The Thorn Birds

The Thorn Birds
by Colleen McCullough

The Thorn Birds
List Price: $7.99
Our Price: $3.26
You Save: $4.73 (59%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $0.01 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions


or

Book Summary Information

Author: Colleen McCullough
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1979-06-01
ISBN: 0230196809
Number of pages: 692
Publisher: Avon

Book Reviews of The Thorn Birds

Book Review: We're forgetting about Justine!!!!!!!
Summary: 4 Stars

The summarize the Thorn Birds, it is a great, but very depressing book. The first part of the book is especially depressing, so if you're looking for a feel-good kind of book I definitely don't recommend it. There is nothing humourous in this book. It is the tragic love story between Meggie Cleary and Ralph DeBriccarcent (I don't think I spelled his name right!). They both love each other, but Ralph is far too self-absorbed and ambitious to show some humility and admit his love to Meggie. and Meggie is too obsessive to get over Ralph and move on with her life. That's the really sad part. Most of us have had some bad experience with love sometime in our lives, or even had our heart's broken. But most people are able to pick up and move on after awhile. Well Meggie spends literally her WHOLE life pining away for Ralph, whom she knows she can never have. That's the tragedy. Her whole life is ruined because of her obsession. It is said that Meggie is a strong character but I think if she was really strong she should have actually done something worthwhile with her life and found a man who really loved her, enough to give her a warm home and many children as she always wanted (unlike Luke!). The only purpose her whole life had was the raising of her two children. Of course one of them had to die to make the book even more tragic but let's just say that the children are the two strongest characters in the book. Dane, her son, becomes a preist like Ralph, but unlike Ralph, he is the perfect preist. Instead of simply trying to move up in position in the church, he is sincerely interested in finding God and the way to best serve him. Justine is also an amazing character and in all the other reveiws I've read, she's been absolutely neglected. Justine's being in the book is the very reason i gave it 4 stars instead of 2. When the book focuses on Justine the book really livens up. Here's a woman who won't spend her life pining away for a man who doesn't love her. This girl is moving!!!!!!!! She isn't content to waste her life as a nothing on little old Drogheda. She runs out into the real world and grasps from it what she can. And she becomes a rich and famous actress in London because of it! Plus, she is EXTREMELY intelligent and quick-minded. Her vocation choice (an actress) fits her perfectly and she is brillant as an actress as she is in everything else. Well, everything except love and emotion, but she does have an emotional awakening at the end. She is a lot of fun, has many friends and is very exuberant. Unlike the other characters who seem to refuse to be happy no matter what there circumstances Justine excepts happiness. She is by far the happiest character in the book (Dane and Rain are close at least). Unlike her mother, grandmother and Ralph who are content to stay down in the dumps and depressed for their whole lives, Justine always stays mostly high-spirited and optimistic. That's one of the reasons you've gotta love her, she brings some cheer and humour and vivacity into this tragic-beyond-real-life book. She's a very spirited and animated and lively, energetic person who is vivid and will stay in your mind. So don't forget Justine. She helps the book out a lot in the end and really ties things together well. You cannot wait to find out what this chic does next! I think they should have a sequel called JUSTINE. Well anyway, this is definitely a book you want to read, and if the middle has you down a little bit, the Justine part will perk you up a bit.

Summary of The Thorn Birds

Now, 25 years after it first took the world by storm, Colleen McCullough's sweeping family saga of dreams, titanic struggles, dark passions, and forbidden love in the Australian Outback returns to enthrall a new generation. As powerful, moving, and unforgettable as when it originally appeared, it remains a monumental literary achievement?a landmark novel to be read . . . and read again!

Family Saga Books

Book Subjects
Most talked about in Family Saga Books
Elephant Man ImageElephant Man
by Christine Sparks
Ballantine Books; Published: 1986-11-12; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.03
Price in other shops: $7.99
Assegai ImageAssegai
by Wilbur Smith
Thomas Dunne Books; Published: 2009-05-12; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $2.00
Price in other shops: $27.95
Birds of Prey ImageBirds of Prey
by Wilbur Smith
St. Martin's Griffin; Published: 2003-05-16; Paperback; Book
Best price: $48.99
An Act of Love ImageAn Act of Love
by Nancy Thayer
St Martins Pr; Published: 1997-09; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $7.85
Price in other shops: $22.95
Honolulu ImageHonolulu
by Alan Brennert
St. Martin's Press; Published: 2009-03-03; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $8.53
Price in other shops: $24.95
Family Tree ImageFamily Tree
by Barbara Delinsky
Anchor; Published: 2009-10-27; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.99
Price in other shops: $5.99
Those Who Save Us ImageThose Who Save Us
by Jenna Blum
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; Published: 2005-05-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.97
Price in other shops: $14.95
Vinegar Hill ImageVinegar Hill
by A. Manette Ansay
Penguin USA (P); Published: 2000-05; Paperback; Book
Best price: $14.99
Billy Phelan's Greatest Game ImageBilly Phelan's Greatest Game
by William Kennedy
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 1983-01-27; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.79
Price in other shops: $14.00
Quicksilver (The Baroque Cycle, Vol. 1) ImageQuicksilver (The Baroque Cycle, Vol. 1)
by Neal Stephenson
William Morrow Paperbacks; Published: 2004-09-21; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.22
Price in other shops: $15.99
Similar Books and other products
Outlander ImageOutlander
by Diana Gabaldon
Delta; Published: 1998-08-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.99
Price in other shops: $17.00
Captains and the Kings: The Story of an American Dynasty ImageCaptains and the Kings: The Story of an American Dynasty
by Taylor Caldwell
Fawcett Crest Books; Published: 1983-10-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.91
Price in other shops: $7.99
Roots: The Saga of an American Family ImageRoots: The Saga of an American Family
by Alex Haley
Vanguard Press; Published: 2007-05-22; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.79
Price in other shops: $17.95
The Touch: A Novel ImageThe Touch: A Novel
by Colleen McCullough
Pocket Star; Published: 2004-08-31; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.69
Price in other shops: $7.99
Morgan's Run ImageMorgan's Run
by Colleen McCullough
Pocket Books; Published: 2002-01-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.42
Price in other shops: $7.99
A Woman of Substance ImageA Woman of Substance
by Barbara Taylor Bradford
St. Martin's Griffin; Published: 2009-10-13; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.99
Price in other shops: $16.99
Rebecca ImageRebecca
by Daphne Du Maurier
Harper Paperbacks; William Morrow Paperbacks; Published: 1997-11-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.49
Price in other shops: $14.99
Gone with the Wind, 75th Anniversary Edition ImageGone with the Wind, 75th Anniversary Edition
by Margaret Mitchell
Scribner; Published: 2011-05-03; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.51
Price in other shops: $18.00
Thorn Birds Collector's Set ImageThorn Birds Collector's Set
Warner Brothers; Release date: 2011-06-21; DVD
Best price: $28.64
Price in other shops: $39.98
Thorn Birds ImageThorn Birds
WHV; Release date: 2011-06-28; DVD
Best price: $11.39
Price in other shops: $29.98