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Brina's Reviews > The Thorn Birds
The Thorn Birds
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In a down reading year, an epic family saga was just what I needed to push away the reading doldrums. Normally, a five star read would merit a long review depicting characters, place, time, and the author's luscious prose. The Thorn Birds had all of this and was hauntingly beautiful. Yet, despite the story of the Cleary family and their parish priest being a much needed tonic for me, I am omitting my long review for now. That is because The Thorn Birds is our quarterly long read in the group Retro Chapter Chicks here on goodreads. My fellow chicks are reading this book over the course of three months and I do not want to inadvertently give anything away here. The story of Meggie and Ralph was so captivating; however, that I read their saga in three days rather than months. It was that good, and the bonus is that I have still have three months of group discussions to immerse myself in their story. The Thorn Birds has catapulted itself to my all time favorite shelf and will be a saga that I sense myself revisiting more than once.
*5 star read*
*5 star read*
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Reading Progress
April 18, 2018
– Shelved
April 18, 2018
– Shelved as:
to-read
July 4, 2018
–
Started Reading
July 4, 2018
– Shelved as:
long-reads
July 4, 2018
– Shelved as:
family-saga
July 4, 2018
– Shelved as:
australia
July 9, 2018
–
Finished Reading
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Stacey
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rated it 4 stars
Jul 09, 2018 06:51PM
I loved it when I read it a million years ago. I wonder if I would be as adoring if I read it in the present?
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It was adoring yet sad but if it's been a million years since you read it, I would reread.
I re-read this and thought it was great again
Sue, I savored every word. You really should reread it.
Brina - Agreed on the 5 star rating. This was an awesome book when it first came out and it still is. Its a classic and one of my favorites as well. Happy that you liked it too!
I read this a million years ago, too and loved it. You might be interested to know that Bryan Brown, who played Luke in the movie, and Rachel Ward, who played Meggie, fell in love on the set. She said he waited to kiss her until it was time to kiss her onscreen for the film which made for extreme anticipation! So if you ever see the film, you will know it was their first real-life kiss as well. They are still married and busy acting and directing..
i am reading this book right and i am loving it so much . i also loved the story of Meggie and Ralph because it was so loving . i am now reading the part where papa was killed in the wild fire . i can't wait to see how the story goes from their .
Patty I reserved the movie from the library. I am excited but it will be all these emotions all over again. I rarely watch movies so that is how special this book has been. Chris, I think it's a classic but most people say fifty years or more so it will get its due soon.
Brina wrote: "Patty I reserved the movie from the library. I am excited but it will be all these emotions all over again. I rarely watch movies so that is how special this book has been. Chris, I think it's a cl..."Watch for the first kiss between Luke and Meggie!
Loved your review and look forward to the longer one. I read this many years ago when it first came out. It may be time to reread this--from an (almost) old woman's perspective. The older woman's character (played by Barbara Stanwyck in the movie and quite powerfully) may be even more interesting to me now!
Ellie maybe there will not be a longer one. By the end of September- when the group is due to finish- I may put in a few key comments and that's it. I loved the imagery of Drogheda and fell in love with most of the characters. The library should have the movie for me next week so I'm going to watch it in one hour installments.
I hope you enjoy the movie as much as I did.
Added to my to read. Thank you! Hoping to find this at the big used book sale coming up!
I hope you find this Alison.
I have a paperback of this on my bookshelf. I might need to take it down and read it!
You should, Paul. It read fast and well worth the book of its length.
Love the review Brina. I still have my original copy on the bookshelf, I should pull it down and re read it. Some of those books from that era are classics.
Mandy I see myself rereading this. Just curious, the other classic books you recommend from the same era.
Terrific review, Brina! I loved this book, too!
Thank you, Jaline. It was a special book indeed :-)
I have wanted to read this book for a long time, so I was really happy that it came up as a group read (group reads help me so much to pick up the books I've been meaning to read). I haven't started it yet, though...I am trying to finish a few other in-progress books first. I am a little bit overwhelmed with books this month. But this review has motivated me to push through so I can finally get to The Thorn Birds. Thanks, Brina!
Kaylee I finished in three days. We set up the reading to only read sixty pages a week for twelve weeks. Once you get into the story, I'm sure you'll catch up. Thanks for commenting.
It really was, Greg, thank you :-)
One of my favorite books of all time...and that's saying something!
Teri it really is for everyone on this site. It has vaulted into my favorite's list as well.
It certainly deserves its place in the article I read recently '40 Trashy Novels You Must Read Before You Die'. Give me her brilliant seven-part Masters of Rome series any day!
John, I am going to look into the Masters of Rome. I was wondering about the attention to detail in Rome considering that she is from Australia.
Brina, I can certainly recommend it. The detail of life in Rome, for the rich and poor alike, the politics and danger, the topography, the palaces and gerry-built buildings, the food, the smells, the bustle and liveliness, plus the historical accuracy, and, as in Thorn Birds, the narrative skill, make it compelling, whether or not one is 'into' historical novels or particular periods. I'm not, generally, but loved these. God maps, characters lists, too. It's from 110BC to 27BC.
Anyone remember the controversial nude scene in the TV miniseries? The priest (Richard Chamberlain, I think) showers outside and a character can't help but take a peak. At the time, (80s or so) there was NO nudity of any kind on tv, so this was sort of a first. I'll try the Rome books, I really enjoyed "thorn birds' and on top of that my parents gave me the hardback, shortly after it was published, for Christmas one year. I still have it."
I read this as a young adult. Now that I'm old I think I'll revisit this story. It was good then. Maybe it will be better now.
John I need to tackle my tbr but I can make this an ongoing process to read the series. Greg, this priest was a forward priest. I know the story took place in the years 1915-55 but if it had been set in later years he could have had the option of leaving the priesthood. I asked my husband who saw the film but never read the book and he agreed.
Brina - but beware: 7 volumes at about 800 pages each!
Brina wrote: "John I need to tackle my tbr but I can make this an ongoing process to read the series. Greg, this priest was a forward priest. I know the story took place in the years 1915-55 but if it had been s..."Good point!
John thanks. Maybe I'll read the first to see if it interests me. Greg I can't stop thinking about this aspect of the book.
A favorite that I read 40 yrs ago! Great review Brina!
Suggest reading Tim Winton, Dirt Music and Also Cloud Street. Also David Malouf....Great Aussie writing
