Rating: 
Summary: A novel with staying power
Review: "The Thorn Birds" looks like a story that will be with us for a while. It's certainly an above average novel in the "family saga" genre, even though I can't get quite as rapturous as many of the reviewers. McCullough fits the cliche of "born storyteller." She puts a lot of words down on paper, spinning the yarn out a long, long time and with no small amount of extraneous stuff. For example, she devotes at least one hundred pages to the lives of Justine and Dane when what we really want to know is what happens to Meggie and Ralph -- the ill-fated lovers who dominate the book. I don't find the love story of Meggie and Ralph all that compelling -- although it will keep you turning the pages. The real merit of "The Thorn Birds" is the vivid picture it gives of life on a sheep station in the Australian outback before about 1950 when life there became electrified and telephoneified, and more or less the same as everywhere else. "Thorn Birds" would be better if it were cut down to about 500 pages from the present 700. It seriously falters when the emphasis shifts from the outback to the theater in London and the Vatican in Rome. These are dime-a-dozen stories, but life in the outback, now that's a tale worth telling! And the author does it well.
Rating: 
Summary: Touching, beautiful saga that leaves reader overwhelmed!
Review: "The Thorn Birds" by Colleen McCullough is my favorite novel. It is in a category by itself and deserves more than five stars. I saw ten minutes of the miniseries on television and knew I had to read the book. I was twelve, and the story of Meggie and Ralph moved me to hysterical tears. I am now 18, and I have read the book so many times I have lost count. Set in the Australian Outback in the years surrounding WWII, it is the story of a girl growing up, learning that "The best is only bought at the cost of great pain...Or so says the legend." The courage and strength of Meggie despite the tremendous hardships of her life inspires me. I must admit I fell in love with Ralph de Bricassart; first with his name, then with the man. (I can only hope to find such a person!) All of the other characters--Fee, Paddy, Frank, Dane, Justine, Rain--are developed clearly throughout the story. McCullough is a genius for combining three generations of the Cleary family into one novel! I still cry when I read the story, for the love, and for the pain. The introductory story of the thornbird is a lesson for life: all sadness will pass, and one day something beautiful will come from that pain. A highly emotional book, "The Thorn Birds" is the best work of this century. It is worth reading to anyone who enjoys drama and romance, as well as suspense, action, and sadness! The movie based on the novel starring Richard Chamberlain and Rachel Ward is an excellent interpretation.
Rating:
Summary: Quite Simply...
Review: ...One of the five best books I've ever read. Among my "hall of fame" which consists of such books as Gone with the Wind, Hawaii, and Lonesome Dove, the Thornbirds never dissapoints and always manages to deliever a compelling and almost magical story. One of the best books I've come across.
Rating:
Summary: A completly amazing novel..
Review: Colleen McCullough's The Thorn Birds is quite honestly the best book that I have ever read and probably will ever read. This novel made me feel every emotion possible. I was clapping, smiling, and jumping up and down whenever Ralph came to Meggie at Matlock Island. I was crying for the last portion of the book, starting with Dane's death and continuing through Justine, Meggie, and Ralph's reaction. I was so angry whenever I read of Luke's mistreatment towards Meggie. I was screaming at Justine to marry Rainer. I weeped for the Cleary family whenever This is the first novel that I came to know and love the characters, and I did not want to end the story because I did not want to lose touch with the characters and their lives. McCullough did an excellent job with her descriptions and development of plot. Though many of the other reviews say McCullough is extremely verbose, she writes no unnecessary words. Every word furthers the plot along of gives us a more vivid description of the characters or their feelings. By the end of the novel, I felt as if I had lived on Drogheda. I felt as though I was in love with Ralph de Bricassart.
I would recommend The Thorn Birds to anyone. Young and old will enjoy this read because of it's array of characters and emotions. Mothers will be able to relate to Fee and Meggie's feelings and anxieties. Young women will be able to be swept off of their feet by the romance of Meggie and Ralph, and later on, Justine and Rainer. My recommendation would extend more to a woman than to a man simply because of the romantic nature of the novel. I, as a young woman, could relate very closely to Meggie. I also feared Meggie's life as my own; not wanting to ever be in such a state of longing and pain or to be tricked into marrying a man, such as Luke O'Neill, to find myself alone, homesick, and confused of the future.
If you would like to read an extraordinary novel which will take you on a rollercoaster ride of emotions and befriend an amazing group of characters, I would suggest reading The Thorn Birds, an emotionally stimulating novel.
Rating:
Summary: an old classic
Review: could not put it down. Descriptive. Spicy. Delicious.
Rating:
Summary: an old classic
Review: could not put it down. Descriptive. Spicy. Delicious.
Rating:
Summary: The Book is Better Than the TV Movie
Review: Having been a long-time fan of The Thorn Birds mini-series on TV, I finally got around to reading the book. And am I very glad I did. McCullough's prose provides readers with an incredible amount of background of both Australia and the characters that no movie could ever match. The book delves into the minds of many of the main characters, giving readers a better sense of their inner-selves, what makes each of them tick. Perhaps the best insight focuses on Father Ralph de Bricassart and Meggie Cleary. Ralph's battle between loving God and Meggie is explored in a manner that makes his anguish truly believable. Likewise, Meggie's anger at God for withholding from her the men sho loves most is detailed in a way that readers can identify with her plight, too. Information of the true character of hardened, undemonstrative Fiona Cleary, Meggie's mother, is trickled into the plot throughout the entire book. Meggie's children, Justine and Dane, allow the plot to progress to it's expected, bittersweet ending. The Drogheda sheep station is another important character, providing the characters a stable home they can always come back to. Which they all do, time and again. A strong cast of secondary characters adds to the real-life quality of this sad tale. This book is a true modern classic and a must read for anyone who loves lengthy, well-written historical fiction.
Rating:
Summary: My personal #1 of all time. . .or at least, right up there
Review: I adore this book, from beginning to end. I never put it down, and have picked it up many times since it's first 'start to finish' read.
It is rare to find a story with every single right element. I do not know where Ms. Mccullough went wrong; I do not believe she did.
I wouldn't change one thing in this sweeping, tragic, powerful love story.
Rating:
Summary: Blown Away
Review: I first read this book when I was thirteen, and now, four years later I am still taken away by this novel. There are so many subtle ironies and twists that you don't catch them all at once. The story itself is beautiful, in a very twisted sort of way. Pain is a way of life to the Cleary family and all those who come in contact with them. There is nothing that can be protected from fate and from the outback sun. From the deaths of sons to eternal bitterness to passionate love and lust, every human emotion is explored in this novel. The metaphors for life are extrodinary and very delicate. I still quote from this book regulally since it has become, it feels, so real to me. Meggie and her family come alive in your mind when reading this, the characters are so incredably vivid. An amazing read from cover to cover!
Rating:
Summary: The Greatest Romance Novel of All Time
Review: I have read this at least a dozen times, and still love Meggie, Ralph, Fee, Paddy & Frank. A classic, cannot recommend it highly enough.
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