Conroy books, I find that I don't love them, I wouldn't reread them, and yet they are all memorable and haunting.