Rating: 
Summary: One of the best
Review: The first time I encountered "The Thorn Birds", was when I was perhaps seven years old in the kitchen of my house listening to the din of the TV in the den. I remember my mother talking about what a great movie it was and how beautiful the music was. One summer about eight years later, I was fortunate enough to have seen the first part of the mini series. However, I was going away for the summer and couldn't see the rest. But I was curious. Lucky for me the place I went to had the book sitting on a shelf. The book for me became one of the best, if not thee best, work of literature I had ever read. The story, I feel is a very important work of literature to teach about human actions and consequences. In another sense, the book is a very important achievement in Australian literature and should be considered in every World Masterpieces class on the high school and college level. I cannot recommend the book enough. I did get to see the rest of the movie eventually. I was, however, disappointed, not at the acting, but at some of the casting and as well as some of the story line rewritten to fit into the mini series. The movies focus was mainly on the love story between Ralph and Meggie, although this was a very important part of the book, it was not the only part. My opinion is read the book, then see the movie. If you don't you are doing yourself a great injustice. Richard Chamberlin, Rachel Ward, Jean Simmons, Richard Kieley and Barabra Stanwyck - wonderful!
Rating:
Summary: A great memory
Review: I saw the movie version of this book in 1984 and later in the 1990's I read the book. It's a great story with many dramatic moments. It's the kind of Romance everyone wished they could live. I especially like the moment at the end when Meggie confronts Ralph with the truth and completely breaks him. I also enjoyed the part when Faye and Frank reunited after 30 years. I can't say enough good things about this book.
Rating:
Summary: The Thorn Birds - An Epic Novel
Review: Last night I finished The Thorn Birds, and I thought that..along with being one of the best novels i've ever read..it provides us with an insight into human behavior and emotion. After reading hundreds of books in my sixteen years, i thought there wouldn't be another book to really interest me in the way that Koontz and Grisham do.This book has it all. Family drama, heartbreak, and such strong female characters that are usually absent in a lot of books today. I especially feel sad for Meggie and the Cardinal, Ralph de Bricassart, because they cannot express their love because Ralph is tied to his duties to the Catholic Church. If you're going to read a book, make sure this is one on your list!
Rating:
Summary: Brought Americans a New Reading World To Explore
Review: Author Colleen McCullough arrived on the book scene with a smash hit in the USA with the release of this novel. Setting her story in the then unfamiliar (to us) Australian Outback, in the era surrounding WWII, was enticement enough to buy this book. However, she also had the brilliant idea of giving us the love story between two characters who were constantly torn apart by his religious vocation. These are Meggie and Father Ralph, a Roman Catholic priest, who travels far, including into the world of the Vatican. Thus, there is also the contrast of life lived in the very rugged and very rural outposts of the world with the very cosmopolitan city life. This is a very great love story that grabs hold of you and doesn't let go. This was also made into a very good television miniseries that was nevertheless a bit of a letdown for me after the book. I wish it had been made into a full theatrical release film with some higher powered acting talent in the lead roles other than Richard Chamberlain and Rachel Ward.
Rating:
Summary: I read this before the mini series...
Review: OK, I read this many, many years ago. It made an indelible imprint on my mind. I couldn't put it down! But then again I had such a complete picture of each of the characters that when the casting was announced for the mini series, I was disappointed. I still have not watched the mini series as the book was so wonderful I still can't imagine that anyone could do justice to the story and still make a good movie.
Rating:
Summary: AN OUTSTANDING LOVE STORY WITH SUBSTANCE, DEPTH, AND TRUTH.
Review: Colleen McCullough certainly knows how to weave an exceptional and intricate story of a true but frustrating love; in this instance we read about a classic example of the torture and tragedy two people have to endure due to the attitude of the Roman Catholic Church. This is a very telling tale, and the reader needs to look beyond the physical and emotional attraction between Father Ralph and Megan and straight into a stiff-necked Roman institution that prevents normal men from expressing themselves sexually while married to the woman they love. Of course, the book didn't end the way I wanted it to; how could it? I wanted them to get married and live happily ever after, but, instead, both of their lives were unnecessarily destroyed.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting set of characters...
