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Pamela S. Simone

Not Quite as I Remembered It

Reviewed in the United States on October 13, 2018

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It's readable. I remember when it was first published and it was all the rage. When I read it then, it seemed a lot deeper than it is.
People making mistakes with their eyes wide open then miserable about the results. It's not a great romance and most of it is pretty predictable with predictable results.
Once the big lust between Meggie and Ralph is consummated, the story bogs down. I had to push to make myself finish reading it. Dane and Justine just weren't interesting enough to keep the story going. Even taking them away from the isolation of the homestead didn't add enough to keep them interesting. Its like McCullough spent all her energy on the big romance and didn't have anything left or lost interest in her own story once Ralph and Meggie had their fling.
Still, it isn't all bad. I just now scratch my head and wonder what all the fuss was about at the time.

ForTheLoveOfPugsTop Contributor: Makeup

Best book i have ever read and surprisingly not for the romance

Reviewed in the United States on August 16, 2017

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I love this book. I originally bought it at a used book store for 10 cents because it was in the "must sell romantic novels" bin. My first copy was a cheesy paper back with meggie melting in the arms of ralph. I bought it because an old woman working at the book store said the love story was really "hot" (Exact words lol) and i wanted a quick read at the beach. The book was so good that i took it everywhere with me and it was destroyed by me reading in it the ocean, pool or bathtub. This book is so, so much more then the romance between meggie and ralph. it is beautifully written and there is so much depth in each character. the romantic aspect is an added layer but the story as a whole is wonderful. i read an interview the author gave about the book and it will give you a completely different perspective. i had to get the hardback with the cover of drogheda because it was so much more fitting for the story.

DDS

Reading again after 30 years!

Reviewed in the United States on August 31, 2018

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I first read this book when I was in my 40's and am now in my 70's. I recently had the opportunity to go to Australia for the first time and decided it was time for a re-read. Amazing how our opinions change over time. I still enjoyed the book very much but some of the characters really annoyed me. I thought Fee was not a very good mother - her non-emotional involvement with her children was distressing. Justine was more unlikeable than I remembered - her treatment of long-suffering Rainier was hard to read and I kept wishing he had given up on her. As for Meggie and Ralph, I found that I am still a romantic at heart so I kept pulling for them. On a positive note, I thought the author's description of Australia was great and I really got a kick out of going to or seeing places during my travel that had been mentioned in the book. Overall, I highly recommend the book to first time readers.

elainehh

2nd Read Even Better Than the First

Reviewed in the United States on August 29, 2018

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I read Thorn Birds in 1977 and liked it. But then my current book club selected it, and I read it again. I had forgotten the entire story. A young woman whose Irish family inherited a ranch in the Outback falls in love with a priest who has loved her since she was 10, but he continually leaves her to continue his priesthood, his first love and ambition. The priesthood requires him to remain celibate. She expects him to stay and he leaves her continually to return to his post, finally to Rome as an archbishop. She marries someone else and wants children. She resents Ralph, the priest, and wants his children. The story evolves over many years. The author's description of Australia is very vivid, through droughts and floods, sheep raising and kangaroos. You feel like you are there. The book is a quick read even though there are many pages. The author holds your attention throughout the story. It could have been written today, with some modern improvements. Highly recommended.

Starts off well enough, then takes a nosedive ** possible minor spoilers ahead**

Reviewed in the United States on May 20, 2020

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** Possible minor spoilers ahead**

This is a confusing book to review. I might just have to chalk this one up to a guilty pleasure kind of read, as it works on par the level of a soap opera with all the melodrama stirred up, emotions, tensions and familial tragedies that occur.

This seems like a book that doesn’t know what it wants to focus on. Portions of this book I felt more invested in than others. I liked how the book examines Ralph’s conflicted nature between love and his role with being a priest and his experiences with the Cleary family, but then much of this book ventures off into areas that I felt so indifferent too, especially in the final parts (Meggie’s spite, Luke, Justine, etc.) I also liked meeting the member of the Cleary family in the opening two parts and getting a little of the family history and their way of life.

What I do like about this novel is the Australian backdrop and descriptions of these settings McCullough takes the time to make sure to give the time and place much attention to detail and I think in a larger sense this gives the background of the novel a more realistic and rich feel. I also enjoyed McCullough’s ability to construct this with the feel of the family saga over generations.

That being said, I mostly enjoyed about the first three hundred or so pages, but said enjoyment began to wane as characters began to grate on my nerves and some of the ridiculousness of the plot infiltrated to the point of no return. I think everything after this point sort of took a big nosedive.

Also, some of the characters started to annoy the heck out of me. The second half of the book seems like it just focuses on Meggie and her bitter, sad existence (cry me a river) and her shaking her fists at the world and God as well as focus on her narcissistic, selfish, annoying daughter, Justine. It completely shifts from one of the main crux of the conflict it sets up and instead heads off into focus on menial, minor characters or subplots that aren’t as interesting.

Additionally, something irked me about how much focus there was on a character’s appearance. Is it really necessary to give a rundown of every thought via interior monologue going through a character’s head about another character’s physical attributes? There was too much unnecessary description about a character’s physique that it became belabored.

The latter portions of the book, as described prior, move away from one of the central conflicts and into other areas, and this is where the book really loses steam. I had to put down the book several times because my interested lessened with each page. Not only that, but with each passing page Meggie becomes less sympathetic and her story more a chore to the point where the reader is like “Okay, get on with it.”

