Rating: 
Summary: Classify under "Romance"
Review: If you're looking for a long, romantic yarn, this is a pretty decent one. The writing is quite good--you can feel the dust and heat of Australia, as it works its way under your skin. And you feel for the protagonist; you feel for a woman who has few options in life, and who's life is inevitably chained to one man or another. Although I'm very sympathetic to this position, I felt a little bit lost inside of this woman's mind, and felt that her men were caricatures, rather than developed characters. I wanted to be a part of her thinking, but this bias in the writing threw me off. In the end, after hundreds of pages and a bit too much saga, we are to rejoice that her chains have become easier. It's a little hard to swallow. I don't think this qualifies as a feminist work. I'd tell men to skip this one altogether, and advise readers that this is, ultimately, just a well-written romance novel, for better or for worse.
Rating: 
Summary: What an epic!
Review: Like so many other girls of my era, I picked up the name Megan after my mother saw the mini-series in the 80s and absolutely fell in love with the characters. I'd always been intrigued with the story of how my mama's little girl got her name from a MOVIE, of all things, so when I "was old enough" to investigate for myself, I picked up the book (no easy feat, at over 700 pages!) and started reading this past summer. I just finished a few weeks ago and all I can say is WOW! It's not an uplifting tale, but I was more than content with that -- life is not always uplifting. It was an intricate, stunning story of the three generations of the same family, focusing on Meggie Cleary (my name sake) and her forbidden obsession with Father Ralph. At times throughout the novel, I simply had to sit back and say, "Wow." No other words formed coherently in my brain. It is an epic of the truest sense... you'll cry, you'll gasp, you'll... cry some more. It's got everything you could really ask for -- action, adventure, romance... and more romance. It leaves you strangely unfulfilled, however... Dane never learns the truth of about his father, and Meggie never lives happily ever after with Ralph. That's the most tragic part of all. But I cannot say that I didn't enjoy it... I'd be lying through my teeth. It was one of the most powerfully written stories I've ever had the privilege of reading, and I highly recommend it to anyone looking to really sink their teeth into a good novel.
Rating:
Summary: A Grand Epic?!
Review: Meant to be an elegant, thrilling, enthralling story that would span the lives of a family over three generations, "The Thornbirds" begins in in 1915. The Clearys are living a harsh life in New Zealand until their fortunes are changed when a wealthy relative in Australia decides that they are to inherit part of her prosperous farm. When the family travels to Australia, they meet Father Ralph, a stunningly handsome and intriguingly mysterious priest who lives near their farm. Maggie, the only Cleary daughter, falls deeply in love with Father Ralph. He longs to return this love, but as a priest, cannot. This complicated love is the basic theme of the book; the many troubling issues that plague Maggie and the rest of her family are interwoven as well. In some ways, it's ironic that this book just didn't do it for me. "Gone With the Wind" is one of my favorite books, and to many people, "The Thornbirds" is a similar type of book. Both novels are long-winded, elaborate sagas, each filled what are supposed to be intriguing and unusual characters and grand settings. But most of these criteria are exactly what I felt was wrong wtih "The Thornbirds." The long descriptions (there was one description simply of Australian wildlife was FOUR pages long) were for the most part ineffective here. Occasionally, when one was to introduce a character, or explain someone's psyche, these long descriptions were necessary. But more often, they were just a pain. I often found myself bored by the profusion of information, and felt that the author was "describing" just because she enjoyed doing it. In addition to simply boring passages, the whole book felt very "uneven." In "Gone With the Wind," each chapter seems exciting and the book flies by. In this novel, there were there were entire parts (the book is arranged in sections) that were tiresome descriptions of everyday life. I will say that McCullough describes love scenes superbly, but reading 704 pages for a few fast-paced passages, a couple of interesting psychological revelations, and little bit of hot romance does not seem like a good trade-off. Finally, the characters just don't inspire. To use the same comparison, Scarlett O'Hara of "Gone With the Wind" is everything a character should. Cliche yet fresh, goddess-like yet human, harsh yet vulnerable, and supremely unpredictable and unconventional, she was always worth reading about. Yet in this book, the characters seem kind of distant. Father Ralph and Maggie don't jump off the pages, they just "stay there." This might be becuase they aren't very inspiring-they both stay in pretty much the same place (both mentally and physically) and wither with love for each other for their entire lives. I know I'm literally one of millions of people to take this view of "The Thorn Birds," but it's really what I think. Dull description, relatively few truly interesting parts, and unspiring characters make this book not a long and wonderful epic but simply...long.
Rating:
Summary: Nothing but loss
Review: Meggie loses everything she loves, the theme runs throughout the novel.
Beautifully written, pictures painted by McCullough will stay in your mind.