Review: The book contains a very interesting and believable set of characters, and I couldn't put this book down, even though I don't usually go for this type of literature. It did give me a chance to learn how people lived in a different time in a different place. The only flaw I found in this book is that the author made her characters little too extreme sometimes...
Rating:
Summary: A great story, a great novel, a great real life experience
Review: This book was really a great book to read. I found it to be so realistic about a family spanning over three generations. The physical conflicts, as well as the emotional turmoil, has touched me. The story about a young women named Megghan, a priest named Ralph. A story about a women who can't marry a man she loves, and then takes the only thing she could of him. The story of a young man being the only precious son of Megghans mother, the only memory of a former lover. This was very appealing to me because it shows the life of heartbreak and romance in cycle after cycle. Family ties being revealed, and broken. The ending was so well written that it started me having to think of the realism and how it applies to my own life.As from other books I've read, it combines the mini-story detail of Ray Salisbury's"The Blue Skin of the Sea" with the deep emotions of John Steinbeck's "The Grapes of Wrath" None, however, can compare with the wellness McCullough mixes the character's internal and external conflicts into such an elaborate novel of emotional affection.
Rating:
Summary: A Gripping Story
Review: The Thorn Birds is a gripping love story involving two characters that are never able to claim their love for each other. Meggie Cleary and Father Ralph have deep feelings for one another but they are unable to show these feelings because Father Ralph is unable to be involved with a girl in that manner due to his career. The novel is about the life of three generations in the Cleary family. Mainly the novel focuses on the passion between Ralph and Meggie. It shows the enternal heartbreak that can come of loving the unlovable. Along with the heartbreak that Meggie deals with on a daily basis, there are also tramas in her everyday life that keep her spinning in every direction. Yet, somehow she is able to continue on in her life. Meggie is a strong character and from reading this book, I can relate to her struggles. She was just a child when she was thrown into the adult world and was expected to adjust. Throughout the book the reader is able to share her feelings, whether they may be good or bad. Meggie has many strengths in her life. She is able to cope with almost anything that is thrown at her. When she was only a teenager, she held the responsibility of caring for her baby brother because her mother was much to busy to pay any attention to him. Meggie's main weakness is her ever-growing love for Father Ralph. She is unable to let her love for him die, therefore causing her great pain. Colleen McCullough uses the title The Thorn Birds for a very specific purpose I think. A thorn bird is a symbol of someone who is jabbed many times with problems and dilemmas constantly, but yet is able to come out on top. The bird is singing and gets stuck with a thorn. The bird does not stop singing, but instead sings whole-heartedly until it's dying breath. This is just like Meggie and the other characters in the novel. They get problems upon problems piled on them, but they never complain about any of it. They silently work their way through it accepting any consequences that may come along with it. The live like the thorn birds by never complaining about the bad in their lives, but only working to make it better and dying knowing that there was not much more that could be done. I really enjoyed this book. I was so interesting that I just couldn't stop reading it. It was a book that I just couldn't put it down. It takes a lot for me to like a book, but this is just one of the books that within the first chapter I loved it. I hope that other people were able to enjoy it as much as I did. I recommend it to anyone looking to read a good book.
Rating:
Summary: A must read
Review: This is the first novel I had read in my life. I was probably 13 or 14 years old..maybe even younger. After I finished reading this massive book. I turned around and read it again. This book gave me my first taste of what a pleasure it is to read. Now as I am approaching my 35th birthday, I can still feel that special something about this book. The story is about Megan from the time she was 4 until she was an older woman. The joys and sadness of her life growing up on a cattle ranch in Austrila. Her forbidden love of her priest and his forbidden love of her. Her family of brothers and strict mother and loving father. Of her children that she raised and what different turns her live took. When the movie came out in 1983 I could hardly contain myself to watch it. I was so excited to see my favorite story coming to life. Boy was I disappointed. The book was just too good and the tv could not compete. Read this story you will not be disappointed
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