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.
Rating: 
Summary: Classic Epic
Review: I highly recommend this to anyone interested in adding modern classics to their reading list. It's well written, engaging, and well plotted. It has many elements of good literature: irony, drama, tragedy, humor, and every aspect of human life. And surprisingly it is a quick read despite the hefty length. This also was written by someone who does their homework. How could someone get all those details of sheep farming/herding in Austrailia without some research?
Rating:
Summary: the passion is inspiring
Review: I just finished this book for the first time and I plan to read it many more times. The passion that this woman writes with inspires me. The characters are so vivid in my mind that I feel like I'm in the story. If someone can do that to you then that is a sure sign of a great book. Read it, I assure you you'll love it.
Rating:
Summary: Not a typical romance novel
Review: I just recently caught the mini-series on TV, and my mom gushed how much she loved the story when she first saw it. I expected the book to be your typical sappy romance fare, but not so. The characters are strong, and very well developed. We can delve into their lives, and understand how their backgrounds influence their actions and motivations.
My only complaints are that towards the end of the book, the drama fizzles out. Too much attention is paid to the unsympathetic and uninteresting character of Justine, and her relationship with the equally boring Rainer. As for Dane, I found him to be a little too "perfect." While he was supposed to be a better version of Ralph, the author should have given him at least one flaw. It would have made his character easier to identify with. The whole reason why Ralph worked so well was because he was a flawed human being, and struggled his entire life to reconcile that reality with his desire for perfection. Although, it did seem as the author tried to make him a superfluous character at end. She drifted away from the main story of Meggie and Ralph.
All in all though, The Thorn Birds is a great book, very descriptive and emotionally involving.
Rating:
Summary: Epic novel with great timing
Review: I love this book! It is a beautiful story with full of right & wrong turn-outs from this passionate forbidding love between Maggie and Ralph. Even beyond all the tearful tragedies this wonderful novel is a real page-turner. Now I know that is my one of my favorite love story of my lifetime and that I'll never forget it. It's right up there with SOPHIE'S CHOICE and that fantastic book BARK OF THE DOGWOOD. All are great!
Rating:
Summary: great
Review: I read this book years ago, I must have been in the 8th grade then, but I was used to reading big books, and I just loved it. fell in love with Father Ralph and I just love the name Dane. I have never forgotten that name. After Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy, which I really recommend if you liked this book, this has got to be one of my all-time favorites. I've kept my copy preserved and on the shelf in a place of honor and I tell you, it really deserves it.
Rating:
Summary: This book will change how you see yourself.
Review: I was first introduced to The Thorn Birds when the miniseries was run on television for the second time (I believe this was around 1993), and after seeing it, I had to buy the book. This book is captivating and involving. Once you get started, you will not want to stop reading until you've finished. The book is much better than the miniseries in many ways, because you get to know exactly what the characters are thinking and you get to know the characters themselves very well. The story is tragic, yes, but I think the most tragic thing about it is that we readers cannot live with as much passion and desire and spirit as these incredible characters do every moment of their lives. If you read this book, I doubt you'll be able to look at the world or yourself in the same way again.
Rating: 
Summary: Decent effort, but extremely disappointing.
Review: I'll admit it, I buy into hype a lot, which is why I read this book. The way people talked about it as well as its TV movie version, I expected a masterpiece along the lines of Gone With The Wind, which I read and loved. I can't say the same for The Thorn Birds. First off, I can not see how a thorn bird (a bird that endures pain on a thorn to sing a few minutes of a beautiful song) fit into the story. It is supposed to explain the forbidden love between a young girl, Meggie, and a priest named Ralph. However, it is touched on so lightly that it seems more like the two have crushes on each other than anything. The only part that I thought came even close to interesting was when Meggie married a man because of his stature (Luke) and ended up in an extremely unhappy marriage. The rest of the text is more or less a complete bore. Overall, though, the concept was interesting and some of the writing was just beautiful. However, I still cannot say that those two make this a worthy read. In fact, the whole time I managed to read this I kept thinking that this book tried way too hard to be the next Gone With The Wind. Read that one, but not this one. Meggie is no Scarlett O'Hara.
Rating:
Summary: A real treasure.
Review: I'm not into romance novels, but this book is my absolute favorite. Why? That's easy. It's full of adventure, rich details about family and Australia, the building up of passion (not just two people jumping in the sack). This book is long and it covers several decades of the characters lives, but it's enjoyable to read and you'll find yourself turning the pages so fast and at the same time wanting to savor every moment.
Rating: 
Summary: Wasn't expecting a full blown romance novel
Review: I've read all of Colleen's Masters of Rome series and thought they were great but found this one to be a disappointment. I had to struggle to even finish the book which I found to be sappy and superficial compared to her fairly hard-boiled and intricately detailed politico-military portrayal of Rome. I admit I am no fan of romances, but I believe her writing skills have improved considerably in her later books.
|