Someone told me this was based on a true story, I certainly hope not.
Meggie lives her life loving a man who won't give up his ambition to be with her. She matures and gains wisdom as time passes, Ralph stays ambitious and blind to real life.
It's a very sad story but beautiful and the ending is bittersweet.
Rating:
Summary: Unbelievable!
Review: Read this book and buy the Movie (I got it new for $16). Greatest love story ever. Makes Gone With The Wind look like Pee Wee Herman. This should be a must see for every one. Shows what true love can be, although it is heartbreaking. Hard to get it out of your mind. The young Meggie is spectacular (played by Sydney Penny). I put this book up there with Roots and A Walk across America). Buy it, read it, watch it.
Rating: 
Summary: Recommendation for The Thorn Birds
Review: The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough is a novel that seems to include every genre from romance to historical fiction and even tragedy. The story follows the lives of the members of a family through a full generation. This results in the development of many characters, and there is probably at least one that almost any person can relate to. One thing notable about the book is its amazing attention to detail. This was a cause of both my like and dislike for the novel. The detail is well-written enough to leave an image in the mind of the reader upon completion of a passage, a quality not all books have. On the other hand, the detail can be monotonous and cause the reader to lose interest. The latter is much less common, and the story kept me interested throughout. This novel seems to be directed at women, and I doubt if many male readers would enjoy it. I would recommend it to women high school age and older. However, because the story involves many relationships, I recommend that the reader is not completely opposed to the romance genre. Even readers who would not normally choose a romance novel would still enjoy this book because it includes so much more.
Rating:
Summary: Recommendation for The Thorn Birds
Review: The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough is a novel that seems to include every genre from romance to historical fiction and even tragedy. The story follows the lives of the members of a family through a full generation. This results in the development of many characters, and there is probably at least one that almost any person can relate to. One thing notable about the book is its amazing attention to detail. This was a cause of both my like and dislike for the novel. The detail is well-written enough to leave an image in the mind of the reader upon completion of a passage, a quality not all books have. On the other hand, the detail can be monotonous and cause the reader to lose interest. The latter is much less common, and the story kept me interested throughout. This novel seems to be directed at women, and I doubt if many male readers would enjoy it. I would recommend it to women high school age and older. However, because the story involves many relationships, I recommend that the reader is not completely opposed to the romance genre. Even readers who would not normally choose a romance novel would still enjoy this book because it includes so much more.
Rating:
Summary: Moving along with vivid and believable characters
Review: The Thorn Birds is an epic saga about the family of Paddy and Fee Cleary, and their children, especially Meggie, the only girl. Paddy is a working class sheep shearer, but his wife Fee seems mysteriously aristocratic. The story opens in 1915, in rural New Zealand on Meggie's fourth birthday. Writing about the next two years in the life of the Cleary's, the author introduces us to the personalities, family relationships and struggles of Paddy, Fee and their first four children. The story resumes in 1921 when Meggie is ten years old. The Cleary's move to Drogheda in New South Wales, Australia. Drogheda, in the Outback some 610 miles West of Sydney, is a vast sheep farm owned by Mary Carson, Paddy's long lost sister. Mary Carson is immensely wealthy, shrewd, treacherous and weary of living. Since Mary has no other living relatives, she invited Paddy to run Drogheda during her final years. In return, he would inherit the bulk of her vast estate...well that's what she told Paddy. Mary Carson has an interesting relationship with a twenty-eight year old, ambitious, handsome Catholic Priest, father Ralph de Bricassart. Having enticed father Ralph with generous contributions to the church, Mary claws into his psyche to play mind-games, and conceives a twist that will set the story soaring. The central intrigue, however, is going to be the relationship between Meggie and Father Ralph during the next 48 years. This is a brilliantly crafted tale that draws the reader into life in the Australian outback where it took six weeks for the mail wagon to complete its rounds. It also pokes a hard-nose into the workings of the Catholic Church and the trauma of celibacy. The descriptions of Drogheda as it changes during the seasons and over the wet-drought cycle are a bit tedious at times, but otherwise the pace moves along with vivid and believable characters.
Rating:
Summary: My favorite book ever
Review: The Thorn Birds is the best book ever!!! It is completely heartbreaking from the very beginning, and stays that way til the end. What is really interesting is the story of the Thorn Birds at the beginning, which is so much like Meggie's life.The only bad part of the book is Dane, he is so annoying. But I LOVE it anyway, I hope u do too.
Rating:
Summary: Epic perfection
Review: The Thorn Birds is up there with Gone With the Wind on my list of favorite epics. I love the setting of rural Australia, I love the characters, I love the tragedy. After you read the book, watch the classic miniseries with Richard Chamberlin!
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