It get the epic feel of The Thorn Birds as a family saga and the lovely descriptions of Australia, but there are just too many things going on for little payoff: story lines or characters who do not engage interest for the long haul or are not fully explored enough to engage the reader, or interesting plots or characters that are left by the wayside altogether.

Top reviews from other countries

C J W

Sheer literary brilliance.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 4, 2019

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I first read this book following its original publication and absolutely loved it then. I then watched the TV series and mostly loved that too. Periodically over the years I had thought to re read it so it was with delight that I saw it come up on my kindle for 99p - wow - how seductive was that so I promptly downloaded it. I have not been disappointed. Yes I recalled the story and knew what was coming from chapter to chapter but this did not quell my enthusiasm to continue reading. It is still one of the best - actually I should say greatest novels I have read. Time since first written does not diminish its excellence. I urge readers to read it. It is a marathon of over 700 pages but a marathon worth entering. Reading it this time I could now picture the various locations having visited each of them on my latter holidays. This added to the enjoyment.
It is a book on relationships, loyalty, wasted years in life and powerful story lines for each character. Read read read and devour the sheer brilliance of this author.

Foxglove Summer

Good, not fantastic

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 13, 2016

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I wanted to love this book, because the concept is fantastic, but it kept "missing" for me, which exasperated me somewhat. If you imagine this is the story of a girl and her love for a priest you are wrong. It's a long-winded saga, and that relationship is only a small part of the story.

It's too long by a few hundred pages as there isn't enough in it. It rambles on at the end. I'm not sure why we even needed the Justine/ Dane/ Rainer stuff. It makes an untidy end.

I love books with a powerful sense of place, and you certainly get that with the outback parts. I don't think the twins going to war was necessary to document in detail, as it didn't push the story on. There was too much of the Vatican too, I felt, as I get annoyed when a book so centred in place suddenly moves elsewhere. Overall the style is fine and easy to read. There are a few clunky word choices, but you always get those. I found the changes of POV from one paragraph to another were confusing: Towards the end we have a paragraph about Justine in London, and the next is from Meggie's POV in Australia.

I thought it was somewhat odd that not one of the Cleary men married. I realise they would not meet many people where they live, but perhaps one of the twins could have met someone while away at war. It seems to be a sexless, rather sterile family (Meggie's generation). I did not take to any of the characters, except perhaps Dane.

This sounds a negative review. It's not. I read it quickly and I give it four stars. If it was a dish (I know this is pretentious) I would say it needs seasoning. There was just something missing from what could have been am incredible, powerful story of love, God, morals etc. I would have preferred less of a saga, and more of a shorter love story, kept tighter with more tension. I do realise that styles have changed over the last 30 odd years and maybe that is it: it is simply dated.

Having said all this, I reckon I will read it again, and I recommend it. Just don't expect an overwhelming tortured love story.

RoisinDubh

Well worth re- reading.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 24, 2020

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When this book came up at the bargain price or 99P I debated buying it as I had read it and also watched the TV series but the first review had also done both and had got lots of pleasure re-reading it. I have no regrets and have enjoyed every page as much as the first time I read it many years ago.
I have no hesitation in giving this delightful book 5 stars.
I'm now going to have another watch of the TV series.

Rani S

Meggie and her Priest

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 23, 2015

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Absolutely marvellous book. Having watched the TV series as a child and being totally in love with the priest I couldn't help but reading this book when I came across it recently.

Its an epic family saga set in the Australian Outback involving a very handsome priest Ralph and Meggie and a life/love spanning many decades. It deals with a priest torn between his passionate love for Meggie Cleary and his ambition to rise to the inner circle of the Vatican. He sacrifices one for the other but never quite achieves the happiness and satisfaction he should have. In the meantime Ralph has spoiled Meggie for all other men and she has to deal with this sacrifice in the outback and marries a man she doesn't love which ends unhappily.

The book gives a real insight into the hardships faced by farmers in the outback. The back breaking work, the climate, the deadly extremes in weather and how that can impact the harvest and making a living. The loneliness of the outback and it's beauty is also there.

A tragic love story but with hope for the future generation. Loved it

I did wonder what the Vatican thought of this book?

little_miss_chatterbox

The Thorn Bird Carries On Singing Until Death

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 29, 2015

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The Thorn Birds was written by Australian novelist Colleen McCoullough, who sadly died 29 January 2015, aged 77. It has sold over 30 million copies worldwide and was adapted into a TV series in 1983.

It is an epic tale spanning the years 1915 to 1969, following three generations of the Cleary family from their humble beginnings in New Zealand to the home of a wealthy yet elderly family member in Australia. The novel is predominantly based at this fictional Australian Sheep Farm, Drogheda and the family encounter many difficulties, including bereavements, incarceration, affairs, the Second World War and such forth.

It is interesting to see how the generations change and adapt and every generation of Cleary woman seems that little bit happier, freer and more content than the last, perhaps.

I could not put this book down and believe men and women alike would enjoy and benefit from reading it. As well as containing a lot of fascinating information about the Australian's wildlife and culture, it contains valuable historical references such as Australia's role in the defeating of Hitler in WWII.

More significant for me however was the novel's approach to love, so real, genuine, honest and refreshing. It truly is a masterpiece and even considering the novels' enormous 692 pages I didn't want it to end. I would like to read more Australian novelists' works as well as the rest of Colleen McCollough's, including, 'An Indecent Obsession'.

You will love the story of the Thorn Bird, so magnificently sad; yet beautiful.

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