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spencerdance's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Trash. But solid trash.
annakate3's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
jmrprice's review against another edition
4.0
Other worlds, other times… grief and pain with passing happiness.
mayling23's review against another edition
4.0
“Each of us has something within us which won't be denied, even if it makes us scream aloud to die. We are what we are, that's all. Like the old Celtic legend of the bird with the thorn in its breast, singing its heart out and dying. Because it has to, its self-knowledge can't affect or change the outcome, can it? Everyone singing his own little song, convinced it's the most wonderful song the world has ever heard. Don't you see? We create our own thorns, and never stop to count the cost. All we can do is suffer the pain, and tell ourselves it was well worth it.”
I´m so happy I´ve finally finished this book! I know how horrible it sounds, but I was reading this book for so long, that it started to be quite annoying.
How you can see, I gave this book 4/5 stars. Which means that I liked this book a lot. Reading this book was very impulsive decision, I just saw this book at my grandparents few weeks ago, and I thought- why not, my mum loved it, almost eveyone knows that story except me. So I picked it up. I knew what is about, but I didin´t know the ending. And that´s great, because I hate spoilers so much! So I was excited about this story, but I hadn´t got big expectations.
I think everybody knows the main plot. Love between girl and priest, later love between woman and priest. Forbidden and passionate love.
I´m not very into romantic stories, but The Thorn Birds is much more than that. I loved the Australian nature, Colleen described it so great, that I felt like I´m there.
I also liked the fact, that it´s the family saga, so we followed characters from childhood to adulthood.
The main character, Meggie, was likeable and real. She wasn´t my favourite character, but yeah, she was quite nice. I didn´t understand her acts sometimes, but overall she was strong heroine.
Ralph is controversial, I guess. Some people love him, some don´t. I love him and hate him at the same time. He did horrible things, his behaviour was sometimes unbelievable, but he was still just a human, so I can´t jugde him much.
There is a one thing that makes me love The Thorn Birds even more- beautiful quotes. The whole book is one big quote, also the Celtic legend at the beggining is just wonderful.
This book isn´t my favourite, but I´m glad I´ve read it. In my opinion, it was way too long and maybe if the author wrote just a half of it, it would be perfect.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book, mainly because of beautiful Australian nature and interesting culture, but also because the story was solid. I don´t know if I will reread it someday, I think I won´t, but I recommed this story for people who love tragic lovestories, Australia and family sagas.
I´m so happy I´ve finally finished this book! I know how horrible it sounds, but I was reading this book for so long, that it started to be quite annoying.
How you can see, I gave this book 4/5 stars. Which means that I liked this book a lot. Reading this book was very impulsive decision, I just saw this book at my grandparents few weeks ago, and I thought- why not, my mum loved it, almost eveyone knows that story except me. So I picked it up. I knew what is about, but I didin´t know the ending. And that´s great, because I hate spoilers so much! So I was excited about this story, but I hadn´t got big expectations.
I think everybody knows the main plot. Love between girl and priest, later love between woman and priest. Forbidden and passionate love.
I´m not very into romantic stories, but The Thorn Birds is much more than that. I loved the Australian nature, Colleen described it so great, that I felt like I´m there.
I also liked the fact, that it´s the family saga, so we followed characters from childhood to adulthood.
The main character, Meggie, was likeable and real. She wasn´t my favourite character, but yeah, she was quite nice. I didn´t understand her acts sometimes, but overall she was strong heroine.
Ralph is controversial, I guess. Some people love him, some don´t. I love him and hate him at the same time. He did horrible things, his behaviour was sometimes unbelievable, but he was still just a human, so I can´t jugde him much.
There is a one thing that makes me love The Thorn Birds even more- beautiful quotes. The whole book is one big quote, also the Celtic legend at the beggining is just wonderful.
This book isn´t my favourite, but I´m glad I´ve read it. In my opinion, it was way too long and maybe if the author wrote just a half of it, it would be perfect.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book, mainly because of beautiful Australian nature and interesting culture, but also because the story was solid. I don´t know if I will reread it someday, I think I won´t, but I recommed this story for people who love tragic lovestories, Australia and family sagas.
pineapple_cloud1's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
ursimae's review against another edition
The Oedipus complex and pedophilia undertones were unpleasant, but then being spoiled that the pedophilia wasn't an undertone made me not want to continue.
Sorry but it was just becoming too weird and there are other books I'd rather read.
May come back to it one day, but not today.
Sorry but it was just becoming too weird and there are other books I'd rather read.
May come back to it one day, but not today.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Sexism, and Adult/minor relationship
Moderate: Pedophilia
taylor394's review against another edition
5.0
The Thorn Birds is an amazing family saga dealing with love, morality, self conflict, and of course Australia. It is full of amazingly complex and detailed characters that can be both loved and hated by readers. I fell in love with the story telling, the characters and the journey of Meggie and Ralph. This tragic romance had my heart leaping and aching, although unrealistic at times it provided an interesting conflict regarding love. Can love ever be enough? Is the question facing Ralph and Meggie. My only criticism is that the story lagged towards the third generation, however, other then that I could hardly put the book down to sleep. This book has impacted me greatly and I highly recommend it.
hlflosser's review against another edition
4.0
I am trying to read a book from each year since I was born 1971. This was my 1977 read. Wow she writes so beautifully. Just the right balance of scenery, history, love and twists and turns. This reads fairly fast and kept me wanting to pick it up.
whimsicalmeerkat's review against another edition
3.0
Honestly, I should probably have been older when I read this. Maybe some day I'll read it again.