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A review by llama_lord
The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough
3.0
I cannot for the life of me understand all of the raving, 5 star reviews this book gets. Don't get me wrong - it isn't a bad book. But it isn't a great book either. It was just... okay. It gets a lot of comparisons to Gone with the Wind - in fact, I first heard of The Thorn Birds because I was looking at lists of books that GWTW fans might like. While I'm sure that Colleen McCullough was trying for a Gone with the Wind feel for this novel, the two really don't compare. Overall, The Thorn Birds left me with mostly mixed feelings and I think that the best way to review a book like that is with a good, old-fashioned pros and cons list.
Things I liked:
- I really enjoyed the beginning of this book, when Meggie and her family are living in New Zealand and first move to Australia. This was the only part of the book that really had me hooked. When McCullough introduces Meggie and the rest of the Clearys, their family dynamic is interesting and exciting and you want to learn more about them. Plus, the beginning of the book focuses on some the more interesting characters; Meggie’s older brother Frank and her Aunt Mary.
- I loved the setting because I don’t often get to read novels set in Australia. It is so well described that you can practically taste the dust. McCullough spends a lot (and I mean A LOT) of time describing Australian weather and wildlife, which wouldn't have been so bad if it hadn’t seemed like character and plot development were being cut short in favor of another description of a dry storm.
- Meggie’s mother, Fee. Fee was my second favorite character (first was Frank), and in my opinion, Fee would have made a much better main character than Meggie. Not only is Fee’s story more interesting, but Fee is literally the only character in the novel that has any significant emotional development. Seriously, Fee is the only character whose personality changes at all over the course of the 54 YEARS which the novel spans.
Things I didn’t like:
- Meggie. There was simply nothing interesting or endearing about her.
- Ralph. Oh my God. Ralph was such a scumbag. The reader is told over and over again how all Ralph really wants is to be the perfect priest, and yet Ralph breaks his vows every time the opportunity to do so presents itself. He breaks his vow of chastity with Meggie so often that he eventually comes to the conclusion that God was just kidding about the whole chastity thing. His only positive quality was being ridiculously handsome.
- Meggie and Ralph’s relationship. Under no theory is Meggie and Ralph’s relationship anything other than creepy. He meets her when she is 10 and is instantly obsessed with her. He practically raises her and is like a step father to her. And when Meggie gets a little older – BOOM, they’re lovers! Romantic? I think not. Ugh, the whole thing just made my skin crawl.
- The middle and end. After a great beginning the book just gradually lost steam. The last portions of the book, which take place in Europe and focus on Meggie’s daughter Justine, felt disconnected from the rest of the story. I really had to force myself to finish the book because the ending was so lagging.
I’m sure it sounds like I hated The Thorn Birds, but really I didn’t. It’s just that all of the praise this book gets set my hopes up extremely high. If I had known going into it that it was essentially a 700 page romance novel, I probably wouldn’t be so critical.
On a side note, I whole-heartedly recommend watching the TV mini-series. It’s sort of “so bad that it’s good”, and I loved every glorious, cheesy, perm-filled moment of it.
Things I liked:
- I really enjoyed the beginning of this book, when Meggie and her family are living in New Zealand and first move to Australia. This was the only part of the book that really had me hooked. When McCullough introduces Meggie and the rest of the Clearys, their family dynamic is interesting and exciting and you want to learn more about them. Plus, the beginning of the book focuses on some the more interesting characters; Meggie’s older brother Frank and her Aunt Mary.
- I loved the setting because I don’t often get to read novels set in Australia. It is so well described that you can practically taste the dust. McCullough spends a lot (and I mean A LOT) of time describing Australian weather and wildlife, which wouldn't have been so bad if it hadn’t seemed like character and plot development were being cut short in favor of another description of a dry storm.
- Meggie’s mother, Fee. Fee was my second favorite character (first was Frank), and in my opinion, Fee would have made a much better main character than Meggie. Not only is Fee’s story more interesting, but Fee is literally the only character in the novel that has any significant emotional development. Seriously, Fee is the only character whose personality changes at all over the course of the 54 YEARS which the novel spans.
Things I didn’t like:
- Meggie. There was simply nothing interesting or endearing about her.
- Ralph. Oh my God. Ralph was such a scumbag. The reader is told over and over again how all Ralph really wants is to be the perfect priest, and yet Ralph breaks his vows every time the opportunity to do so presents itself. He breaks his vow of chastity with Meggie so often that he eventually comes to the conclusion that God was just kidding about the whole chastity thing. His only positive quality was being ridiculously handsome.
- Meggie and Ralph’s relationship. Under no theory is Meggie and Ralph’s relationship anything other than creepy. He meets her when she is 10 and is instantly obsessed with her. He practically raises her and is like a step father to her. And when Meggie gets a little older – BOOM, they’re lovers! Romantic? I think not. Ugh, the whole thing just made my skin crawl.
- The middle and end. After a great beginning the book just gradually lost steam. The last portions of the book, which take place in Europe and focus on Meggie’s daughter Justine, felt disconnected from the rest of the story. I really had to force myself to finish the book because the ending was so lagging.
I’m sure it sounds like I hated The Thorn Birds, but really I didn’t. It’s just that all of the praise this book gets set my hopes up extremely high. If I had known going into it that it was essentially a 700 page romance novel, I probably wouldn’t be so critical.
On a side note, I whole-heartedly recommend watching the TV mini-series. It’s sort of “so bad that it’s good”, and I loved every glorious, cheesy, perm-filled moment of it.