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lisa_setepenre 's review for:
The Thorn Birds
by Colleen McCullough
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Do I think The Thorn Birds is a perfect novel? No. Do I think it’s an excellently written novel? No. It veers into melodrama, if not soap opera. The tragedies pile up, for no apparent reason other than to add to the tragedy. Some of the plot points are a bit too obvious and I often felt the gap between what McCullough was attempting to do and what she got on the page. The central plot – the forbidden love between a young daughter of a sheep station owner and a Catholic priest, who first meets her when she was 10 – makes me leery.
But, look, there’s a reason why this is a beloved classic. I can think of ways this story would have been better sure but the characters are so interesting. I want to dissect them under a microscope, Ralph in particular.
And where I thought McCullough didn’t quite succeed in what she was going for, she gets close enough there that I can love the book for it. The love story between Meggie and Ralph? Oh, I get why they fall in love with each other, I just wish the book had leant into the idea that these were two vastly damaged people who can only be happy with each other, even though their relationship was never healthy.
There are, also, great moments. I loved the entire final section focused on Justine.
In short: not great but hits me right in the Freudian id and so I love it.
But, look, there’s a reason why this is a beloved classic. I can think of ways this story would have been better sure but the characters are so interesting. I want to dissect them under a microscope, Ralph in particular.
And where I thought McCullough didn’t quite succeed in what she was going for, she gets close enough there that I can love the book for it. The love story between Meggie and Ralph? Oh, I get why they fall in love with each other, I just wish the book had leant into the idea that these were two vastly damaged people who can only be happy with each other, even though their relationship was never healthy.
There are, also, great moments. I loved the entire final section focused on Justine.
In short: not great but hits me right in the Freudian id and so I love it.